In this issue
The Best Way to Boost Your Productivity, by Nikole Fridenmaker, CMP, Fridenmaker Consulting, LLC
Best Vacation Ever! Cindy M. Hartner, CSEP DMC Network
Weird Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day from around the WORLD!
A Subtle Plea
Other baby animal pics…
The Best Way to Boost Your Productivity, by Nikole Fridenmaker, CMP, Fridenmaker Consulting, LLC
Best Vacation Ever! Cindy M. Hartner, CSEP DMC Network
Weird Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day from around the WORLD!
A Subtle Plea
Other baby animal pics…

They say that April Showers bring May flowers...
and speaking of showers, I don’t know about you but with this Covid thing the past year+ there have been some days that I have to stop and think “Hmm when did I take my last shower”? I KNOW, I realize this is probably TMI, but the truth of the matter is this, I’m ready to take that shower and smell as fresh as a blooming daisy if it means that I get out there and see the people, all the people, the real-life people.
Have you felt the excitement in the air about live events? I know there is still caution, but the calendar is starting to heat up this summer (Yes, the PUN was intended, haven’t you been reading my cheesy puns these past few months)? Check out the local events on your Facebook page, there are more and more in-person events being added every day. I even found a local ‘Natural Goatkeeping: Health & Kidding’, who knew there was such a thing?!
Speaking of events, did you know that as a member of SPIN that you can plan your own local event with other local SPIN members? All it takes is a post on the SPIN members only Facebook page and there you have it, your very own live and local event. Remember, please follow your state’s Covid guidelines and get out there, meet the people, all the people, the real-life people!
- Stephanie Veiga
They say that April Showers bring May flowers...
and speaking of showers, I don’t know about you but with this Covid thing the past year+ there have been some days that I have to stop and think “Hmm when did I take my last shower”? I KNOW, I realize this is probably TMI, but the truth of the matter is this, I’m ready to take that shower and smell as fresh as a blooming daisy if it means that I get out there and see the people, all the people, the real-life people.
Have you felt the excitement in the air about live events? I know there is still caution, but the calendar is starting to heat up this summer (Yes, the PUN was intended, haven’t you been reading my cheesy puns these past few months)? Check out the local events on your Facebook page, there are more and more in-person events being added every day. I even found a local ‘Natural Goatkeeping: Health & Kidding’, who knew there was such a thing?!
Speaking of events, did you know that as a member of SPIN that you can plan your own local event with other local SPIN members? All it takes is a post on the SPIN members only Facebook page and there you have it, your very own live and local event. Remember, please follow your state’s Covid guidelines and get out there, meet the people, all the people, the real-life people!
- Stephanie Veiga
The Best Way to Boost Your Productivity
by Nikole Fridenmaker, CMP, Fridenmaker Consulting, LLC
by Nikole Fridenmaker, CMP, Fridenmaker Consulting, LLC

When you think of your most productive days or ways that you believe help you to be most productive, what are those things that helped or that you believe flat out accomplished it? A well-planned day? Your favorite weekly planner or journal to stay focused? A great morning routine including healthy habits? They certainly can and do lead to increased productivity and accomplishing your goals. But I’m going to argue that there’s one key that is even more important that most of us overlook or downplay it’s importance.
In fact, this one ‘simple’ thing can improve your health, fight obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, it can help prevent Alzheimer’s, and some forms of cancers. This one thing can improve your emotional and mental well-being, help you make more rational, logical decisions. This one thing, improves your immune health, increases your emotional intelligence (EQ) and productivity.
Ok what if this one simple, but not necessarily easy, thing is proven by an expert and he tells you the following:
“AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”
― Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams
In fact, this one ‘simple’ thing can improve your health, fight obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, it can help prevent Alzheimer’s, and some forms of cancers. This one thing can improve your emotional and mental well-being, help you make more rational, logical decisions. This one thing, improves your immune health, increases your emotional intelligence (EQ) and productivity.
