This easy gratitude practice is for anyone who has ever started a gratitude journal and quickly forgotten about it.

While I love the idea of a gratitude journal, I found it too hard to keep up. When I was doing my 30 minutes of writing/journaling every day, I usually ended my last page with a quick list of five things I was grateful for. I loved looking back on my day and seeing the things that stood out to me, but once I was done with the 30 day project, the habit disappeared.

Easy Gratitude Practice

For the last month or so I have been doing a really easy gratitude practice. Instead of writing down my list each day, I quickly talk through my list with someone. I got myself a gratitude buddy, and each day we take a couple minutes to share the three things we are grateful for or enjoyed the most that day. Most days we talk for a few minutes in the evenings, but sometimes we send a quick text instead.

It has been a really great way to get the benefits of a gratitude journal without the upkeep. I can share what I’m grateful for while I do the dishes or get ready for the next day, and hearing what your buddy is grateful for has been amazing. I really enjoy hearing what made his day and the unexpected things he comes up with that I don’t usually think about.

How to Start Your Own Easy Gratitude Practice or Habit

1. Find someone willing to do this with you! It could be a friend, a family member, a significant other – really anyone you would like to talk to every day. It helps if it is someone you see most days, but this can easily be done digitally through text, email, or even quick Snapchat videos!

2. Set a trigger. In order to create a habit, you have to first decide what is going to trigger or remind you of your habit. My first trigger was getting ready for bed, but I found it was too general and I could easily get swept up in my nightly routine and forget. The last thing I do every night is put arnica on my ankle and body butter on my feet. Grabbing my arnica is my new trigger.

3. No duplicates. It’s totally fine to have one thing on your list that both you and your buddy are grateful for, but try not to copy them every day. Also, once you’ve said it, you can’t use it again. (You can only be thankful for your mom once, but you can be thankful for something specific each time like the text she sent you this morning or the brownies she made.)

4. Mix up who goes first. It keeps it fair and fun.

5. Be specific. “Dinner” or “my friend Bob” don’t count. Why are you thankful or grateful for that specific person or thing? What about it made you feel that way?

6. Play with numbers. It doesn’t have the be a specific number every time. My buddy and I fluctuate between three and five most days, but I try to aim for at least three so I get past the really obvious ones and reflect more on my day.

Let’s be clear from the start. No one can get it all done. It’s a total myth. Like unicorns and fairies, it makes us feel better to believe in it.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t get more done.

1. Schedule.

I cannot say this enough. There is no way to stay on track and remember everything without a schedule. I schedule time for fitness, friends, and food (and everything else that’s important). When it’s on the schedule, I have no excuse for why it can’t be done.

I use Google calendar and a paper planner. My Google calendar includes the time blocks of when I will do each thing listed on my planner for the day.

2. Plan. 

At the end of every week I map out my work schedule and write down all of the deadlines for the week. I usually sit down on Friday afternoons and roughly sketch out when I want to get everything done.

At the end of every work day, I write out my top three tasks for the next day (see below). That way when I sit down to work in the morning, I already know what I’m doing and I can jump right in. It also forces me to face the tasks that I don’t want to do.

3. Make a lists.

I make lists. I make them constantly. I have lists about other lists. Call me crazy, but without them I will forget things or stress that I am forgetting things. These lists stop the late night epiphanies that I forgot a deadline or keep me from realizing when I am already 10 minutes late that I have no gas in my car and I won’t make it to my destination without stopping for some. My lists also help me to get tasks done that typically fall through the cracks like cleaning the bathroom in a semi-regular fashion.

4. Prioritize.

I am guilty of putting every task I can think of on a single day. To stop the madness, my daily to-do list is broken into two categories: my top three tasks and other tasks I would like to get done. I do my best to not start on the other tasks until I have finished my top three. There are also days where I only have a top one or two tasks that will take me most of the day and all of my energy. That’s great too.

Prioritize what you have to do to prevent wasted time and leaving things that must get done that day until it’s too late. When everything feels like a huge priority, realize that you will get everything done on the list if you have been realistic with your schedule. All you need to do is get started and start hacking away at it.

5. Be realistic. 

Accept that getting it all done is a myth. You cannot do it all one a day. But you can make a serious dent and have a productive day. Be honest with yourself about how long things will take and do not try to get more done than you can. You can’t get it all done if you overcommit yourself and burn out.

6. Stay focused.

You have to keep yourself on track. Your boss, professor, or mother cannot sit next to you all day and remind you to be working. Your job is to stay on task and not let yourself waste time you don’t have. I use the Pomodoro Technique to keep myself on task and motivated.

