To be completely honest, I almost didn’t write this post.
I’ve been going through a period of winnowing down all the tasks and commitments in my life so that I am doing only the things that make the most impact on my family, career, and personal happiness. For a minute or two I debated whether or not to continue the ‘Loving Lately’ series of posts that I did all last year at the end of each month. But at the end of the day, I enjoy these posts so much that I decided to keep this series, at least for now.
These posts might look a little different going forward (i.e. shorter and less frequent), but they bring me too much joy to just quit. I love that anticipating these posts makes me stay on the lookout for things that I enjoy. It’s a great way for me to bring a little positivity into my life and not focus too much on the negatives. So without further ado, here are three things that I’m loving right now:
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Downy Unstopables
I’m totally hooked on these little laundry beads. They are a little more expensive than your standard Downy fabric softener, but I have been using just a fraction of the suggested amount and it makes my laundry smell SO GOOD. Wash your sheets with this stuff and you feel like you are going to bed in heaven. It even makes my old, stinky workout clothes stay fresh longer!
Serial Reader App
Like I needed another reading app. But seriously, this app is great! You can choose from hundreds of classic books and it will break it up into magazine length pieces that take about 10-20 minutes to read. You choose what time you want to receive it, and it will send you a notification each day when the next issue is ready for you to read. My plan is to use it to guide me through reading really long, intimidating works like War and Peace just a little at a time. Right now I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo, a book I’ve been putting off for a long time because of it’s massive length.
Writing 75 words a day
I have long been an aspiring author, and equally as long suffered from the common malady of procrastination. I would have this feeling that if I couldn’t sit down and write for two hours at a time then it wasn’t worth writing at all. I decided that was wrong. I decided to make a resolution to write every single day, and I decided to pick a word count that was so small I couldn’t possibly fail at it. The right number for me was 75 words per day, and it’s working! I have written at least 75 words every single day in the month of January, usually more. The result is that I have added just over 4,700 words to my manuscript this month, and I’m happy and proud of this new discipline.
I love this 75 words a day thing! A daily writing intention always seemed so overwhelming to me, but this actually seems manageable.
Overwhelming is exactly how I felt. Maybe one day I could bump it up to a higher number, but for now 75 words/day feels right.
Your 75 words/day shows that little steps add up to big change. Congrats and keep it up!
Thank you! It feels good to be making progress.
My writing has slacked off this past year. Writing 75 words each day sounds like a reasonable goal I can achieve.
I feel like it’s pretty manageable – hope you get back into your writing groove soon!
I’m loving a lot of things too! I think I should give that Downy Unstopables a try too!
You totally should, they smell amazing!
Oh I haven’t tried this app you mentioned. My January has been about writing and reading more to build my blog. I like your approach to both. Great way to feel a little less overwhelmed at times.
Yes, I find it can be easy to get overwhelmed even doing something you enjoy. Breaking it into smaller chunks helps me stay motivated and keep moving forward.
I love adding the unstoppables to my laundry!!
They are the best!