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Poem: Brain Fog Dream

2/27/2025

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Picture

Brain Fog Dream by Sterp

It’s always been beautiful

No matter the 

Fear


Rage

Jealousy 

The venomous snake overbearing

But I watch with excitement

Purple creativity is my path

Guitars, citars, tapestries hang

Yellow tormentous pain teaches me

Some wolves are tamed 

When they first arrive they are not

My flesh they want to tear apart

Until I’m calm
​

-Written by Stephanie Briggs (Sterp)
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4 Life Changing Hacks by Charging my Phone Outside my Bedroom

2/18/2024

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I’ve learned to hack my brain and body for optimal happiness, less stress and increased resilience…and anyone can do it! You have the tools already ingrained in you. You just have to take the leap and begin with small actions. I recently read and reviewed The 5 Resets: How to Rewire your Brain and Body for Less Stress by Dr. Nerurkar. I read nonfiction with the intention to learn and apply new practices and habits into my life because I always want to improve my state of being. This is why I've started charging my phone outside of my bedroom, and I'm here to share with you the four life changing things that have happened to me because of it. 

Did you know that by stopping the use of devices in the evening until after you’ve woken up, had a glass of water and a little sunlight - you will begin to rewire your brain and body for less stress because you will get better sleep and have more energy with heightened focus? It is a scientific fact, so why do so many of us not take this simple action? Devices and social media are extremely addictive. It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are either, addiction shows no discrimination. Social media can be a useful tool, however, it’s designed in a way to psychologically rob our brains and hijack our neural pathways. Social media companies want and need you to get addicted and spend as much of YOUR time as possible scrolling and interacting. The problem is devastating to your brain and body. It creates more stress, depression, and decreased energy. I’ve been a victim of the doom scroll. Then, one day, I caught myself and had to ask a tough question: Is this what I want to become? Because, let’s be real, what you spend your time on is who you become.

In The 5 Resets, Dr. Nerurkar suggests charging your phone outside of your bedroom at night and not returning to it until the morning, after being awake for some time. I finally took the leap and tried this. Here’s how I do it (seems trivial but this is where people just don’t take the action.) 
  1. I set a timer for 9pm. Once it goes off, I take my phone to my home office, far from my bedroom, set it on the charger, and go to bed. 
  2. Returning to my bedroom, I read a book by lamp light with no television on. Sometimes I light a candle. I read for about 30-45 minutes. 
  3. Then, lights off. I lay in bed, focusing on deep breathing and allowing thoughts to come and go. I toss and turn and eventually fall asleep. (But, wait, I’m an insomniac and this will not work for me - I’ll get to that below!)
  4. I have a morning alarm via Alexa (so no excuses about needing your phone for an alarm). I grew up without mobile devices when we used traditional alarm clocks. Anyone can make it work.
  5. When I get up in the morning, I do not rush to my phone. The point is to not immediately get on your phone and check emails, social media, etc. It all can wait. Believe me. I have a high visibility corporate job where I thrive, and it all can wait.​​
  6. I make my coffee, drink a glass of water, start my morning journal practice, and then I look at my phone.

I’ve been doing this for two weeks now and experienced phenomenal results. Again, free tools that live within each of us. You just have to try it and trust the process. Here are four things that have changed in my life from doing the above steps. 

