July 12th was a Monday this year. I generally always start the week very actively on Mondays. There's sports, dancing, and usually various online meetings, working through emails, etc. Basically, all the things that come up for a classic business Monday for me.

7:00 AM - A standard start to the day

I always start my day with a dose of thyroid hormones (Thyrex) because I no longer have a thyroid gland. These pills need an empty stomach and at least 30 minutes of continued emptiness to work. Suboptimal for a soy milk coffee drinker. But those who love coffee find a solution, and mine in this case is: a cup of black coffee, plain, accompanied by cat cuddles and a round of reading a book. After that, things can proceed as normal.

8:00 AM - Morning sports drive away worries and woes 😉

That's the motto every Monday. On Mondays, "Tut gut!" Gesundheitsvorsorge GmbH – for whom I also work as a Healthy Business consultant in Lower Austria – offers sports as its own corporate health promotion measure. My wonderful colleague Alexandra Benn-Ibler leads a workout session over Microsoft Teams for 30 minutes during work hours, which I always gladly participate in on Monday mornings at 8 am. A perfect start to the day.

08:40 - Enjoying a leisurely breakfast is part of the morning.

Otherwise, by lunchtime at the latest, I notice that I’m not quite "running smoothly." What I have for breakfast always varies. For a while it’s homemade bread, then yogurt again, especially when it’s hot, like it is right now. Right now, my daily ingredients are: 200 ml coconut yogurt (vegan), 1 peach, 1 tsp 75% strawberry jam, 4–5 tbsp rolled oats. Delicious 😀 And it’s especially nice to finish it all off on the balcony with a round of cat cuddles (lots of cat cuddle breaks are one of the many perks of having your office at home ;).

09:00 - The start of the workday

Since the pandemic, most of the assemblies have been desk days with online meetings. In the last 1.5 years, I've rarely had off-site appointments. This time, the first appointment was the announcement of the week's topic from Judith Sympatexter This week it's a technical blog post. I'm already excited to see what comes out of it.

11:00 AM - Work continues: Email, phone, workshop

Besides appointments, of course, working through emails, making phone calls, and planning the work week are also on the agenda at the beginning of the week. Time also flies by when doing these. After 60 minutes, it was already 12 o'clock and the first workshop in Judith's Rapid Blog Flow began. Here, we immediately gathered a braindump for a whole 8 blog articles. Okay, they don't all have to be written THIS week, but maybe, in addition to the 12 of 12 article, at least one more will be completed. And just like that, half the day was already gone.

14:00 - Lunch first

I usually eat 3 times a day. A small breakfast in the morning, sometime between 12 and 2 PM a small portion of warm food (mostly leftovers from the day before). In the evening, together with my partner, comes the "real" meal. It's simply more fun to sit down and chat over a meal as a couple than alone. This time, for lunch, I had leftover Bolognese with whole wheat spaghetti and fresh Grana. Homemade, fresh food goes without saying. I don't even know when I last ate anything from a bag/pre-packaged meal, can, or anything similar. That hasn't been on the table for me in a long time. It's convenient that I've set up my office in our apartment. So, on days with few appointments, I can cook something fresh during my lunch break. Oh yes, and when I eat, I am of course under close observation. I could give in at any time. At least that's what our cat Yakuza thinks. Her gaze shows her disappointment that this hope has not been confirmed.

3:00 PM The last online appointment

My last online meeting was incredibly productive that day. In 60 minutes, I chatted with my colleague Rhonda Staudner-Turin jointly our part of the upcoming Training stages "I as an Entrepreneur" fully conceptualized and the corresponding documents and handouts as well as slides created. We're almost running on autopilot with that, and it makes it really relaxed. I'm already looking forward to our co-trainer task next Wednesday. After this super productive meeting, there were a few more emails and phone calls, and just like that, the afternoon was over again.

5:00 PM The housework also needs to be done.

So yesterday it was time to gather and wash laundry. After a weekend trip with swimming in the pond and lots of activity, there's usually quite a bit that needs freshening up. So I ran a load of laundry in between and hung it up.

17:45 boil detergent

And since I noticed while doing laundry that we were running out of detergent, I made some more right away. We mix our own detergent, which is easy and quick, free of additives and unnecessary production steps, and on top of that, it saves you a lot of money and hauling. The Smarticular Liquid Colored Laundry Detergent Recipe it's very simple (for anyone who might want to try it. Warning: not suitable for wool and silk):

• Grate 30g of natural, organic kernel soap into a bowl
• Mix 4 tbsp (approx. 40g) washing soda powder (sodium carbonate) with this
• Add 2 liters of water to a very large pot.
• Whisk the dry ingredients together
• Bring everything to a boil, it foams a lot when boiling, just wait until the foam subsides on its own (becomes clear)
• Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour
• then briefly bring to a boil again (optionally, boil again after 24 hours, which further prevents it from becoming too solid and settling)
• a few drops of essential oil, if desired
• Fill into 2 bottles
• Done.

Laundry detergent is even easier to make. And white vinegar is an excellent fabric softener, by the way: Simply add 30-60 ml undiluted into the fabric softener compartment.

18:30 It's always nice to be pampered too.

At our place, we always take turns with everything: housework, cooking, baking... Lately, I've had a lot to do with work, so I've been cooked for a lot recently with many healthy treats. Since we grilled on the weekend and we both felt like something light, my sweetheart prepared a delicious salad today. Unfortunately, there was no shared meal this time, because I immediately took off for my first appointment outside the house: Off by bike for dancing!

7:00 PM Dance through life!

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE music in all its forms. It doesn't matter if it's self-made (singing, guitar, classical flute, samba percussion in the Baturim Samba School) or as a listener. This includes dancing again for the past 2 years. I already enjoyed dancing as a student. Of course, as was usual back then, ballroom dancing from Waltz to Merengue to Jive in a dance school. I enjoyed that incredibly much and I even still have some trophies from that time at home. After my school days, however, dancing had disappeared from my life for many, many years. Until 2 years ago, my dear friend Luciana Sommersguter asked me if I would like to learn Samba no Pé as well (not Samba as a couple dance as common in Europe, but what is danced in Rio during Carnival, with lots of feathers and glitter). I tried it and have loved it ever since. Samba dancing has been every Monday evening since then with Brazilian Flair2 hours of intense workout (this time my fitness watch showed I had burned 600 kcal after dancing for 2 hours, not bad), new body feeling, a lot of joy, and steady self-improvement with wonderful people. This is finally possible again. Pictured with me are my dear friends and dance instructors: Luciana Sousa (right) and Marcelo Morris Ferrian (links).

10:00 PM The end of a long day: dinner and cuddling with the cat

When I get home after dancing on Mondays, it's usually almost 10 PM. My darling is already in bed by then, as he always gets up at 4 AM to deliver mail. That means for my late dinner: tray in hand, onto the couch, turn on a series or a movie, and enjoy dinner while being cuddled by the cat. 10 PM is very late for dinner, but it's a lot more pleasant and relaxed than dancing on a full stomach 😉