The smart way to get your family screen free

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Let’s face it, many of us spend far too much time on our phones, tablets, and laptops, so now and again we need a reminder to take a screen break.

Yes, they help us work and play, but their addictive nature and glaring lights do little to help us rest.

We have some ideas of how you and your family can get back on track, spend less time online and interact with each other rather than living in a virtual reality.

Have a time limit
Five minutes on Insta can quickly turn into an hour, so having time limits early on is a great idea. No screens before breakfast, a couple of hours at the weekend, nothing an hour before bed and a screen ban in bedrooms can all help to get the balance right and save squabbles later on.

Keep an eye on the remote
In our digital age we often forget the impact of the mere TV screen, but you should monitor this as well. Does the TV really need to be on all the time? Is binge watching box sets the best use of family time together and do the kids watch age appropriate shows? Decide on family rules about the TV, don’t leave it on just because it’s easy and if all else fails, hide the remote!

Rethink TV dinners
Yes, a pizza and movie at the weekend is a treat and can bring you all together, but TV dinners every night might not be the way to go. Open plan living and kitchen diners mean that it’s super easy to eat a bowl of pesto pasta on your knee as you watch Netflix but eating together at the table and catching up on your news can be so much better, and if you cook together that is even better!

Digital detox
There might be protests, but even an hour of screen free time on Sunday can help make some big changes. Putting down the phones and tablets and going out for a walk in the park, having a swim or meeting up with friends will give you time together as a family and while you might not get any photos for Facebook, you will make some lovely memories.

Take back control
When it comes to kids and devices, you do have the option of taking back control and putting restrictions in place. There are various apps out there that allow you to block and filter usage and you can put a timer on the internet, or just turn it off altogether. While asking for passwords might not be your thing, knowing what they are doing online and who they’re talking to, is probably a smart move, even if it is an unpopular one as they get older.

Practise what you preach
If you’re looking at your emails or Facebook feed while you eat breakfast, your children are likely to think they can do the same. If you want your family to agree to changes, you need to ensure you are following the rules as well or you might have a real battle on your hands.

We don’t say you have to do anything drastic now, but doing one or two things differently could bring you closer together.

Team Pure Beauty

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How to practise self care when you work from home

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9 to 5, afternoon, bad habits, balance, bills, biscuit tin, boost, boundaries, break, calls, chair, chocolate bar, clear, clients, coffee, computer, designated office space, desk, DIY, eight hours of sleep a night, energy, evening, exercise, Eyes, fresh air, fresh fruit, Friday, friends, headaches, Headspace, healthy snacks, HIT session, home, homemade flapjacks, job, lighting, living room, meal, meditate, mind, motivated, motivation levels, nuts, oil fish, perk, pitta with feta and egg, PJs, postman, return, routine, salad with oily fish, sensible, set of goals, shops, showered, Skype, soups, stews, team meeting, tidy, tip, unwind., VA, walk, weekend, work, work and personal life, working from home, working hours, yoga, yoga pants, zone

When you work from home, self-care is vital and it is important to make a clear distinction between your work and personal life, ensuring you take time for yourself.

We have some sensible, but easy ways you can get a better balance when it comes to working from home.

Set Boundaries
When you work from home, it is really easy to slip into bad habits like working late into the evening and at the weekend. To maintain a healthy balance between work and home, set your work hours and stick to them. Maybe it is the traditional 9 to 5 that works for you, 10 until 6 is better for some people, a half day on Friday can be a perk of the job. Decide it, do it and stick to it.

Have a place to work
If you can, create a designated office space with a desk and upright chair that supports your back. If you have a whole room or can renovate the loft or the garage, this will give you a great working area and get you in the zone. Lighting is important as this will help you not to strain your eyes or cause headaches. Having a tidy workspace will help to keep your mind clear, and turning off the computer at the end of the day will help you maintain your working hours.

Start the day the right way
You might not have a team meeting to go to, but starting your day with a new list and set of goals, will keep you on track and motivated. You don’t have to do this at your desk, you can have a walk, a coffee after the school drop off or even speak to your VA and make sure you are both on the same page.

Walk away
Making time for some exercise during your day will boost motivation levels and increase productivity. Whether you go for a park run, walk the dog, do a HIT session, or practise yoga in your living room, doing something will give you a break and more energy.

Take a lunch break
We know many people don’t take have an official lunch break, but if you can make time to walk away from your desk and head outside for fresh air, this will set you up for the afternoon ahead. Packing up a salad with oily fish, filling up on soups and stews or having a pitta with feta and egg is a good way to fuel up and afternoon smoothies or homemade flapjacks are good too.

Do not do chores
Putting on the washing, going to the shops, visiting friends or doing a little DIY might be on your list of jobs at home, but it isn’t your real work that will pay the bills. Find times when you can do this, but stick to your working times as above, or you will end up having a clean house and full fridge, but unhappy clients.

