Good morning and welcome to the warm edition of Mindful Monday!

Hot and bothered, yeah it’s easily done. Let’s cover a few of the basics and make sure you get through this heatwave safely.

Fans over aircon. Of the many mod cons, AC units use a crazy amount of energy and often leak nasty chemicals into the atmosphere… not amazing. If you do have one, please use considerately or… use a fan! Strategically placed fans can suck cooler air from the shaded side of the house to the warmer parts (and generally use less energy to run).

Keep the curtains and blinds firmly closed. This is possibly the easiest way to help keep out the warming rays from outside – and you get to pretend you’re in a cave.

Sleep tight. Ok, so you’ve ditched the duvet and you’re still sweating? Try wrapping a cold, wet flannel around your shoulders/neck (please be careful!) to get a better night’s sleep.

Get up earlier. Possibly not what you want to hear, but if you start your day a little earlier you give yourself a reasonable chance to avoid working in the heat of the day. Takes some planning, but definitely worth a try.

Cold showers. It’s been a while since I mentioned this little nugget, but if you’ve been putting off the cold shower thing this could be your moment to shine! Like all things with water, be sensible and ease into it, perhaps finishing your regular shower with 30 seconds of cold. I dare you.

More useful tips for handling the heat with aplomb can be found here.

Heat to the rescue
Some clever folk over in Finland have developed a huge energy storage device with old sand. It turns out that heated sand can store a huge amount of energy which is somewhat easily distributed to local industries, pools and buildings. Not that we’re looking for more heat right now, but give it time…

Cool and productive
Ok, so you had a pretty crap sleep because you were too hot and you’re now thinking coffee. But maybe you don’t want a hot drink? And maybe you haven’t quite got your head around the iced coffee thing… what do you do? Easy. You go to Brite Drinks and get yourself a delicious, all-natural energy boosting drink that will see you through the day. Bam!

And just for smiles…

Lego: The Office edition
Finally the wiz kids over at Lego are releasing all your favourite office antics in Lego form with their The Office collection! It’s all here: Dwight’s stapler in jello, yep. Michael’s ‘World’s Best Boss’ mug, you better believe it! Check it out here.

Happy Monday.
You’re Awesome with a capital A.
Luke