Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 4

Weekend reading: December 3, 2016

From Instagram: Seventeen years, seven months and eleven days ago, we had our first date at a Rainforest Cafe, and we never miss a chance to go back!

This weekend we’re in Knoxville, Tennessee with Sean’s dad and sister, staying in a beautiful log cabin on a lake, which seems like a good way to relax after the busyness of 5 days at Disney World! I’ve gotten a few questions about my best Disney tips, so I’ll be sharing those—and maybe some thoughts about road tripping as a family—this coming week.

I’ve really enjoyed this trip, and I’m thankful for the unexpected progress we made in weaning Lucas (who was still nursing every 2 hours around the clock when we left but now only nurses at night!), but I can’t wait to get home and begin celebrating advent and Christmas in a more focused way!

What I’m reading: The Bean Trees: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

Perspective for the holidays

A Simple Holiday Starts With This | No Sidebar


The White Envelope | Becoming Minimalist


Your simple, ethical holiday gift guide | The Art of Simple


3 Easy Ways to Give Back During the Holidays | The Humbled Homemaker

Balancing out the sweet treats

12 Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals to Make in December | New Leaf Wellness


11 Superfoods to Boost Your Immune System | Whole New Mom

A little of this and a little of that

Learning how to think (really) | Modern Mrs. Darcy


Is Instagram listening in on you? | Deidra Riggs


On Parenting and Politics and Clearing Everything From My Kid’s Room | Logan Wolfram

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Have you gotten your Very Merry Gift Certificate Bundle? Hurry before they’re gone!

The post Weekend reading: December 3, 2016 appeared first on Life Your Way.

Related posts:
Weekend reading: December 12, 2015
Weekend reading: January 2, 2016
Weekend reading: January 30, 2016
Weekend reading: May 21, 2016



     

The free app that frees up my brain cells for important things

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of LastPass. All opinions are 100% mine.

In an average day, I use LastPass approximately 1,653 times (give or take a few!).

I’ve been using this handy program for more than seven years (a search of the archives will show that I’ve written about it a few times already!), and while I stuck to the free version for many years, I now happily pay my premium membership fee of $12 a year.

Why? Because LastPass makes it easy to keep my online accounts secure without trying to remember hundreds of individual passwords.

LastPass lets me:

1. Keep track of the 120+ passwords I use on a regular basis without resorting to using Password123 across the web just so I can remember them.

2. Access my saved passwords from anywhere—any computer, any device, any phone—at any time. I have the app loaded to all of my devices, but you can also visit LastPass.com to access your vault at any time.

3. Save credit card information in a secure notes so that I don’t have to hunt down my wallet when I need it. I’ve added an extra password to these notes so that even when I’m logged in, I have to reenter my password to get the card numbers, which prevents someone from accessing them from my computer. You can save a wide variety of secure notes—from bank account and policy numbers to gift lists and wifi passwords—so that all of your important info is in one place.

4. Fill out forms automatically with all of my info rather than typing my info manually each time. This isn’t why I use LastPass, but I’ll take time savings wherever I can find them!

5. Automatically log in to my favorite sites as soon as they load! Enough said.

6. Designate a person I trust to have emergency access to my vault and all of my important accounts if something happens to me…or if I change my password in the middle of the night and forget it (see my I-can-laugh-now story below).

7. Share passwords with other people, either individually or by folder. This is perfect for giving someone access to a single account or sharing a collection of passwords with an assistant, family member, etc.

8. Generate and save secure passwords with the push of a button since there are limits to the number of passwords I can come up with and remember. And you can even make sure it follows the password rules of even the pickiest site! (Have you ever noticed that it’s the sites where you need the least security that have the pickiest rules? What’s up with that?!)

9. Manage multiple accounts for a single site. As an entrepreneur and blogger with multiple sites, this is especially helpful since I have multiple Gmail accounts, Twiiter profiles, Paypal accounts, etc.

10. Rest easy knowing that the data I’ve saved is secure through local-only encryption and the strongest technology available.

Give it a try yourself: Get LastPass for Free

Now, for that funny story…

A few years ago I was up in the middle of the night nursing Jackson. Because I was exhausted, I was on my phone trying to stay awake so I could put him back to bed afterward. (This was before I accepted that we were going to just be cosleepers for this stage of life!)

