Remember when I reviewed the Engage Plus and Experience Plus earplugs from Loop earlier this year? Well, I’m excited to review the new Switch earplugs from Loop today!  And no, I’m not just buying earplugs to test them from time to time (although is that a real job? Because I might be interested). Once I got the Engage and Experience actually got the Loop Switch earplugs after losing one of my beloved Engage earplugs after wearing them out for Halloween trick-or-treating — these are a holiday lifesaver for the sugar-induced screaming and squealing that comes from all that candy consumptio ..read more

One of the lessons I’ve learned most as an editor (especially of my own writing/podcasting) is knee-jerk reactions and creating from a space of anger or extreme emotion is messy. Not necessarily bad or good. But messy. If you’ve ever left a reactive comment on something posted on social media, and then deleted it afterward, you might be familiar with this. So I made it an early rule for this blog (and most of my writing) not to publish anything while I had my period or PMSing because I was usually at my most reactive. But I still love to create from that space and find some of my biggest surg ..read more

Hello from burnout. I’m about 90% certain I wrote a blog post last year around this time with the exact same opener. It may have even been the title. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emily Prokop (@emilypeckprokop) I’m currently sitting on my couch completely surrounded by telltale signs of overwhelm. My headphones are on. I’m listening to some binaural beats/nature sounds on full blast to drown out my son’s TV shows that are on in the background. While I’m grateful for the fall weather to come creeping in, my hoodie is less for the cold as it is more because of my need to feel co ..read more

A few years ago, I did a diet & weight loss podcast with a podcasting friend who was starting intermittent fasting at the same time I was. For about 2 years, we met weekly and went Live in our Facebook group to talk about our progress, then we’d release the audio as a podcast. The show is called Hate to Weight — and for those following me now, it's less body-neutral than I am now. I rarely talk about intermittent fasting and intuitive eating, though I still do it for myself. At the time I was recording it, I was still dealing with a lot of internalized fatphobia, some unhealthy eating hab ..read more

I originally started this blog with the idea it would be more focused on Adenomyosis. But as my condition has progressed over the years, I found I don't enjoy my writing when I'm in the throes of dealing with it all. Not only is the pain distracting and makes it difficult to concentrate, but I just come across sounding like a grumpy, self-deprecating, angry little gnome and/or my self-esteem is so in the toilet that everything I make or do never seems good enough or worthy of posting. But this last period, I started drafting this list of things I was grateful for instead. And upon re-reading i ..read more

I had a few weeks of what can only be described as writer's block/overwhelming anxiety. But if you’ve been following me over on Threads, you may have seen I’ve started challenging myself to weekly writing goals for the book I’m currently writing. (I talked more about it in my most recent newsletter for Creative Independent Podcasters.) I love this part of writing, where I’m just reading and absorbing all the information I ened before crating a story from it to write. My writer’s block wasn’t necessarily anxiety over writing my book. I was confident enough in my idea to know it was possible. A ..read more

My husband and I are currently on a child-free vacation. But the twist is we’re actually at home! Blurry picture because I only took a few videos when we decided on a whim to drive to the casino and this was a screenshot from it. Our kids are both on separate summer vacations — the youngest is visiting Niagara Falls with my in-laws and the oldest is with her dad. Mark and I have been living it up like we did when we first dated back in college and it’s been so awesome! He took the week off from work, but I didn’t because I had a light workload and I honestly really don’t enjoy that prep week ..read more

I was digging through some old notes a few weeks ago and came across two lists I wrote back in 2014. I labeled the first as “some of the things I would love to tell teenagers today,” but if I’m being honest with myself, it’s a list of things I wish I could have gone back in time to tell myself when I was younger. The second is simply labeled “I don’t have all the answers,” and I think it’s a list I made thinking about my present and possible future. 31-year-old Emily back in 2014, trying on an outfit for Austin City Limits music festival and hoping I’m cool enough to pull off this hat. I was ..read more

I recently reviewed the Loop Engage Plus Earplugs and love them as my everyday, go-to earplugs. I wasn’t sure if I really needed the Loop Experience Plus (Loop official website / Amazon) since the earplugs I had before trying Loop were already great for concerts. But I decided to try them anyway and I’m glad I did! Take a look at the Loop Engage Pro with me The Experience earplugs are promoted to be more for concerts and other loud events where you would want the protection of earplugs, while still being able to hear and appreciate the music. I find Loop Experience earplugs do a good job of lo ..read more

For the last few weeks, I’ve been trying out Loop earplugs. After seeing repeated ads for them and some of my favorite ADHD influencers raving about them, I decided to give them a try. I tried both the Loop Engage Plus and the Loop Experience Plus earplugs and love them! I had been using earplugs for years to protect my hearing at concerts and I found they worked great to help me focus, as well as keep from getting to overwhelmed with excess sounds. Sometimes I find with my ADHD that noises that might not bother some people bother me a lot — like mouth smacks or tongue clucks. Actually, a lot ..read more