[Intro] Hi, I'm Kat, marketer turned brand storyteller. And I'm Candice, educator turned entrepreneur. And you're listening to Not Nice, Clever. As CEOs and leaders, it's your job to always have the answers. But sometimes you need a little help. Leverage, if you will. We get it. This is the place for you. So wherever you're listening, 530 AM Club at the gym, on your way to your next meeting or putting out today's fire, let's get into
[Candice Carcioppolo]
In today's mini episode of Not Nice Clever with Summer Upon Us, we thought it would be great to talk a little bit about some of our post travel weekend recharge routines because a lot of you are traveling the summer, we're traveling the summer as well. And particularly as introverts, travel can really take a toll on the amount of energy we have, especially when it comes to work and when it comes to just dealing with a lot of different personalities.
So we thought today would be a great day to kind of break down a few of those routines and make sure you feel like you're not alone.
[Kat Torre]
Clever crew, we are here for you. And even this goes for extroverts because introverts are obviously more sensitive to giving energy when they're around people, but travel in general puts you out of routine. It dehydrates you. It can definitely wear you out regardless of if you're extroverted or introverted. So for me, I always buffer in time before and time after on my calendar. So like if I'm out of town, Monday through Friday, or even like Monday through Wednesday, I don't schedule things on Thursday. I take off or severely limit meetings on that Thursday and Friday so that I can catch back up with things. I can recharge. I can get a massage. I think buffering the time before and after was a big game changer for me because people think like, I'm back in town. I'm back on.
That's not how I roll. know that's not how you roll either.
[Candice Carcioppolo]
And you have 125 emails from the time you've been gone. so you can't just hop into a meeting the minute you get back. need to reset and regroup. And there's also just little things in life that need to be taken care of. For example, you probably don't have food in your refrigerator because you've been gone for however long. And you need to go to the grocery store or order Instacart, which is my favorite thing to do. And building in that time before and after, I haven't always been great at this- Dom has actually been on me about being better at this. Now I'm doing at least half a day before I travel because I'm probably getting my nails done. I'm probably doing whatever it is. in order. Getting my outfits ready, exactly. So I do half a day before and then half a day after. There's definitely no meetings in that time and then go from there.
[Kat Torre]
Another thing that is really helpful for me is understanding what do I need to do? like mundane, seemingly mundane activities do I need to do at home to tell my body you're home? You're no longer traveling. So unpacking immediately. Guys, anybody listening who like delays the unpacking when you get home, I hear you, I see you, I was you, sometimes I'm you, but I strive to unpack immediately. Throw that shit in the hamper, do a load, doing laundry when I get home from traveling and like just the sound of the laundry going in the background and then the scent of like the dryer sheets and the dryer going like that's like, okay, Kat, you're home.
[Candice Carcioppolo] I'm that person now too.
[Kat Torre] oh,you are?
[Candice Carcioppolo] Yep, I always unpack immediately when I get home. But here's something that I have learned because I travel so often. So at least twice a month, I'm going somewhere and I have a makeup bag that's for travel.
and I have a toiletry bag that's for travel that is always packed. So I never have to pack my makeup bag, I never have to pack my toiletry bag because there's duplicates, okay? There's a travel set and there is a home set. And that makes it really nice because I always have exactly what I need in those two bags and I'm not thinking about every step of my skincare routine or every piece of my, every makeup item that I use. It's already in there and I'm not thinking about that, that makes it super easy.
[Kat Torre](04:05.000)
It's funny because I recently just got back from Dallas and I don't have like a travel set for everything. I don't wear as much makeup. do. I'm extensive with the skincare, but I make sure that it's always under like the three and a half ounces so that you can do a carry on or check the bag. I spaced and packed a larger dry shampoo bottle. Did they throw Yeah. Well, first of all, TSA, you're welcome for how flawlessly I walk through security. I know it looks like I have a lot going on, but I pay attention, I know what the laptop goes in or if it stays out or whatever. But this time, the TSA security agent had to pull my bag aside and he looks at me, he's like, who's is this? And he sees me. He's like, what happened? I'm like, I'm never that person. He's like, you don't look like that person. He's like, but I got to open up your bag. I'm like, okay, open up the bag. He pulls out my Amica dry shampoo and I'm like, damn it. I'm like, that's really good shampoo. Yeah. No, I was like, give it to your girlfriend. I was like, it's great quality. And he looks at me. He's like, I'm disposing of it right now. right. Right, TSA.
[Candice Carcioppolo] (05:05.000)
So... What do they actually do with that?
[Kat Torre] No, they throw it in the trash. At least that's what they do in public.
[Candice Carcioppolo] I mean... Look, if I worked for TSA... And it was the end of the day, I'd be going, like, ooh, this is good perfume, thank you.