For some reason or another, I got the bright idea that it was time to change my LastPass vault password. Doing that isn’t a bad idea, of course, especially since I’d started using that password in other places as well, and I want to be sure my vault always remains secure.

But what is a bad idea is changing your password in the middle of the night when you’re desperately sleep deprived.

I woke up the next morning and simply couldn’t remember my new password. I thought it might have something to do with “cantaloupe”, but no matter how many variations or misspellings I tried, I couldn’t get in.

Unfortunately, LastPass is serious about security, and if you don’t have emergency access set up and you lose your password, well, you’re kind of out of luck. After spending a few days hoping against hope that I would finally remember the password, I resigned myself to the fact that I would need to create a new account.

My first step? Setting up an emergency contact so it doesn’t happen again!

Lesson learned.

The post The free app that frees up my brain cells for important things appeared first on Life Your Way.

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Peace of mind with the Owlet baby monitor



     

Finding confidence when things don’t go the way you expect

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Famous Footwear. All opinions are 100% mine.

{Whispers} Can I tell you a secret?

This year has been hard. Really hard.

Okay, maybe that’s not a secret…I’ve said it more than once over the past few months.

But, y’all, I’m worn out. Just plain worn out.

I’m physically exhausted from sleeping with a baby in my arms all night every night for more than a year. (Although it’s probably the waking up every couple of hours all. night. long., not the sleeping, that has me so tired.) I’m mentally exhausted from trying to get as much done as possible in the moments when he’s content and playing or someone else is holding him. And I’m emotionally exhausted because my emotions follow the rest, which means I find myself with a short fuse too often.

But despite the exhaustion and the perhaps irrational fear that I will never sleep through the night again, at the end of the day I’m thankful for the lessons I’ve learned am learning through it all.

I’m learning to accept my limitations and just do what I can, and I’m gaining perspective and confidence in the process.

Because it takes confidence to admit you can’t do it all…

…to just be when you’re used to doing

…to say no to extra commitments

…to ask for what you need

…to adjust plans when things change

There have been so many times in the past where people have said to me, “I don’t know how you do it all.” And while I’ve always been quick to point out that I have a lot of help, it’s still a little disconcerting and uncomfortable to be on the other side.

Now I watch my fellow bloggers and entrepreneurs achieving their goals, and I just shake my head wondering how they do it all! They’re launching businesses and traveling care-free with their families, writing books and going on book tours, speaking and consulting and expanding their businesses.

I’m working, but I crash too early each evening, never get through my daily to-do list, and write down business ideas just to discard them as not realistic during this season.

I’m a doer, and I’ve spent too many years of my life finding my worth in the things I get done. After I hit burn out a few years ago, I learned the importance of self-care and rest, but these days I can’t even seem to check those off the list.

Some of you are at the top of your game right now, and probably think I sound a little whiny. It’s okay—I am whiny, and I’m not sure I would have understood five years ago either.

But for those of you who feel the same, I hope you’ve found confidence to embrace your stage of life and to ignore the people who say we all have the same number of hours.

It’s freeing, and I’m a better—if less productive—woman for it!

P.S. Want to know another secret? Minnetonka Women’s Britt Trapper Slippers from Famous Footwear and Breyers Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream. You’re welcome.

***

How are you stepping forward in confidence this year? Share in the comments or with @FamousFootwear on Twitter or Instagram.

The post Finding confidence when things don’t go the way you expect appeared first on Life Your Way.

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The laid back guide to embracing a new year
Capturing the hearts of my girls in 2016
The gift of perspective
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Weekend reading: November 26, 2016

From (my mom’s) Instagram: There are so many stories in this image. So many things to be thankful for. So much love. More laughter than you can imagine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a quiet week here on the blog while we spent time with family and friends here in Southern Florida. One of the best parts of my parents’ move (other than the beach in February!) is that so many people we know live in this area—Sean’s aunt & uncle, some of our longest and best family friends, my grandmother, etc.—so we get to see a lot of people in person when we visit.

Today we’re headed to Disney, and I’ve already decided I won’t be posting next week just to let go of the pressure! I’m actually taking off altogether except for a couple emails I have planned—and will hopefully get written on the drive today—so that I can just enjoy my family without distractions. We unplugged for a few days this summer, but it’s definitely time to do it again!

What I’m reading: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (I never seem to read as much when we travel as I hope I will, so this is slow going!)