Ok what if this one simple, but not necessarily easy, thing is proven by an expert and he tells you the following:
“AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”
― Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams
Sleep research shows us that poor quality or insufficient sleep leaves a person impaired. That impairment begins to happen when you are getting 6 hours or less sleep a night on average. If you are awake for 22 hours, your brain is as impaired as someone who is legally drunk. And in the meeting and event industry, which is extremely high on stress and last-minute work, I’m pretty sure that a large majority of us have frequently gotten 6 hours or less sleep or even been up 22 hours or more. Add into that the level of stress, which also impacts sleep duration and quality, and you have an industry that could be prime with insufficient sleep.
While many tend to focus on morning routines as the place to set yourself up for success, I would encourage you to instead focus on your PM routine. A solid PM routine with proven steps to help increase the duration and quality of sleep, will set your morning up so that you have the energy and ability to make it a productive day. There are a large variety of ways to improve your sleep, both the quality and the duration. But as with most things, it’s important to find the ones that work for you and it is important to determine which ones you are willing to commit to, ones that fit your lifestyle and your goals.
There are two steps that are relatively simple to do. They require nothing but commitment, and will make the biggest impact. However, like most things worth doing, they are simple but not easy. They are:
However, like most of us, your brain may have started protesting and finding excuses to say why you couldn’t do those two things almost right away. Brains and habits are pesky things. There are many ways to overcome habits that aren’t serving you or to create new habits that do serve you. One of the easiest, for this purpose, would be to find your ‘why’. Why does this matter to you, why will you be willing to stick with it even on a night you don’t want to? For me, it was the all too real risk of Diabetes. So, find a reason that will matter to you. But remember your why has to override your desire to stay up late binging on Netflix. If this isn’t strong enough, you may want to consider reading Atomic Habits by James Clear which really does a good job of breaking habit building in small doable steps. To determine your sleep window for your consistent bedtime, you may need to work backwards from when you need to be awake. If you have no set time that you have to start your day though, work on listening to your body to find what works for you. According to Dr Walker, most people fall into a sleep window somewhere between 9 pm and 9 am. Just make sure that you set your sleep window for 8 hours and that it is something you can do consistently every day. Yes, that means even weekends. You can’t make up a sleep debt and even variance just on the weekend can throw off your brain’s desire for finding patterns. |

Once you have your sleep window, if it is very different from what you have been doing, then you may need to work up to it. For example, it will be difficult if you are used to going to bed at 1 am every night to suddenly go to sleep at 10 pm every night. So work towards gradually changing the time. But make the commitment to those time changes as it will help start your habit muscle working towards creating the pattern. That pattern, which experts argue can take only 21 days or as long as 66 days to make a habit, will eventually get much easier for you if you stick with it.
The key to dimming the lights or turning out most of the lights 30-60 minutes before you go to bed has to do with your brain’s natural production of melatonin. Your brain doesn’t start producing it’s own melatonin until it’s dark. And we are a society that thrives on multiple light sources that impair and impede that ability to start producing melatonin until you’re already in bed, and have put down your devices. If you want to use your devices after you dim your lights, it is recommended that you use the night settings and blue light blocking glasses. I can share from my own experience that now, when I dim the lights, I start yawning shortly after, even if I had insisted or thought I wasn’t tired yet. Also, if you don’t live alone, it’s great to get the people in your house involved in this as well so that it helps hold you accountable but also helps you stick to the habit.
Building up an evening routine that embraces these habits and creates a nice evening experience will also help you to increase the likelihood of sticking to your routine. I recently spoke to a women’s organization, Corporate Coffee, and wrote a post-talk blog for them. This blog includes additional tips on good sleep habits as well as a worksheet on refining your morning or pm routines. It also includes a link for a lot of resources that I have used for my own sleep research so that hopefully you can find what resonates with you, so you can create a sleep routine that works for you!
https://www.fridenmakerconsulting.com/blog/selfcareroutinesproductivity
The key to dimming the lights or turning out most of the lights 30-60 minutes before you go to bed has to do with your brain’s natural production of melatonin. Your brain doesn’t start producing it’s own melatonin until it’s dark. And we are a society that thrives on multiple light sources that impair and impede that ability to start producing melatonin until you’re already in bed, and have put down your devices. If you want to use your devices after you dim your lights, it is recommended that you use the night settings and blue light blocking glasses. I can share from my own experience that now, when I dim the lights, I start yawning shortly after, even if I had insisted or thought I wasn’t tired yet. Also, if you don’t live alone, it’s great to get the people in your house involved in this as well so that it helps hold you accountable but also helps you stick to the habit.
