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Share positive things with friends each day, find out exactly how much time you spend on different apps each week, and more!
One of my BFFs and I recently started a little ritual where, every evening, we text each other three positive things that happened to us that day. It's so nice! (And usually once we get going, we come up with more than three.) Gratitude texts FTW!
I recently learned that iPhones show a breakdown of how much time you've spent on each app in the past seven days.
The first time I stumbled across this, my numbers were...not good. (14 hours on Twitter! I don't even LIKE Twitter, and I definitely didn't think of myself as a power user!!!) Now my friend Brett and I have a standing Wednesday night appointment to screenshot and share our numbers from the previous seven days with each other. It's been interesting (if slightly embarrassing) to track, and it's a great reality check if you're feeling too busy to do things like reading or writing or getting enough sleep. (To see yours, go to Settings > Battery. Give it a second, and a "Battery Usage" widget will load at the bottom of the screen. Toggle to "Last 7 days" and tap the clock.)
A couple weeks after checking out my numbers regularly, I started using the Forest app, which lets you set an amount of time to not be on your phone, during which you start "growing" a tree. If you check your phone before the timer is up, the tree dies. It's really helpful for those times when you want to focus but keep picking your phone up out of habit. Definitely recommend.
(P.S. I am now down to less than three hours a week on Twitter!)
I recently woke up with my first-ever bloody nose. It was pretty jarring to see a HUGE drop of bright red blood fall onto my brand-new white flannel sheets at 6 a.m. But because I'd recently read Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House, I knew exactly what I needed to get it out: an enzyme cleaner and cold water. *And* because I'd recently read Home Comforts and learned this, I'd ordered some OxiClean online the week prior just to have around in case of emergency. What timing! I had to strip everything off my bed, but after spraying the stain, letting it sit, and rinsing with cold water, the sheets were as good as new.
Then, two weeks ago, someone backed into me and spilled their coffee all over my white jeans in the elevator at work. It was way too big of a job for a Tide pen, so I marched my ass to CVS, bought a big spray bottle of OxiClean, and went to town. After I removed my socks and winter boots and took my jeans fully off to rinse the stain/treatment out in the bathroom, the coffee was gone.
Get some from Amazon Pantry for $3.09.
I signed up for this weekly newsletter after a few friends told me about it and I'm such a fan! It's sent every Friday morning includes links to good articles plus a little smart, thoughtful commentary. (A recent subject line: "Open if your bedtime is most likely 10pm tonight." I felt so seen.) I'm just really into the voice and overall vibe, and the linked articles are always great! Sign up here.
February is a hard month for a lot of people. (Well, every month is a hard month for a lot of people, TBH.) But creating some little feel-good rituals in your everyday routine can really help. And a nice cup of tea is a pretty good ritual. (Turns out, basically all of human history was really onto something!!!!)
After some trial and error with loose-leaf tea, I settled on the perfect-for-me cozy cup: David's Tea Alpine Punch, a little vanilla syrup, and a splash of half-and-half. (See the full recipe here.) It's so soothing and pleasant and is something to look forward to on days when it gets dark at 4 freaking p.m.
We've still got quite a bit more winter ahead of us, and one thing I'm doing to prepare is investing in better socks (and not losing them in the laundry). I have chronically, creepily cold extremities thanks to Raynaud's, and keeping my hands and feet warm and dry has been an ongoing project this winter. After I fell hard for my first pair of Smartwool socks ($17.95 on Amazon), a friend recommended Carhartt as a cheaper alternative (you can get a two-pack for $13.99 on Amazon). After trying a few different styles, I'm happy to report that they are all fantastic! Very warm, very cozy, and super cushy/comfortable. We spend so much time in socks and not nearly enough time respecting them; one of my big goals for 2018 is to fix this.
This has been another edition of Sock Talk (TM).