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

You are what you think

The real reason we’re all burnt out right now | Kelly Exeter


The Mental Habit of Feeling Rushed & Overwhelmed | Zen Habits


The Chair | Modern Mrs. Darcy

Keeping the perspective

All the Things You Don’t Need for a Perfect Holiday | Becoming Minimalist


11 Non-Thing Things You Can Give This Holiday Season | No Sidebar


5 Tips for Not Over-Spending — on Black Friday, or Any Other Time. | Gretchen Rubin

Have a great weekend!

P.S. What if I told you I had free money for your Christmas shopping from small, ethical, eco-friendly businesses? We’ve been cooking something up at Ultimate Bundles, and I can’t wait to share it with you. Watch for an email with more details on Tuesday!

The post Weekend reading: November 26, 2016 appeared first on Life Your Way.

Related posts:
Weekend reading: December 12, 2015
Weekend reading: January 2, 2016
Weekend reading: January 30, 2016
Weekend reading: May 21, 2016



     

Weekend reading: November 19, 2016

From Instagram: My people.

We spent this week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While it wasn’t exactly a perfect vacation – poor Sean got hit again with the stomach bug that just won’t quit and the baby ended up with croup – I loved being here at this time of year. It was just really peaceful, with gorgeous pastel sunrises and sunsets and uncrowded streets and shops.

The kids seemed oblivious to the cold temperatures, happily digging in the sand and splashing in the surf, and we finished two big puzzles during our inside time (okay, my sister- and brother-in-law finished one and I jumped in at the very end to help our 10-year-old finish the second…turns out I don’t like puzzles until the skeleton is in place!).

This morning we hit the road for the next stop on our road trip: southern Florida. We’re looking forward to seeing my grandma before she heads back to her house and celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family!

What I’m reading: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

Declutter for good

7 Powerful Ways To Maintain Momentum After Decluttering | Becoming Minimalist


5 Areas of Life to Simplify | No Sidebar


A Simple Declutter Habit: Leave No Trace | Zen Habits

No more mom jeans

4 Characteristics of an Interesting Outfit | Putting Me Together


Five Tips for Online Thrifting with thredUP | ONE little MOMMA


Nine Favorite Fall Outfits | Jones Design Company

Raising teens & tweens

How to navigate the ups and downs of the teen years | Simple Homeschool


7 tips for raising kids who love to read | Modern Mrs. Darcy

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Have you gotten your free Mrs. Meyers products from Grove Co.?

The post Weekend reading: November 19, 2016 appeared first on Life Your Way.

Related posts:
Weekend reading: February 20, 2016
Weekend reading: April 9, 2016
Weekend reading: May 14, 2016
Weekend reading: June 11, 2016



     

Get the scents of the holidays with this special Grove offer

It’s that time of year: Mrs. Meyer’s specialty holiday scents are now available from Grove, and they’re perfect for the holidays!

Grove Collaborative delivers cleaning supplies, personal care, and paper products directly to your door each month. We use it every single month for things like Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap, Acure Foaming Shaving Gel, Squeeze Cellulose Sponge Cloths (these are my favorite!), Seventh Generation Dish Packs, Method Foaming Body Wash and more.

This week only new customers will get this FREE holiday kit in either Orange Clove or Peppermint with your first $20 order:

Mrs. Meyer’s Holiday Hand Soap
Mrs. Meyer’s Holiday Dish Soap
Mrs. Meyer’s Holiday Multi-Surface Spray
Grove Collaborative Bubble Up
Free Shipping & VIP Trial

And Grove has amazing, real-person customer service, so if you have any issues—like the one and only time something leaked all over my order—they take care of it right away!

Grab your free Mrs. Meyers holiday goodies now. Or if you’re already a Grove customer, head here to get their new Bubble Up at 50% off.

The post Get the scents of the holidays with this special Grove offer appeared first on Life Your Way.

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The best subscription boxes for Christmas

I recently came across a special offer for a subscription box, and I must have been thinking about Christmas at the time because I had a lightbulb moment. I decided it would be fun to get each of the kids a box for Christmas morning if I could find several introductory offers to make it affordable. We always give our kids a craft or activity of some sort for Christmas morning because we don’t open all of our presents until after breakfast, and these boxes will be perfect!