Building up an evening routine that embraces these habits and creates a nice evening experience will also help you to increase the likelihood of sticking to your routine. I recently spoke to a women’s organization, Corporate Coffee, and wrote a post-talk blog for them. This blog includes additional tips on good sleep habits as well as a worksheet on refining your morning or pm routines. It also includes a link for a lot of resources that I have used for my own sleep research so that hopefully you can find what resonates with you, so you can create a sleep routine that works for you!
https://www.fridenmakerconsulting.com/blog/selfcareroutinesproductivity
Best Vacation Ever!
by Cindy M. Hartner, CSEP DMC Network
by Cindy M. Hartner, CSEP DMC Network
This month I ask Cindy M. Hartner, CSEP at the DMC Network to share her "Best Vacation Ever" with us. Although she said it was difficult to pick only one, read on to find out why the one she selected was most memorable.
Choosing your favorite vacation is sort of like asking someone to choose their favorite child. Trips are so magical in general, and each one brings you something different depending upon where you were in your life, who was with you, and what you needed at that time. However, if I must pick one for purpose of this share, I will choose my trip to Scotland and Ireland in the summer of 2017. My father did a lot of genealogy work throughout his life, and I have always been curious about my family history before they came over to the states. Apparently, John McLean (misspelled as McLane upon landing, hence my maiden name,) landed in North Carolina in 1772 after the Jacobite rising of 1745, and thus began our American legacy. All my life I was desperate to experience the country where my ancestors lived.
The highlight of this trip was a ferry ride from Oban, Scotland to the Isle of Mull. This is where the MacLean Castle called “Castle Duarte” resides to this day. They castle was built on a cliff at the tip of the island to protect the mainland from marauders in 1360. Although the clan system has officially disbanded, I met the laird of our Clan MacLean on this visit (this photo.) A sweet, gentle man in his 70s, Sir Lachlan MacLean is the 28th Chief of Clan MacLean and lived with his wife in a house near the castle. He has spent his lifetime trying to preserve this piece of history by inspiring tourism and hosting gatherings for McLeans/McLanes from all over the world. I felt like a fan-girl, and certainly embarrassed myself with all the questions! Whatever. You only live (and meet the Chief) once. Well, this is probably more than you ever wanted to know about the Clan MacLean! However, for me this trip was indelible, like a tattoo on my heart. Travel is a gift which must be savored and shared! |
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Shout out to these SPIN family members!
OH EM GEE - DID YOU KNOW?

Next month is May, the month we celebrate Mother’s Day and in the United States is celebrated on May 9th this year. (Hint, hint…you better write that date down now while you’re thinking of it). When I think back to previous Mother’s Day celebrations, they are typically filled with flowers, chocolates, and some form of burnt pancakes. Now that I’m a dog mom my Mother’s Day gifts are typically the same as I get every day of the year, sloppy kisses and poop, in that very specific order.
I wanted to find out how others celebrate this day, so I looked around the all-knowing inter-webs to find out, and here are a few of the favorites I found:
Yugoslavia: A very unusual way to celebrate Mothering Sunday is in Yugoslavia where children creep into their parent’s bedroom first thing in the morning, and tie Mom up!
In order to be released, the Mother of the family gives presents her children as soon as she wakes up. This harmless fun guarantees to put a smile on everyone’s faces!
Japan: In Japan, Mother’s Day is called ‘haha no hi’ and takes place on the second Sunday in May. Here, children sketch illustrations and name them ‘my mother’. These drawings are then entered into an exhibition, with all entrants sent to a variety of countries around the globe. This is a custom that has taken place in Japan for many years now.
