Category: Real Estate

I remember using dial-up to get to the welcome screen of AOL. The excitement of dialing in would make me smile, and then to hear that familiar voice say, “You’ve Got Mail”, was great. Fast forward a couple decades and the newness is long gone, and email is just a part of our lives.

In the past, I would wake up and within five minutes I would grab my phone and see if there were any missed calls, texts, and then emails. As soon as I opened the inbox I was immediately focused on its contents. I would grab my laptop, bigger screen, and sit on the sofa and dig into the contents of my inbox. Before I knew it at least 30 minutes, more likely 60, would be gone, and I would feel a bit stressed.

Then in early October my boss, Kim, was telling me about a speaker she heard who talked about not doing email for the first hour after waking up. She went on to explain that one hour can make a huge difference in our productivity level for the rest of the day. I like to try new things to be more productive, and thought I’d give it a go.

At first it was hard, and I cheated a day or two that first week. I decided I needed to put my phone temptation out of reach, and placed it on the end table in the living room. Moving it from my nightstand made a big difference, and helped me start a new morning routine.

I’m an early riser, and instead of sitting down to work on emails, I’m getting things done. It isn’t always something big, but just to have time to empty the dishwasher, start a load of laundry, write a note, and to get cleaned up for the day without worrying about that inbox, is amazing.

I was sure there was more information about waiting an hour, and while Googling the subject I found some good articles, blogs, and even entire books on the subject. One author, Julie Morgenstern, wrote in her book, “Never Check Email In The Morning”, that, “there is very little that cannot wait a minimum of 59 minutes”. I agree, and the email can wait.

Here are a few essential oils that help reduce musty, stale, pet, and smokey odors:

Bergamot

Grapefruit

Lemon

Lemongrass

Lime

Mandarin

Orange

Sage

Tangerine

Any of the essential oils can be used on its own, my go to is lemon. I’m a huge fan of citrus, and to my nose lemon smells clean. However, I know lemon doesn’t do it for everyone and to get a unique odor eliminating blend just mix a few of the oils together.

When a space needs freshening use this blend in a diffuser, or mix in a dark glass spray bottle with 4 ounces of water.

3 parts rosemary         3 parts bergamot

5 parts lemon

If a large area is affected by odor the purchase of an organic pure blend is possible. An example would be Purification which contains citronella, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, myrtle, and tea tree. Use it in a diffuser or mix with water in a dark glass spray bottle.

If Purification is not available there is another organic pure blend known as Purify that is made of lemon, lime, and pine. This can get rid of odor quickly, and can be used in a diffuser, spray bottle mixed with water, or even in homemade cleaning solutions. If mixing either of these oils with water use 30 drops of oil to 8 ounces of water.

If the odor is in a specific area, say the garbage disposal use 2 parts lemon, 2 parts lavender, 1 part rosemary.

There are an unlimited amount of blends that can be created and used for odor elimination. Get a beginner set of very good essential oils, dark glass spray bottle, diffuser, and have some fun.

Read the other entries in this series: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.