The key to my plan was finding a box that was perfect for each of them rather than just buying something because it was a good deal. Thankfully, I did! While I was at it, I also picked up a couple of snack boxes to add healthy(er) treats to their stockings.

Here’s what we got:

This post contains refer-a-friend links, but I have personally purchased from each company below, and I’m sharing my honest opinions about each!

Koala Crate for our 3-year-old

I did not select the theme for this Koala Crate box from Kiwi Crate, but I squealed when it arrived. A certain little 3-year-old boy is obsessed with dinosaurs right now, and he is going to have so much fun making this dino mask, playing the little game that’s included and working on the other crafts. He’s gotten the short end of the stick on crafts since his little brother was born, so I’m warning everyone now: I will be helping him with these on Christmas morning; you may be on your own for breakfast!

Click here to get your first box for $10.

Tinker Crate for our 10-year-old

Tinker Crate is another one of Kiwi Crate’s subscriptions, and this one is geared toward STEM activities. Our 10-year-old loves to tinker and build and experiment, and these fiber optic stars are really neat. I can’t wait for her to dive in!

Click here to get your first box for $10. (The cool thing about Kiwi Crate is you can set up multiple subscriptions and pay just $10/box for your first box for each subscription. As a mom of many, I really appreciate that!)

Doodle Crate for our 9-year-old

I don’t have a picture of this one yet because I just ordered it up a few days ago. I was hoping to find an awesome sticker subscription for our 9-year-old, but any way you slice it, a few sheets of stickers just doesn’t compare to the boxes her siblings were getting. So instead I picked out this hand-carved stamp box from the Kiwi Crate store to kick off her subscription.

Click here to get your first box for $10.

Surprise Ride for our 7-year-old

Crystal at Money Saving Mom recommended Surprise Ride as her favorite subscription for kids, and this one looks pretty fun (ours hasn’t arrived yet because they ship on a specific day of each month, so this photo is from their website)! Our 7-year-old will be excited about the crafts and the hot chocolate for sure, and I’m looking forward to having a book to read with her as a special treat!

Click here to get your first box FREE (just pay shipping!)

Julep & Honest Beauty for our 12-year-old

Our oldest is very into makeup and beauty (I’ve shared more about this in the past, and her talent and skill continues to grow!), so I started hunting down beauty subscriptions for her. I ended up getting a combination of offers, which means I spent more on her than I did her siblings, but I’m okay with that.

The first was an Honest Beauty trial with a cute pouch and trial size bottles of some of their products. I did not like that they wanted to ship me a full-size box just a week later, and I don’t think this is a subscription we’ll ever use again.

The second was a Julep box that came with a nail polish, eye shadow and konjac sponge. My only frustration here is that they invited me to add on a konjac sponge at checkout, which I did because she likes using those for washing her face, and I wouldn’t have if I’d known there was going to be one in the box already. But she’ll use them both eventually, so it’s not a huge deal.

I got my box for half off, but right now you can get a free 12-piece nail polish set with a full-price box ($25), which is an even better deal, and I would have skipped the Honest Beauty offer if that had been available when I ordered!

Click here to sign up for your first box (use coupon code FREEFALL for the free 12-piece nail polish).

Snacks for everybody!

Okay, so I may have gotten a little carried away after my first few orders, but I couldn’t resist trying Nature Box snacks as well, and I’m excited to be able to add a pouch of these snacks to their stockings. I love these snacks, but they’re just so much more expensive than the snacks we buy at Aldi (even the organic, “healthy” ones) that I can’t justify it as a regular subscription!

Click here to save 50% off your first order.

A word about continuing these subscriptions

I signed up for each of the subscriptions above with the intent of trying one box and canceling my subscription. I would love to do them monthly, and I do think they’re worth the price of the box, but we have six kids, and 6 x $20-$25 is a lot of money! I’m still trying to decide if there’s a way to do just two boxes a month and rotate who gets one or if that will end up being a huge headache to manage. But if I had fewer kids, I would absolutely pay for these in a heartbeat.

Does your family do any subscription boxes? Which ones are your favorite?

The post The best subscription boxes for Christmas appeared first on Life Your Way.

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Weekend reading: November 12, 2016

From Instagram: Thank you to all of our veterans. We appreciate your service! 

What a week for America, huh? Like most of the country world, we watched the election results roll in on Tuesday with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Even my husband, who is generally not transfixed by all things political, stayed up until 1 a.m. waiting for a winner to be announced.

