7 Things Saving My Life Right Now

When every day feels like the day you had before, every little lifesaver feels like a much bigger deal. Most of us have our lives thrown completely upside down during this pandemic and are having to find new tricks to stay happy, healthy, and productive. Here are 7 things saving my life right now and making sheltering-at-home a little happier.

Here are 7 Things Saving My Life Right Now

Roomba on a schedule

I bought this vacuum from Facebook Marketplace about six months ago but always forget to turn it on. A couple weeks ago I set it to run automatically every weekday at 4:30 (when I’m officially off the clock). There’s always inevitably cords and cat toys and shoes laying out for it to get stuck on, so the result is that I jump off the couch when work ends to pick up really quickly instead of just switching from my computer to Instagram scrolling. It makes the rest of our evening much more enjoyable and feels like an actual transition from work to home life. Win win win.

Our cats

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’m pretty much obsessed with our cats. They’re so funny and sweet and entertaining. They’ve brought us so much joy since we bought them, but Charles and I have been extra grateful for their companionship since we’re at home all day.

Reading allll the books

I’m so grateful I managed to swing by the library a few days before everything shut down to grab the books I had waiting on hold. I’ve slowly been working through that stack of mostly non-fiction books. For fiction, I started a 30 day free trial of Scribd and have been loving listening to lighthearted audiobooks while I clean, work, and walk. I enjoyed listening to Landline and Attachments and have my eye on Tweet Cute, Things You Save in a Fire, and Louise Penny audiobooks (they’re seriously the best!). Fluffy, entertaining books are the name of the game right now when it can be so hard to keep your spirits up. Here’s a referral link for 60 days of free reading!

Decluttering

When you’re home almost 24/7, clutter seems to be a lot more suffocating! I’ve done some major decluttering since all this started and have been so much happier because of it! It can be kind of tough to declutter when everything is closed and you can’t drop off a bunch of stuff at Goodwill. We’ve been putting thrift store donations in the trunk of our car. Some other ideas for decluttering are Thredup cleanout kits, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace (taking some extra precautions to keep everyone safe, that is!). It feels soooo good to have less stuff!

This Bad Smells Fix

I first heard about these charcoal bags from Young House Love. I ordered some because a.) I have a really good sense of smell and b.) I’m paranoid about our apartment smelling like mildew and/or cat litter. They really work! Such an eco-friendly way to keep your house, car, refrigerator, or gym locker smelling good. If they stop absorbing smell, you just leave them out in the sun for about an hour and they’re good as new!

This smoothie blender

I bought this blender at the beginning of the year hoping that it would make it easier for me to make healthy smoothies for breakfast. It did the trick! I’ve been making smoothies a lot using this protein powder and this green powder. I love how easy it is to pull out the blender. Digging out our big, heavy one from the cabinet just wasn’t worth it for me on a daily basis, and we don’t have enough kitchen space to leave a big one in a easily accessible place. This one is easy to get out, clean, and put back away! It also works much better than our bulky blender. Magic.

Jotting down quick notes as I read the Bible

I’ve been having such a tough time concentrating when I’m trying to spend time in the Word and prayer lately. I finally started jotting down notes/thoughts/questions/themes in my journal as I was reading and it’s made A WORLD of difference. If you’ve having a tough time concentrating too, I would definitely recommend that. Also, leaving your phone in the other room helps too. Speaking from experience 😉