Everyday Essentials
My Top 5 Everyday Essentials Under $25
Image credit: Unsplash @jakobowens1
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The fall season is officially upon us. While the landscape of our lives does not look like anything we recognize, it is our reality. With prime day approaching, I wanted to offer up some fall favourites that I cannot live without. These are my go-to’s in life, and I cannot make it through the day without them. If you are planning on checking out Prime day, try out a couple of these offerings. I promise you will not regret it.
I don’t want to bog you down with a long-winded introduction. Let’s get straight into my top 5:
Warm and Fuzzy Reading Socks:
Regardless of your stance on socks, you’ve got to be comfortable. There are no two ways around that. I received my first pair of reading socks as a gift, and they literally changed my life.
Now I’m not much of a sock wearer. I think that they are uncomfortable. I hate folding them, and I am always losing them. I love the summer months when I can survive off sandals and ballet flats. But in North America, the cold months far outweigh the hot. Living a life of flip flops and flats is just out of the question. Furthermore, at home, you aren’t wearing shoes anyway.
How do you keep cozy while you sit at your table or do your chores? Most importantly, who hugs your feet while you read?
In my dream life, where reality has no consequences, I would wear a brand new pair of socks every day. This way, I would never have to deal with washing and folding them or having that worn-out feeling when they start losing their shape. I would also take them off the second I got home and put on my reading socks. These socks are incredibly comfortable. They're more like a hybrid between a knit sock and a moccasin. They are fluffy, soft and keep your feet feeling warm and cozy. Invest in a good pair this fall and love them through the winter.
Cozy Hooded Pocket Scarves:
I may not be a sock girl, but I am definitely a scarf girl through and through. I have October 1st marked on my calendar for the express reason that I believe it is the date I can wear all of the scarves I want with zero consequence.
In these “after days,” they are a great security blanket. Yes, I even wear them around the house. Big billowy scarfs are kind of my thing. I love them oversized, I love them knit, and I love them soft. But I never realized the one scarf I could not live without was my pocket scarf.
This is precisely what it sounds like: a scarf with a pocket in it. Now, what am I going to do with the pocket in my scarf, you ask. Why would I ever need or use such a thing? That was pretty much the conversation I had with myself before I tried it. POCKETS quickly replaced this thought!
Pockets are kind of like thumb holes. They seem useless at first, but then, they are thumb holes!
It's just so comfy and so handy. You can use the pockets to warm your hands when you're outside or cold. You can slip in odds-and-ends as you go about your day. Have you ever really realized the lack of pocket options in women's clothing? We are trained to put everything in our purses rather than our pockets. But pockets are super handy.
When you have a pocket in a pinch, you will thank me. Beyond this, they are just unbelievably warm and cozy. If you have not gotten on the scarf train, what are you waiting for?
A Good Planner or Organizer
I live and die by my planner. I remember in elementary school when they first tried to institute agendas, how much I struggled with using it regularly. I remember how much I pushed back against its implementation.
Now I am older, and I have so many different hats to juggle. I have finally realized the importance of a planner in organizing your life.
If you do not use a planner, try one for a week. You would be surprised at how much more you accomplish when you set daily tasks and mindfully complete them. It's not that planners give you any more time in the day. What they do is, they allow you to use the time you have more efficiently. When you use your time more effectively, you finish what you have to do faster and generally with better quality. Now, you can then feel good in your downtime.
Your schedule becomes more relaxed. You are not plagued with the anxiety of all of the tasks left uncompleted. You have either finished them or have been scheduled to be finalized with dedicated time assigned later in the week.
You are no longer worried about how you're going to get everything done. Until recently, I was a massive fan of The Happy Planner. While I'm being honest, I should tell you that I actually use two planners: I have one planner that organizes my day-to-day life. I have a second planner that I use to manage my business and all of its content.
I have been using The Happy Planner because I love its customizability. They are continually putting out new designs and layouts, and they also have a plethora of other accessories. Every Sunday, I sit down with my iced coffee and stickers and decorate my planner for the week.
This is my self-care because I get to sit back and reflect on everything that I have accomplished this week and concentrate on the week ahead.
The stickers and decorations help me set my mood for the week. Do I want to feel serene or, do I want an energetic layout? These are things that I get to dictate with the ambience of my planner.
While I am an enormous fan of The Happy Planner, for 2021, I am going to switch it up. In one of my shopping sprees for even more planner stickers, I discovered a brand new company launching customizable planners and accessories.
Next year's planner will be from Capitol Chic Designs, and they are black-owned and operated. A woman of colour founded this company. It is a small company out of California. I have bought a couple of their sticker book so far, and I love the representation that this is bringing to the stationary game. If you know anything about me, you know I'm obsessed with stationery, and I passionate about supporting and promoting other black and brown businesswomen like myself.
This year, I will purchase one of her planners to go along with the stickers I already own and do my part to uplift another passionate female entrepreneur. I strongly encourage you to check out her offerings.
Aromatherapy Diffuser
Keep a diffuser handy because motivation is not always on tap.
Sometimes it is hard to get up the motivation to get things done working from home. I have a ton of different hats I have to wear throughout the day. Often I have to do something that I'm just not in the mood to do. As someone who works from home, productivity and self-discipline are absolutely essential.
The question is, how do you force yourself to be productive when you have no motivation to do anything?
Your sense of smell is integral to so many different aspects of your life. We've already discussed how it can help you to remember. Today we're going to discuss how it helps you get moving.
There are certain things that when you smell them, your body reacts in a specific way. You might smell Granmas home cooking and remember your childhood. Or the smell of chicken noodle soup might make you want to curl up with a blanket. Scents can also make you feel extremely energized, especially when you train yourself to associate them with being productive.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes just the smell of coffee makes you wake up a little bit? That's because, over the years and years of training, your brain has associated the scent of those roasted beans with getting to work.
I keep my diffuser on my desk, and at first inkling or a sluggish or lousy mood, I start it. Right now, I am enjoying the scent of lemongrass. I find this so energizing, and it usually picks up my mood almost immediately. Experiment and find the aroma that works best for you to associate it with your productive mode. I especially enjoy my diffuser in the evening when I need to push through a few more items after an already busy day.
Get your point across with Grammarly
I do a ton of writing for both business and personal reasons. One look at my website, and you can see that I pump out the content.
What you may not see is that I also do a tonne of proofreading for students. Grammarly helps me out with all of these tasks. It helps me to be conscious and concise about my wording and elevate my post.
There are some days when you're just off your game, and it comes through in your writing. We've all read back that text or that post and thought to ourselves, “what would I even trying to say?” Grammarly catches those mistakes, even on your smartphone.
Probably the best and most exciting feature of Grammarly is that it is free. You do not have to subscribe to the premium paid option to start catching those errors and up your writing game.
I have been a paying patron of Grammarly for years now, even before I became an affiliate. I sought a relationship with them because it was a service that I use literally every day. I am sure Grammarly has been the difference between getting a B and an A on a paper on more than one occasion.
I use these five favourites literally every day. If you are planning on checking out Prime day, make sure to browse these suggestions. What are your daily essentials? Are you going to pick them up on Prime Day? Let me know in the comments!
I would like to be transparent so that there are no misunderstandings. As an affiliate, I may earn a small commission from any products linked in this post. This is not a sponsored post, and I was not asked to recommend these products. These are products that I genuinely love and wanted to share with my audience.