The days since the election have been disheartening as hate seems to have won on both sides. But I’ve also been reminded that the loudest, most violent and hateful people get the airtime, and I’ve seen a lot of really great conversations online about what the future holds and how we can seek unity and peace. I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it: the only way we move forward is with kindness and respect.

What I’m reading: A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay and How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig (I’m working through this one one play at a time, and our family just finished up a study of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, so The Twelfth Night is next!)

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

The way forward

Read Restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Post-Election Letter to Employees | Eater (If you read just one, make it this one!)


In Which I Dare Not Tell You How to Feel This Morning | Emily P. Freeman


I almost voted for Trump, and I almost didn’t tell you about it | Deidra Riggs


You live in a bubble. We all do. | To Sow a Seed

Hope for your finances

Our “one day” dream: buy a home with cash | Don’t Waste the Crumbs


One Simple Question to Ask Before Any Purchase | Becoming Minimalist


One Very Simple Tip to Increase Your Savings | Andrea Dekker

Spice up the dinner menu

Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches | Six Sisters’ Stuff


Creamy Spiced Apple Pecan Chicken | Wholesomelicious


Paleo Pumpkin Chili with Beef, Peppers & Olives | Kalyn’s Kitchen

Have a great weekend! Choose kindness!

The post Weekend reading: November 12, 2016 appeared first on Life Your Way.

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Weekend reading: November 21, 2015
Weekend reading: January 16, 2015
Weekend reading: April 30, 2016
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How do you feel about memoirs? {Plus 6 memoirs I loved!}

The first memoir I read was Lucky Man: A Memoir by Michael J. Fox, and I still remember thinking how much I enjoyed reading a book that felt like a story being told by a friend. It was easy to read, relatable, and appealed to my nosy side.

Earlier this year, I read this article about how readers think they know the authors of the memoirs they read even though they’re only reading a small section of the story (and the part the author chooses to tell at that). And sure enough, when I was reading Anchored by Kayla Aimee last week—the inspiration for this post—I sent her a message to tell her I was pretty sure we’re best friends now. (To be clear, I know and work with her, so it wasn’t quite as creepy as it sounds!)

But despite the murkiness of the line between reader and voyeur and the potential trap of defining someone by a single memoir, I was reminded last week of just how much I enjoy them.

Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order:

A Different Beautiful: Discovering and Celebrating Beauty in Places You Never Expected by Courtney Westlake

I’m actually in the middle of this one right now. I discovered Courtney’s blog several years ago and followed her daughter’s journey with harlequin ichthyosis with interest. When Lucas was diagnosed with a mild form of ichthyosis after birth, I found myself reading her words through new eyes as I learned more about this skin disorder and its many forms.

Courtney’s writing is really phenomenal as she tells both the story of Breanna’s birth and life and the lessons she’s learned over the past few years through and with Breanna. (Truth: I stopped reading to look through her bio to see if she has an English background—it’s in journalism—because each word seemed so precisely chosen, but in a very readable way!)

Anchored: Finding Hope in the Unexpected by Kayla Aimee

As I mentioned, it was Kayla’s book Anchored that reminded me how much I love memoirs. I felt just like we were sitting down over coffee and she was telling me this story. I especially appreciate the way she uses wry humor in the midst of really heartfelt retellings of the difficult days of having a micro-preemie in the NICU because humor tends to be my coping mechanism as well.

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman

On a completely different note, I read Orange Is the New Black last year, and I have to admit I really loved it.This gritty memoir shares Piper Kerman’s experience as a white, upperclass woman entering the prison system. I’ve never seen the show, but I’ve always been interested in the justice system and prison culture (my first research paper in high school was about overcrowding in jail).

Coming Clean: A Story of Faith by Seth Haines

Coming Clean was my favorite read of 2015. On the surface, it’s the story of Seth’s journey to sobriety, but it’s so much more. If you’ve ever doubted the existence, presence or interest of God…if you’ve wrestled with your faith and prayers unanswered…if you’ve sought religious rules and systems to simplify your beliefs…you need to read this. It’s a beautiful, vulnerable, authentic story of faith and doubt and pain and prayer. And yes, sobriety too. SO GOOD!