  1. The best sleep ever in my life - finally! I happen to be a light sleeper. Every sound, smell or hint of light wakes me and keeps me awake. I’ve also been known to call myself an insomniac. Here’s the thing - lots of people claim they are insomniacs but unless you’ve seen a medical professional and had this validated, you’re not! We screw up our own sleep, and we can retrain our bodies and minds to have better sleep habits. It’s just not as fun as staying up super late. I argue that it actually is really fun! It’s a challenge and once you experience full control of changing your brain’s neural pathways for better focus, improved creativity, less stress - it’s EPIC. Yes, when I started this practice, it was rough. It took about one week for my body and mind to finally get used to going to bed with no devices. I did toss and turn, but this stopped after a week. Power through it. It’s fully worth it! It’s just like strength training. You don’t form muscles in one day. It takes time. In this case, it only took me one week.
  2. The innovative ideas are pouring in: Here’s the interesting thing about lying in bed in the dark with no devices to hijack you; you are left alone with your thoughts and feelings. Scary right?! We must have the resilience to face our thoughts and feelings rather than shoving them deep down to be ignored. I’ll give you a personal example. I live across the country from my mother. I moved away from my home state on the west coast three years ago and now I live on the east coast. The other night, I was lying in bed and a heavy feeling came over me - I miss my mom so much. The great news is I’ll be spending a week with her at the end of the month. I couldn’t hide this feeling. It came upon me and I felt sad for a moment. It’s important to bring thoughts and feelings out into the open, label them, face them, otherwise they become a stew of anxiety and depression. It may not sound like a benefit, but the truth is - I felt great calling it out and embracing it at that moment. It works the other way around too! Since I’m not scrolling through social media, naturally I have thoughts about current work and personal projects, and that’s when the magic happens - bam! I get new ideas for work. Some of those are being put into action right now too! This has also sparked ideas in my artwork, as an author for new books, and concepts for my blog - like this one. 
  3. Genuine peace and calm: Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a thing. Have you ever felt anxious after scrolling through social media, seeing everyone’s fabricated lives of perfection. Trips, parties, brunches, weddings, baby photos. I’m all about being happy for others, but not at the expense of my mental health. We have to be honest with ourselves. There’s a point of scrolling far longer than we should. By being away from all devices in the evening until the morning, and until I’ve drank a cup of water and coffee, after journaling - everything hits differently. I feel a true, authentic sense of peace and calm every morning rather than stress, anxiety, FOMO, etc. The reality is, giving ourselves dedicated self-care in the morning sets up how the rest of our day will go. Almost everything else can wait. Try it.
  4. Optimal focus to start the day: When you begin to detach yourself from devices in the evening and right away in the morning, you will naturally start to appreciate what the morning has to offer you. Did you know by stepping outside for morning sunlight you can improve your sleep, energy and happiness by just getting sunlight for a few minutes? This isn’t speculation, it’s a scientific fact. Sunlight provides us with Vitamin D which improves sleep. Bright morning light stimulates our serotonin production. Serotonin produces feelings of happiness and well-being. Morning sunlight also increases focus and productivity. When we’re too busy jumping onto our phones right away in the morning, we rob ourselves of self-care - and easy self-care at that. Attention away from our devices means more attention to our surroundings, like stepping outside for morning sunlight with our coffee. 

Are you ready to hack your brain for optimal well-being? You have the tools right now, it’s just a matter of taking actionable steps. What are some ways you’ve used neuroplasticity to your advantage to train your mind? 

Love ya, 
Sterp


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How to rewire your brain and body for less stress using the book The 5 Resets

2/2/2024

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How to rewire your brain and body for less stress
Happy February dear reader…and you know what that means?! We slayed the first month of 2024. Before we dive into our first February topic of how to rewire your brain and body for less stress - all proven by the book The 5 Resets by Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, MD - I want to say thank you for coming back each month and tuning in. I appreciate you! Because of your friendship and dedicated attention, last month I was inspired to write the FOUR blogs and a free ebook below just for you:

  1. New Year, same me - just more of me for you (I’m keeping this promise by sharing more of my life hacks, updates and creativity with you!)
  2. The one Post-It note I have hanging on my desk to help with productivity (something I learned from being a fangirl of Lewis Howes’ show/podcast The School of Greatness.)
  3. The one fine dining restaurant you must try in Bloomsburg, PA (if you’re ever in little Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania - don’t miss trying out this place.)
  4. ​How to organize any space and make it fun (using the one post-it hanging on my desk in my second blog above and sharing my intimate moments with my bestie with all of you.)
I wrote an ebook for you too! Don’t forget to grab that below to learn about the six mantras I live by every day for peak happiness. ​

    Enter your email to receive my free ebook: 6 Mantras I Live by for a Happy Life

Send me my free ebook
Six mantras to live by for a happier life

Are you ready to learn how to rewire your brain and body for less stress using techniques available to you right now? I read the book The 5 Resets so that I could share with you the techniques I learned to help you achieve less stress and more resilience. Let’s go! 