India: 10-Day Festival: Each October, Hindus honor Durga, the goddess of mothers, during the 10-day festival known as Durga Puja. The celebration is thought to date back to the sixteenth century and is considered both a religious ceremony and a time for family reunions. Families spend weeks preparing food, gathering gifts, and decorating their homes for the festival.
Ethiopia: Sing Along: The Antrosht festival, observed at the end of the rainy season in early fall, is dedicated to moms. After the weather clears for good, family members from all over flock to their homes for a large meal and celebration. Daughters traditionally bring vegetables and cheese, while sons supply meat. Together, they prepare a meat hash and sing and perform dances that tell stories of family heroes.
France: Medals For Mom: In 1920, the government of France began awarding medals to mothers of large families in gratitude for helping rebuild the population after so many lives were lost in World War I. After the second World War, the government declared the last Sunday in May to be the Day of Mothers. The traditional gift is now a flower-shaped cake.
I wanted to find out how others celebrate this day, so I looked around the all-knowing inter-webs to find out, and here are a few of the favorites I found:
Yugoslavia: A very unusual way to celebrate Mothering Sunday is in Yugoslavia where children creep into their parent’s bedroom first thing in the morning, and tie Mom up!
In order to be released, the Mother of the family gives presents her children as soon as she wakes up. This harmless fun guarantees to put a smile on everyone’s faces!
Japan: In Japan, Mother’s Day is called ‘haha no hi’ and takes place on the second Sunday in May. Here, children sketch illustrations and name them ‘my mother’. These drawings are then entered into an exhibition, with all entrants sent to a variety of countries around the globe. This is a custom that has taken place in Japan for many years now.
India: 10-Day Festival: Each October, Hindus honor Durga, the goddess of mothers, during the 10-day festival known as Durga Puja. The celebration is thought to date back to the sixteenth century and is considered both a religious ceremony and a time for family reunions. Families spend weeks preparing food, gathering gifts, and decorating their homes for the festival.
Ethiopia: Sing Along: The Antrosht festival, observed at the end of the rainy season in early fall, is dedicated to moms. After the weather clears for good, family members from all over flock to their homes for a large meal and celebration. Daughters traditionally bring vegetables and cheese, while sons supply meat. Together, they prepare a meat hash and sing and perform dances that tell stories of family heroes.
France: Medals For Mom: In 1920, the government of France began awarding medals to mothers of large families in gratitude for helping rebuild the population after so many lives were lost in World War I. After the second World War, the government declared the last Sunday in May to be the Day of Mothers. The traditional gift is now a flower-shaped cake.
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A Subtle but completely obvious Plea
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Want to get your name in lights? Or at least I can take your picture and surround it by a string of lights? Get that 15 minutes of FAME now! We're looking to make you famous! (Well, not so much "make you famous" as we would print your name on our newsletter next to an article you write).
We’re looking for some brave SPIN Member volunteers to help write articles in our upcoming newsletters. It can be about anything you’re passionate about, you write it, we edit it, and BOOM, your name, and photo are on the inter-webs for all to see! Interested? Just send an email or click the link below to [email protected] and we’ll get you started.
We’re looking for some brave SPIN Member volunteers to help write articles in our upcoming newsletters. It can be about anything you’re passionate about, you write it, we edit it, and BOOM, your name, and photo are on the inter-webs for all to see! Interested? Just send an email or click the link below to [email protected] and we’ll get you started.

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and just like the April flowers that wither away, our monthly newsletter has once again come to a close, but don't cry
There will be more next month in May!
psst....psst... hey you... yeah I'm talkin' to you... wanna to read about a specific topic in the Newsletter? You got a baby animal pic to share?
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Tell me about it! Click the 'Email Us' button above and let me know.
psst....psst... hey you... yeah I'm talkin' to you... wanna to read about a specific topic in the Newsletter? You got a baby animal pic to share?
Or do you just absolutely LOVE the Newsletter so much you hold your breath until the next one comes out?
Tell me about it! Click the 'Email Us' button above and let me know.