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

I actually listened to this audiobook last winter. I love audiobooks that are narrated by the author, and this one was especially good! It’s a bit irreverent in places and definitely not an audiobook to listen to with kids around, but Mindy Kaling is hysterically funny, self-deprecating, and brutally honest, and this book lived up to the hype!

Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist

Exquisite is the word I used to describe this book after I read it in 2014. A collection of essays on food, community and life, it’s a beautiful picture of what authentic relationships look like and how food can play a healthy role in community. I was inspired by Shauna Niequist’s words to look at the way I approach friendship and community a little differently, and I want to try every recipe she included in between her thoughts!

And the memoir I’m most looking forward to in 2017? At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe by Tsh Oxenreider!

The post How do you feel about memoirs? {Plus 6 memoirs I loved!} appeared first on Life Your Way.

Related posts:
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CommentsI love to see other people's book recommendations and added a ... by Bethany 

Why I’ve fallen hard for creative bullet journaling

In 2015, I began bullet journaling. I didn’t use my BuJo for daily or weekly plans, but I kept all of my vision- & goal-setting exercises, Bible study notes, and quotes to remember in one well-loved journal with an index for easy reference.

That year I also fell in love with doodling and hand-lettering, but for some reason I never really combined the two.

And then our youngest was born wanting to be held (and not snuggled, but held in very specific positions that required many muscles and all of your attention), and I had to set aside both because I simply didn’t have a free hand to do either.

Over the past month, as his first birthday quickly approaches, he’s become much more independent, and so I decided to try my hand at bullet journaling once again, this time incorporating my brain dumps and to-do lists as well so I only have to keep track of one notebook.

Although I know plenty of people who use their bullet journal as a tool only and don’t worry about pretty pages and decorations, I found myself decorating my pages and playing with different layouts just for the chance to practice doodling or hand-lettering. And I fell hard for bullet journaling as a creative activity.

Because I’m a recovering perfectionist, the temptation to fret over mistakes is always there. But I choose not to, which has been a good learning experience all by itself!

Here are a few of the reasons I love bullet journaling not just as a planning tool, but as a creative activity as well:

1. It’s small enough to cart around.

Although I opted for the traditional size journal (rather than a mini one like Tsh), it’s still small enough to carry from room to room, to slide into a purse or diaper bag, and even to take grocery shopping. Not only does that let me keep things like my calendar, to-do list, and shopping list handy, but it also means I can practice a new font, banner, or border in those moments when I’m just sitting and waiting.

2. It allows creativity…or not.

There are tons of people who simply write lists in their bullet journal, and there are tons of people who have full-color, beautifully decorated pages. I fall somewhere in the middle, preferring a single black pen and simple layouts but still embracing creative touches here and there. But the cool part is you don’t have to decide what type of bullet journaler you are. On busy days, I can simply make a list without any header at all. And if I ever get the urge to play with color, I can.

3. It’s not tied to one particular system.

As someone who regular changes planning systems because they lose their effectiveness as I develop “planner blindness,” the bullet journal is a great way to be able to tailor my system to my current needs and preferences without having to buy new supplies or set the old one aside. I can change my daily or weekly format with nothing more than the turn of the page, which is really empowering!

4. It’s humbling and a good reminder to let go of perfectionism.

I often wonder if the artists who create the beautiful pages you see on Pinterest ever mess up. Do they have messy pages in their journal and only show the perfect ones, or are they just that good? I don’t spend a lot of time sketching my pages in pencil before inking them, which means any mistake I do make is permanent. And I’ll be honest, the first time I screwed something up, I wished for a system that would allow me to rip out the page and start over. But the sun set and rose on schedule, and when I realized it really wasn’t the end of the world, it released me to try new things, make mistakes, and still see the beauty on the pages anyway!

5. Each page offers a fresh start.

And finally, each page really is a fresh start. When I make my list for the day and turn a new page, I’m literally putting the mistakes from the day behind me. I can choose a new layout (although I’m pretty happy with the half-page daily layout I’ve been using), try a new header or font, or reprioritize my to-dos. That’s a pretty good metaphor for life!

Wondering what I use for my journal? Here’s my (imperfect) supply list:

an empty journal that Izea sent me  (this one is on my Christmas wishlist)
architect’s ruler (these are on my wishlist)
Sakura Pigma Micron-05 Black Pens
pencil stubs I find lying around the house