I want to start with this quote from the beginning of the book, “We’ve learned to tell ourselves that we’ll engage in self-care at some future time - when we aren’t so busy, when the kids are grown, when we’ve reached a work goal, when the pressure is off, when we have a vacation week, when there’s more money in the bank, when we retire. Regrettably, we give self-care the least attention when we need it most.” 

Sound familiar? Dr. Nerurkar goes on to say, “Stress is the most common and unifying experience we have as human beings. We’re all living life with the same intensity, but we go through the experience feeling completely alone. We’re completely isolated in our togetherness with stress.”
​
This resonated with me and is what encouraged me to write this blog - to share in our common experience and togetherness with stress. Here’s the great news, backed by science:
  • Stress and burnout are fully reversible
  • By knowing how the brain responds to chronic stress, you can use techniques to rewire your brain and body (techniques you already possess!)

So how does the brain respond to stress? It’s crucial we dive into some of the science because first, it’s fascinating, and second, it’ll prove to you how simple it is to rewire your brain. 

Stress starts in the brain’s hippocampus (our emotional center.) Yes, stress = emotions. But here comes the aha! moment, the hippocampus is also where we learn and create memories. This means, stress is a learned response. This also means, stress can be unlearned. The ability to unlearn and rewire our brains is because of neuroplasticity. All that means is our brains have the ability to change - pretty damn cool if you ask me. It’s that simple and similar to strengthening any muscle (like the glutes, which I’ve been focusing on growing and the hubby feels a difference!)

The more you engage in a new habit (taking daily walks, eating broccoli, etc.) the brain creates a pathway for that habit and strengthens that pathway. This is the foundation of the five techniques in this book. Before diving into those five resets, Dr.Nerurkar defines what she calls the Resilience Rule of 2. She encourages us to only make two changes at a time because we are more likely to stick to those changes in the long term. This is why many New Year’s resolutions fail. Example - rather than saying, “I want to lose 20 pounds,” and placing pressure on yourself to heavily restrict your diet and go to the gym - focus on two simple changes to start. Maybe you won’t eat past 7pm and you will go on a daily 20 minute walk. Once you do that for 1 - 2 months, you can introduce another two new items.

Here are the 5 resets to practice for less stress and more resilience

Reset 1: Get clear on what matters most

Dr. Nerurkar suggests uncovering your MOST goal, which stands for:
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Motivating: a goal that is motivating and within reach, a goal that energizes you
Objective: changes you can regularly monitor, no matter how tiny or incremental
Small: small enough to guarantee success
Timely: time-sensitive, ideally within three months

If you’re not sure what matters MOST, the next bit is my favorite. You can discover your MOST goal by asking yourself what five activities did you do as a child that brought you joy and made the hours pass like minutes? Go write it down! Here are mine:
  1. Making art: drawing and painting 
  2. Reading books
  3. Creating films/home movies
  4. Playing guitar and being in a band
  5. Playing outdoors

Next, pick two from your list and begin incorporating into your life every day for 15 minutes. Congratulate yourself each day after completing the activity. As you continue to incorporate these activities that bring you joy, your stress will reduce.
Reset 2: Find quiet in a noisy world

You may not like this one, but it’s so important. It can make or break someone’s chronic stress. 

“The most detrimental relationship in your life is most likely the thing glowing in the palm of your hand: your smartphone.”

