Must-Have
New year, new habits, new favorite things... right? Absolutely. Last month I doted on how much I love a certain special type of caffeinated hot chocolate. But a lot can happen in a month, preferences can change -- especially in January when you have goals to achieve and still the same 24-hours in a day. Keep reading to see what my new guilty pleasure is, why it's different, and what other neat travel and productivity tools I'm swearing by this year.
P.S. To jump right to the Amazon List, click here!
Pour Over Coffee Set
Look at how cute that set is! Eeerp.... back up. What about my obsession with hot chocolate, you ask? Not too long ago I was diagnosed with a hot, active nodule on my thyroid, which was, in turn, causing me to have hyperthyroidism. In the weeks prior to the Radioactive Iodine Therapy, I had to go on a Low Iodine Diet. Which basically meant no food or drinks at all. I kid... kind of. No dairy, no egg [yolks], nothing with salt in it (assuming you know for certain the salt is not iodized), even chicken and beef needed to be kept at a minimum because their feed often contains iodine.
Well, my beloved hot chocolate contained dry milk and whey... so I had to abstain. As a result of my research I found that when drank properly, coffee has a lot of health benefits. Repeat... when consumed properly. We're talking organic, minus the sweet stuff, things like that. Also, in reasonable quantities. Yeah, yeah.
But, coffee was often on my "safe to eat/drink" list, and so I decided to make the switch. Since we live and travel in an RV I didn't want to get a bulky electronic coffee maker, so I started looking into pour-over coffee maker alternatives. Where you grind your beans and make each cup manually (which also has health benefits.)
I've been very pleased with the set so far! Consider giving it a try!
Next, I'm going to segway into this fancy item, because the coffee and the Cup Cozy sorta go hand in hand:
Cup Cozy Pillow
I didn't take my own picture, because I primarily use it in my bed, which is primarily where I work, which means it's almost always not very picture-worthy. Alas, the company's banner above does the trick quite well.
I love having this pillow in our RV because we're a bit lacking in space and fancy things like... tables. So it's nice to be able to sit it beside me on the bed or on the couch and have a place to hold my drinks during long work hours. I can bounce around on the bed, get up and down, and my drinks stay safely swaddled in their cozy pillow. I also use the other pockets for things like a pen, my cellphone, etc.
How about we peek into a more "productive" must-have:
ReMarkable
I cannot stress how great of a fit this product is for me and our lifestyle! What is it, you ask? In short, it's a digital notebook. Not to be confused with your average tablet. This one mimics a paper notebook in that in many ways it behaves much the same, right down to how it feels when you're writing on it. I had originally considered purchasing it with the intention of using it during our travels to write more, take more notes, and keep better track of my thoughts without the bulkiness of a heavier tablet or laptop. A digital bullet journal also sounded fun. It certainly wasn't a "must-have" at the time, but rather a "nice-to-have." For the price point (it's pricey, y'all) I had to come up with other ways to use it, or else the "investment" wouldn't be worthwhile.
So that's exactly what I did.
First, of course, I realized I could have my entire writer's notebook in there. I'm talking the outlines, character sheets... you name it!
At the time, I was also in an author course that had weekly worksheets. Trouble was figuring out a way to print them so I could utilize them.
As if fate was pointing me in the right direction, it was also time to print more worksheets for my children's homeschooling routine... the printer is a bit bulky, having to constantly print worksheets every school year a bit time consuming, and the wireless capabilities a bit tricky while moving from place to place.
Then I got the bright idea to put all my sons' worksheets on the reMarkable. Instead of a paper journal (time, money, paper waste), they could have digital journals.
There are so many ways I have discovered the reMarkable can be used for (right down to a volunteer application my husband had to sign and email last night).
I think it's safe to say that with the coffee, the pillow, and the digital notebook, my 2020 promises to be fruitful.
One more item to bring this post home with:
Jamie Raintree's Writing & Revision Tracker
Jamie sells this amazing writing and revision tracker on her website for only $10, and it takes writers through the entire year... fitting a whopping TEN project fields.
Her video tutorial does the best job at explaining it all, so I'm going to leave you with that <3
I hope these products get you as excited, motivated, and productive as they have me!
Until next time.