Put away distractions, especially social media and often the entire internet in general. Go to a place where you get work done like the library or coffee shop. If you like to work from home, make a special space for working where you don’t let yourself get distracted.

7. Treat yourself!

After all of your hard work, you need to seriously show yourself some appreciation. Go for a run, watch a TV show, go out with friends, read a book, whatever you want it to be. Just be sure your top three are done first.

*This is an updated version of this post about getting it all done in college.

When I got laid off  at the beginning of this year, I was so excited to figure out what I wanted to do with my life – until I realized I actually had to make decisions.

The decisions were weighing on me. I felt like I was at a crossroads with 20 different paths leaving it and no idea if any of them ever converge again. Journalist? Publisher? Editor? Marketer? Copywriter? Freelance writer?

I don’t know what I want, and it’s scary. Terrifying actually.

For the first two months or so I would find myself saying out loud “I don’t know what I want to do with my life” while driving or washing dishes or trying to read a book. Each time I would get more and more agitated, more and more desperate to just have a damn answer.

What’s the Plan?

When I set out to decide my next step, I didn’t plan on thinking myself into hysteria. I planned on figuring out what I wanted to do next and what I thought would add value to my life (and ideally the lives of others).

A couple months ago I realized that what I really want right now is to explore, to experiment, and to be able to try as many things as possible in a short time. That means I’m forgoing a traditional job in a company and creating my own.

Hello, freelancing.

I’m dividing my time between freelance writing for publications, copywriting and marketing for companies, and creative projects for myself. I’m giving myself a year to learn new skills and see where I can take myself. I’m paving my own path, and I’m equal parts fired up and shaking in my running shoes.

Enjoy the Experiment

Forget enjoying “the journey,” I’m working towards making this experiment of mine into something memorable and fun. This is my chance to step outside of what I’ve always done and really explore what I’m capable of. It’s my time to learn how to do all of the things I think it would be great to know how to do. It’s a time for what I learned to count nearly as much as where it got me.

This is my version of graduate school – my chance to try new things and not be afraid to fail.

My grandmother and I celebrating another year of trying new things.

I’m back to saying “I don’t know what I want to do, but I’m trying this right now.” After leaving Sunset, I treated my job at a start-up as an experiment and a way to build experience. I could get more experience doing things that a lot of publishing companies were looking for (running an editorial calendar, managing social media accounts), and the whole time I could tell everyone that I was still working toward The Dream.

It made me realize that I do best when I’m experimenting and letting myself naturally grow into a new thing.

Sure, I’m still reading books about finding the job for you (don’t you dare use the word “calling” or I’m out). I’m putting more emphasis on my guiding values/principles and seeing where those can take me.

I realized that this exact moment isn’t when I have to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. I have the rest of my life to figure that out. Instead, I need to decide what my next step is. I don’t need to know where I’m going. Sidesteps, even going backwards are all on the table. Every direction is movement. All directions are growth.

Self-care doesn’t have to involve your credit card or some time-intensive, luxurious body treatment. I’m a huge fan of incorporating little things throughout the day. Taking time for yourself is important, and we should all be doing a better job at it.

My friend recently made a comment about how great I am at self-care. It’s something I never really thought about before, but the more things she listed off, the more I realized maybe this is something I innately do.

What I Do for Self-Care

1. Exercise. Yoga feels indulgent to me, but a sweaty workout of any kind is often just the thing I need. I leave with a clear head and a calm body. I typically go for a walk (or run when I wasn’t injured) when I’m feeling particularly stressed or like I’ve spent too much time sitting or in my head.

2. Listen. I trust my gut and I listen to my body. When I just can’t work anymore or something doesn’t feel right, I stop.

3. Healthy foods. I may treat myself more than I should with sweet treats, but for the most part I work in nutritious foods that I actually enjoy at every meal.

4. Lots of sleep. If I’m not in bed for nine hours, I’m quite upset. I take sleep very seriously. Even if I don’t sleep for that entire time, just being in bed for at least nine hours improves my next day and my body’s ability to recover immensely. I make sleep a priority because my whole next day, and sometimes the days after too, are dependent on it.

5. Happiness. I do the things that make me happy. A cup of tea when I want it. A mellow start to my morning. A killer podcast session at lunch. Whatever it may be, I incorporate the things that make me happy into my day.

6. Quiet time! As an introvert, I thrive on my quiet time. It’s crucial for me to have time in the day to just sit and be. I try to read daily – the more time I spend with a book the better.

7. Triggers. I know what makes me feel stressed and annoyed and I do my best to avoid them at all costs. I clean up my room each night so when I wake up I feel calm and relaxed instead of overwhelmed with clutter. I get all of the dishes out of the sink and wipe all of the counters. I also try to tackle the nagging to-dos that annoyed me that day so they don’t drag on into the next. I set myself up for a positive experience instead of a negative response.