You must learn to design digital boundaries. We continue to hear it but refuse to make the change. Decreasing smartphone use leads to improved well-being and sustainable mental health outcomes. It’s FREE to decrease your smartphone use, you just have to be smarter than your smartphone. 

After reading this, I began charging my phone in my office starting at 9pm. It no longer charges in my bedroom. Did these questions just pop up in your mind, “What about your morning alarm? What if there’s an emergency and someone has to get a hold of you in the middle of the night?” On and on… I am surviving. I use Alexa as my alarm now but I could easily purchase an alarm clock if needed. My husband charges his phone in the room, so any emergency can come through him. I am now on day 5 of doing this and my sleep is starting to improve. I have more creative ideas as well. You should try it. Or commit to putting your phone away when you are spending time with those you love. 
Reset 3: Sync your brain and body

Dr. Nerurkar refers to research from the book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from People Who’ve Lived the Longest. Sounds promising, think I should read that next and share my learnings?

In this section, there is emphasis on the science of bringing your attention to your breathing. This is another one we’ve heard time and time again. It’s one I try to teach my family and friends, and yet, they all seem to have the same reaction - not really anything. They nod and move on, never actually incorporating this simple, very easy technique into their lives. It’s disappointing because it’s not until stress causes physical consequences and a doctor says the same thing, and even then people roll their eyes at breath techniques. I walk the walk, and have used breathing exercises before I read this book. 

The next time you feel overwhelmed and stressed, whether you are running late, having a tense conversation, or even if you’re not stressed and just watching a movie, try the Stop - Breathe - Be method.

In your mind, say STOP. Then say to yourself BREATHE, and take a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then say BE, and take a moment to ground yourself in the present. That is it. I focus on my breathing while driving, doing chores, and making my coffee in the morning. It is also a free technique, scientifically proven to reduce your stress and you can start right now. Go ahead, try it.
Reset 4: Come up for air 

Get ready for the myth of multitasking. Our brains function best when they aren’t overloaded. It’s a scientific fallacy that working faster, harder and longer improves productivity. That’s great news!

Our brains need to decompress. When we step away for a break, our brain goes through a process called consolidation. Brain consolidation is when new learning and information in our minds gets cemented into pathways for future use. Our brain changes more when we take those needed breaks rather than during learning sessions. 

This is why multitasking is not at all productive. When our brains multitask, they are task switching and this is detrimental to our brain’s memory and attention. Multitasking can actually slow productivity by 40%. 

Ready to hear the opposite of multitasking…monotasking. And here’s how you do it using what's called the Pomodoro Technique. Set a timer to work on one task (you can start with 25 minutes or even go 45 minutes.) Once the timer goes off, take a 5 minute break. Start a new timer with a new task. That’s it! I set up my work day this way and it’s been phenomenal. I make progress every day on all my project areas. This method strengthens the prefrontal cortex of our brains, the logical decision making area. Pretty cool right?!
Reset 5: Bring your best self forward 

Part of our unified experience of stress includes our inner critic and self-talk during times of stress. Be honest with yourself, how do you speak to yourself internally? Just this year, I’ve started to change my self-talk into positive words - and I am about to turn 37 next month (insert quote from Kevin Smith’s Clerks, “37!!!”)

Another easy and free technique. Notice when you are berating yourself, then stop by using the Stop, Breathe, Be technique and reframe what you said to yourself into something more positive. 

Another tip the author gives is to start a gratitude practice each day. I know, insert eye roll, but check this out. Calling out your gratitude has been shown to decrease stress, improve mood and improve overall life satisfaction. Again, no cost. You can either think about what you're grateful for each night or write it down. I started writing mine down and have been for four nights now in a row, and I plan to stick to it since my phone is charging out of my room by 9pm.

I have only summed up what I learned from the book The 5 Resets. There is so much more great information in this book so be sure to check it out. These techniques are easy wins. I am incorporating them into my life and already see the difference. You only have one life, why live it miserably when you have full control of rewiring your brain and body? 