[Kat Torre] (05:25.000)
Shampoo, especially in Texas. But I made a mistake. So I think travel size is good. Another thing that's really helpful for me is to have a mindless activity lined up.
The tendency for how I am is the story I tell in my head, used to tell in my head is that like with those 125 emails and the Slack messages and the DMs and all that, that I'm behind, right?
[Candice Carcioppolo] Yes. That's the immediate feeling that you just are going into Yeah, you to like react to it.
[Kat Torre]
Yes. I sometimes, like I'll unpack immediately, but I'll sometimes just leave that inbox wherever it is and I'll sit and just play Tetris on my phone for like an hour.
or watch Bridgerton on Netflix for an hour. And let me tell you, the ROI of resting and just unplugging mentally to decompress, to start the decompression process, huge. Because then once I've done that, I've kind of calmed my mind, cleared my mind, then I can get to work. I love travel, but it puts me so out of my routine. And I crave routine, so I need to give my mind that kind of wind down time. Do you do anything like that?
[Candice Carcioppolo] (06:38.362) You know I love my walks. So I'm always like, I will put a load of laundry in and then I will go for a walk. And that will help me just recenter regroup. It'll keep me away from checking emails. And I've been much better at not checking emails outside of my like own made up in my head work hours, which makes it really nice. And I've told you guys this before, but I also tell people I check my email once a day. Monday through Friday. So maybe you sent the email before I checked, or maybe you sent it after, in which case I will see it the next day. And most people are fine as long as they know the cadence at which I checked my email, they know the expectations. Like you can absolutely email me on the weekend, I'm just gonna check it on Monday.
[Kat Torre] (07:15.002) I will also like be unapologetic about taking as many naps or sleeping in as much as I need to. And I recognize that that advice is not available to everybody who has kids, who has different work schedules, hours and whatnot. But I think the moral of that story is like, take the rest where you can and like make time for rest and how whatever that looks like for you, because slowing down to be able to like speed up like come Monday morning or come Wednesday or whatever day it is, you are so much more productive and well rested and recharged.
[Candice Carcioppolo] (07:50:00) I think for me, food is a big part of me resetting and getting home because I don't like eating out all the time. When I get home, I'm like excited to eat food that feels better to me that I cook at home. And maybe it's not like anything crazy that takes a long time, but just something that I've made that doesn't feel like, not that I eat fast food, just, yeah, exactly. Heavy. You can tell us if you don't.
I mean, rarely. I mean, I do love in and out. Who doesn't? my gosh. But I'm not like really a fast food person.
[Katt Torre] (08:17:00) Will has broken me of that habit. Like the dirtiest look he ever gave me when he saw McDonald's in the trash. was like I had cheated or something. Now I have totally
[Candice Carcioppolo] But I don't mind fries and a Coke from McDonald's. There we go. We all have our days. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Take those days. That's the lesson.
[Candice Carcioppolo] (08:50:00) But Instacart, my best friend, if you guys don't use Instacart, it's just so easy. It knows what I normally order. like really easy for me to order it again. my gosh, just key. And I can even like in the Uber on the way home, I can order and it'll basically be home a few minutes after I'm home. And so I have fresh produce, which I probably didn't eat on while I was gone. Right. And that helps me feel so much better. And yeah, there's a lot of lounging and Dateline watching, obviously.
[Katt Torre] (09:06.186)
Obviously. I throw off any sort of human real people clothes and I put on the giant socks, the stretchy sweatpants shorts, shapeless sweatshirt that I steal from Will's side of the closet. I I become a blob. I become a blob. It's hard to tell where my edges are, but I just blend in with the couch.
[Candice Carcioppolo] I wear it at the airport. You guys have probably seen it a million times, but it's like a Viore jogger suit. And it's so good. It's just like so buttery and I love it. Check it out if you.
But those are some of the things that we do. And I think that there's sometimes guilt around spending the time to regroup that I want everyone to understand that you need to not feel guilty about taking care of yourself, about taking care of your mental health, about taking a step back from work. And I'm telling you this as much as I'm telling myself this because it can be difficult when you feel like things are piling up or people are counting on you. But if you're not taking care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone else. And so I want to offer that you can unapologetically take time for yourself to regroup when you get back from your travels, whether it's work travels or summer vacation travels and you're with your kids. It's okay to take a beat and just be.
[Kat Torre] Amen.
[Outro] Thanks for joining us on Not Nice, Clever. Remember to follow Not Nice, Clever wherever you listen to audio. And if you haven't already, drop that five star review. Share your takeaways. Tell us your story. We love to hear it. Signing off, you're not so nice, but so clever besties that mean business. See you soon.