Have healthy snacks
It is easy to go for the biscuit tin or unwrap a chocolate bar when you are working at home, but having fresh fruit in a bowl and nuts and raisins in a pot on your desk means when you are peckish, you don’t overdo the rubbish.

Get Dressed
It might seem like a good idea to work in your PJs or yoga pants, but you wouldn’t go out to work this way, so don’t do it at home. Get up, get showered, put the coffee on and get dressed and this will give you a work ready feel, and save blushes with the postman or unexpected Skype calls from clients.

Meditate
We believe that if you take a little time to meditate during the working day, it will give you headspace to unwind so you will return to your computer feeling refreshed.

You still need to sleep
We all need to aim to get about eight hours of sleep a night, and this is the same when you work from home. Late nights and lie-ins might be tempting, but they won’t do your motivation or productivity levels any good. Get into a routine and if it means scheduling calls at 9am or booking a dance class at 6pm to keep to time, then do it.

Got a working at home tip? Send it our way as we would love to know what it is.

Team Pure Beauty

Salad, but not as you know it

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apricots, Asparagus, Balsamic vinegar, BBQ, beef tomato, cherry tomatoes, cold water, crushed, dinner, Extra virgin olive oil, free range chicken breasts, friends, garlic, grated, Hot Tuna and Sweetcorn Salad, ingredients, lemon juice, lemon zest, lunch, luscious green salad, olive oil, organic butter, pan, pan of salted water, peppery leaves, picnic, pitta, plates, red chilli, red onion, Red wine, roasting, rocket, salt and pepper, serve, slivers, soft, steaks, Summer chicken salad, tasty, trimmed, tuna, Vegan, very finely sliced, Watercress, Watercress and apricot pitta bread

How many times do you buy luscious green salad, only to find it limp and sad at the back of the fridge because you don’t know what to do with it?

Full of flavour, the peppery leaves of watercress and rocket contain essential vitamins and can be a great addition to any diet.

Whether you are having friends for dinner, planning an end of term BBQ or packing a picnic for the park, we are here to share some ideas of how to get the most out of your salad leaves.

Watercress and apricot pitta bread
This vegan option takes around 10 minutes to get ready and serves two, making it a quick, easy lunch that is light but tasty.

Ingredients
1 bag of watercress and rocket (washed)
4 ripe apricots
½ a head of fresh fennel
Extra virgin olive oil
Wholemeal pitta breads
For the dressing:
75ml of extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
½ teaspoon of lemon zest
Fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper

To start, halve the apricots, cut them into slices, brush them with oil and place in a hot, dry pan and cook for a minute or so, turning so they are soft.

To make the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper, adding more lemon juice if required.

Toast and break open the pitta bread, add the salad and apricot slices, and enjoy.

Summer chicken salad
This is perfect for a mid-week treat or a lighter alternative to a full roast with all the trimmings.

Ingredients
2 free range chicken breasts
1 x bag of watercress and rocket
1 beef tomato, sliced
60ml olive oil
Large bunch of fresh asparagus, trimmed and washed
Salt and pepper to season

For the dressing
1 red onion, very finely sliced
1 red chilli, grated
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of cold water
Salt and pepper to season

Method
Start by making the dressing as giving it time to settle before eating makes it taste best. Ensure that the onion is finely sliced into slivers and the garlic is well crushed. Put all the ingredients into a glass bowl and beat with a fork until you have a smooth mixture. Pour into a jar and put in the fridge.

We would suggest either putting the chicken on the BBQ or roasting for around 25 minutes, using any left-over garlic plus salt and pepper to season.

Cook your asparagus for two minutes in boiling salted water, then drain and set aside.
Wash the watercress and place onto each plate, then add the chicken and asparagus before drizzling on your dressing – and enjoy.

Hot Tuna and Sweetcorn Salad

Ingredients
1 bag of watercress and rocket
2 fresh tuna steaks
Cherry tomatoes
2 fresh corn on the cob
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar to drizzle
A large knob of organic salted butter
Salt and vinegar

Method
Firstly, boil your corn on the cob in a pan of salted water, chop the tomatoes and wash them, together with the watercress and place on plates.

Next, cook the tuna steaks but do note, this doesn’t take long and burning can happen easily, so don’t walk away mid-cook! Brush the tuna lightly with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish in a heated frying pan over a high heat and cook for just a couple of minutes, depending on how thick the steaks are. Then, turn the tuna over and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add a drizzle of the balsamic vinegar to the salad, place the tuna on the leaves, drain and butter the corn and enjoy with seasoning as required.

Team Pure Beauty

How to get your life together this summer

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As we are fast heading to the longest day of the year, how are you feeling about your life?

Is everything great, or could things be just a little bit better?

A bit healthier?

More organised?

Could you sleep better and feel more energised?

Well, we have put together a few ideas that we hope will let you be the very best version of you, from dawn to dusk.