Thanks again for your friendship and readership, 
Sterp
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How to organize any space and make it fun

1/28/2024

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How to organize any space and make it fun
I promised in my last blog, The one Post-It note I have on my desk to help with productivity, that I would test out the post-it note mantra on my desk which asks, “What would this look like if it were fun?” Reaching peak productivity is not always glamorous and often requires us to do tedious tasks in order to make progress. Those tasks are necessary but sometimes very boring. So, how do you organize any space and always make it fun? Ask yourself, “What would this look like if it were fun?” I tested this recently with my bestie when she asked for help in cleaning and organizing her wood burning art studio. She was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of organizing her art space. It seemed like an impossible task. So, we rolled up our sleeves, and made it look and feel fun.

BEFORE (Some may say, a crackhead den...not that there's anything wrong with that - insert Seinfeld quote lol.)

Organizing art studio space
Art studio space organization

IN PROGRESS...COMPLETED PHOTOS FURTHER DOWN!

Organizing art studio
Wood staining
Art studio shelves
Wood burning art

So, how exactly did we make this fun? We came up with a few easy ways to make the process enjoyable. We decided to:
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  • Document the journey by taking before and after photos and sharing those with you.
  • Listen to our favorite music while cleaning and organizing.
  • Share the experience together. If a friend is down, that will always make the dreadful a little bit better.
​

When I shared the idea with my bestie to document our journey, her face lit up, “That would be cool!” The excitement was starting to brew as we faced the stressful job ahead. BTW - there is such a thing as good stress and this is an example of it. Good stress enables your brain to solve problems that are achievable and once achieved brings a sustainable happiness that instant gratification does not provide. Along the way, I discovered something about my bestie…she owned a label maker! Hear me out, I have never owned one. They are so damn satisfying. I was organizing the space in her studio where she keeps her finished pieces and asked, “Do you have a label maker?” I didn’t expect the answer would be yes. But it was, and now I’m here dreaming about label makers every day. Check out my TikTok video below to get full impact. 
@iamsterp3 #labelmakers ♬ I Like It - Cardi B & Bad Bunny & J Balvin
The best part of re-organizing a space is getting rid of all the crap you don’t need that has piled up. It’s exhilarating. I’m one of those hard core people, if I haven’t used or worn something in six months, I don’t deserve to keep it. That’s where we started, filling four trash bags. This cleared the space and allowed us to visually see what was important. Organizing is far easier once all the unnecessary items are out of the way. I also want to point out, all the furniture and shelves in my bestie’s studio are second hand. She is a master thrifter (definite potential for another blog on her mastery skills.) This girl can find anything at a bargain.

After two and half hours, the bestie’s wood burning art studio was transformed! We designated areas for specific phases of her wood burning business: creating, staining, completed inventory, and packaging.


BEFORE

AFTER

Art studio redesign
Wood burning
Designing an art studio space
Art studio thrift furniture
Thrift furniture
Wood staining
Wood stain colors
Organization for art studio

Follow Wood Burning with Ashley - here's why!

Check out some of her beautiful pieces below. She burns everything by hand after she places a stencil drawing down. If you see anything you like, you’ll be getting quality in addition to reasonable pricing. She is responsive and can customize anything. Be sure to follow her Facebook business page Wood Burning with Ashley here​.
Day of the Dead art, wood burning
Wood signs for dog lovers
Lighthouse art
Wood signs for cat lovers
Wood signs for dog lovers
Meditation wood signs
Wooden witch signs
Pacman
Beauty and the Beast art
The next time you dread a task, ask yourself, “What would this look like if it were fun?” It could be as simple as asking a friend to help, putting on your favorite tunes or documenting and sharing the journey with others to provide value to the world. What have you been procrastinating on? Tell me in the comments. 

Thank you for taking time to tune in dear reader, 
​

Sterp
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