Need a brilliant idea to solve a stick problem? Sleep on it in Week 2 of your cycle

One of my favorite reasons for knowing how my hormones will be impacting me day to day is being able to capitalize on hormonal bonuses that I would have missed if I hadn’t known they were coming.

I was reminded of this as I woke up this morning with a much-needed brilliant idea to solve a sticky problem my husband, Douglas, and I were having.

See, due to my recent spinal fusion surgery, I’ll be unable to do any deep bending for about a year. And, right now my thigh muscles are still too weak from being bedridden in the weeks before and after surgery to crouch. For most tasks I need to do, this isn’t a problem. I can use my little long-handled gripper tool if something falls on the floor or I need to reach something low.

However, Douglas needs to leave me on my own for a few days to travel–and that means I’ll have to figure out a way to give the dogs food and water. I obviously can’t bend or crouch. And my gripper tool isn’t strong enough to do the job.

So, we’ve been racking our brains about how I can feed and water the dogs on my own–and we’d been coming up with nothing that could realistically work.

Then, I remembered I was skidding fast into my high-and-rising estrogen Week 2. Research shows that this is a time in your cycle when you find it easier to come up with more creative solutions because elevated estrogen makes your brain work better and it makes you less critical of out-of-the-box ideas that you might dismiss in other weeks of your cycle.

Then, I also remembered a study that proved sleeping on a tough problem helps you come up with the answer you need the next day.

I decided to combine these two idea-boosting methods–thinking about the problem on a high-estrogen evening right before I went to sleep–to see if I woke up with the solution I was looking for.

And, wouldn’t you know–I didn’t even have my eyes open this morning before the answer hit me like a thunder bolt! All I have to do is buy a flat-bottomed pooper-scooper, plus three dog bowls that fit into it. Then, I’ll use the pooper scooper like a long-handled tray to lower and raise the dog food and water bowls and use my gripper tool to push the bowls off and back onto the pooper scooper! It’s simple, easy and something I can do without bending. Genius!

I’m sharing my story with you today because this little idea-generating trick of combining a high-estrogen day with thinking about a problem right before turning in might help you come up with the perfect solution you need to a nagging problem, too.

And, maybe you’ll find your own unique ways to capitalize on your hormonal bonuses. If so, don’t keep them to yourself. Let me know what you did and how they worked for you!

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