Nutrition
How often do you sacrifice meal planning and cooking from scratch, for taking shortcuts and getting take-aways? It is so, so easy to get caught up in the pressures of life and the demands of everyone around you, but the truth is that won’t do anyone any favours. But, we do get why it happens. The key is to figure out what to eat each week, ensure you have the shopping organised so that you can then cook recipes that don’t require a massive amount of preparation but taste great and are good for you.

Try to eat foods that nourish your body, support your life, and make you feel and look your best! Keep sugar and alcohol down and fruit and veg high.

Keep stress under control
Stress is totally debilitating, draining, and can have massive damaging implications on our health, energy, and ability to thrive. Let’s face it, stress can stop us from achieving lasting health and wellness, so it is important to look at how we deal with it so that we don’t burnout, or lash out. If we don’t monitor stress levels, we can age before our time, get sick more often than we should, and feel anxious all the time as hormones run rampant around in our bodies.

Think again about what you eat and drink. How much time you work and spend at your screens, and consider how best to get good sleep at night so you wake feeling rested. Make time for you and relax. If you are worried about your stress levels, speak to your family, friends or GP and get some support in place.

Exercise
We have said this before, but it is key to take exercise because it has so many amazing benefits. It’s a natural stress reducer, it gets the blood flowing through your entire body, including your brain, and this can help you focus, think more clearly and allow you to perform better. Exercise gives you glowing, healthy skin and can help improve your immune system.

We aren’t saying that you need to train for a marathon or start boxing for England, but find something you like doing and in time, you will love it and all that it brings to you.

So, grab your trainers, get some funky workout gear, a bottle of water, and let those feel good endorphins racing around your system, making you feel fab.

Just say no
This isn’t easy, as so many of us are people pleasers, but it is important to have boundaries in place so you are OK saying ‘no’. Yes, you want to be able to help others, but if you don’t put yourself from time to time, you won’t be able to help anyone else. Look at what you have to do day to day, work out what your priorities really are, and if you can’t take anything else on, don’t.

We hope you have a great summer and that some of these steps will ensure you are on the right path to being the best you.

Team Pure Beauty

How to make the world a better place, your way

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Walk along the road, go to the park or visit the local woods, and we are pretty sure you will see litter on the street, mess in the gutter and writing on the walls.

A sign of the times – maybe?

Something you can change – definitely.

We have some ideas on how small actions taken by each of us, can make a big impact for all of us in the world we call home.

Plogging
Don’t know what plogging is, where have you been? Well, the Scandinavian’s have come into their own again, as they conied this phrase by combined picking up litter as you run. Doing this means that as well as getting fit and active, this helps you clean up where you live and as you only need your trainers, a bag for life and some gloves to get started, what’s stopping you?

Catch the rain
Water butts are great because the rain water you collect keeps your garden healthy during the dry summer months without draining other resources. If you don’t have the space for a water butt, reuse bath water or collect the water when you’re in the shower and not only will you have green grass but lower bills.

How about a town makeover
Whether it’s a collapsed fence, stagnant pond or graffiti-covered wall, if you offer some time and TLC you can make your corner of the world look better. If you want to give something a new lease of life, get permission from your local council first, then get family, friends and neighbours involved and bring people together, for the better.

Cut down your emissions
Reducing the amount you use your car can really help to cut your carbon footprint, and it isn’t that hard to do. Instead of drving the car to go to the local shops, walk instead, share your commute to work with people who live close by and why not holiday in the UK, rather than taking a plane somewhere else in the world?

Give back
Life is busy, but giving your time to someone in need can be rewarding for you and very much appreciated by them. Helping an elderly friend with their library books, tackling the weeds in your neighbour’s garden, or helping out at the food bank might only be an hour to you, but it could offer a life line to someone else. By doing a quick online search you will find something that will work for you, and no matter where you volunteer, you will make a difference to others.

Buy less
If you want to produce less rubbish, why not simply buy less stuff? When you do shop, go for packaging that can be recycled, freeze what you aren’t going to have time to eat and before you splash the cash, make sure you really need what you are about to purchase, there are only so many jumpers and pairs of jeans you can wear.

Donate
Old and unwanted clothes, furniture and food might not seem much to you, but you will find that homeless shelters and charity shops will be more than happy to take them from you and there will be someone out there will give them a much loved home.

Grow your own
Flowers, plants and trees look pretty but they also remove CO2 from the air and replace it with oxygen, which is what we need. Why not think about taking up gardening, be that at home or in a local space, community garden, old people’s home or school and before you know it, you’ll be creating a welcoming environment and giving back to the world at the same time.

Grow your own
If you’re fed up of having to buy your fruit and veg in plastic bags, why not grow your own? By doing this, you will cut your plastic use, your food will be fresh and organic and if you freeze what you grow, you will have fertiliser free produce on tap.

Team Pure Beauty