How to Fit in Self-Care

The same friend also asked me how I find the time for self-care. I make time. My workout is on my calendar. I pick up my room every night so it takes me five minutes instead of a marathon session.

You don’t have to set aside an entire evening to take care of yourself. Small bursts throughout the day go a long way!

Instead of stressing about how to fit in self-care, pick one thing you can do in 5-10 minutes. Do it today, and make a plan of when you will do it tomorrow. Once that item turns into a habit, add another. We all have the same amount of time in the day. We all choose how to spend it.

Self-care looks different for everyone, and it should! Do what makes you happy and feel refreshed. Skip the things you “should do” and embrace the weird things that work for you.

I cannot keep myself out of the library this month. Ever since I started checking out stacks of cookbooks, I keep coming home with more and more books. It looks like I’m running a library out of my room, and I’m starting to get concerned the librarians are getting suspicious (they aren’t).

It’s impossible to keep up with the books I’m bringing in. Each time I pick up a book from the shelf I tell myself that I’m only here for the ones that I requested, and I still manage to bring them all home anyways.

In other words, expect quite a few books in the next couple of months. I enjoyed my May reads, even if they were a random mix.

What I Read This Month

My Life on the Road
Like most young women, I am very familiar with her name, but I have not read much of Gloria Steinem’s work. I picked up this book based on the suggestion of Emma Watson’s book club, Our Shared Shelf. Her stories are incredible. From nearly constant travel for decades to being around present to some of the most monumental moments in recent history, Steinem’s book was eye-opening in a way I didn’t expect. I loved reading about one extraordinary woman’s life, and I especially took comfort in the fact that she didn’t really know what she wanted or what she was doing for years either. She just kept going and figuring it out on the road. Fascinating book.

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up while in Spain last year, and I couldn’t help myself from checking out the follow-up. I thought it was a heavily illustrated guide, and to be honest I really only wanted to check it out for her clothes-folding techniques. Overall it was alright, but nothing amazing. While this one does give more detailed instructions, if you haven’t read Life-Changing Magic it’s going to be much less helpful and will often leave you wondering. The first book is likely all you need.

The Happiness Project
This one is not really a new book, but it didn’t change its impact on me. I loved reading about Gretchen Rubin’s self-experiments and the things she thought would make her happier. It definitely helped that our personalities and temperaments are quite similar, but there is definitely something for everyone in this book. If you only read one book out of this list, this might be it.

Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants
My brother brought this home from a trip to Portland, and it went through our roommates and friends like wildfire. While I didn’t think it was as good as The Oatmeal’s The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances, the males in my life loved it. I could tell when they were reading it by the giggling or full out laughter that would bounce through the house.

Modern Romance
This one far exceeded my expectations. I have complicated feelings toward Aziz Ansari. I loved him in Parks and Recreation and thought he was sexist in a standup I saw. He earned some points back with this one. Get ready for real data and some hilarious quips. I particularly enjoyed some of the blurbs they included from their focus groups/subreddit. It also made me incredibly thankful to not have delved into the complexity of online dating. I got stressed out just reading about it. We have an overwhelming amount of choices. Good luck, my friends. Good luck.

Like No Other
In case you can’t tell from all of the books above, I’m in a bit of a nonfiction groove right now. This was my only fiction this month, and it just didn’t do it for me. To be fair, it’s a young adult book, but for some reason I was holding it to higher standards. It just wasn’t for me.

What should I read next? Any fiction or nonfiction books you love?

More Books: You can see all of my recommendations here.

I used to have a lot of stuff. When I went to college my mom and I went through the process of getting me everything I needed off of the crazy list my college recommended. We spent what felt like the entire summer getting duplicates of everything I had at home plus all of the “essentials” I was told I needed.

While I have always loved decluttering and organizing, I still had a lot of stuff. And this stuff only grew over the years, especially while I was in college. By the time I was in my junior year, my closet collapsed under the sheer weight of all of my stuff. TWICE.

When my five roommates and I moved out at the end of that year, we made a pact to get rid of some stuff. And my did we get rid of a lot. My interest in minimalism grew throughout my college years, and when my best friends and I moved out our senior year, we decided enough was enough. We spent the last month of our senior year trying to savor every last minute we had together and digging through all of our accumulated stuff.

Meagan had clothes from high school shoved under her bed that made us laugh so hard we all cried. I had notes from freshmen year classes, like I was really going to read through them again.

We purged, and oh it felt sooo good. We turned our apartment inside out and started “adult” life with so much less stuff to lug around.

Most of this got donated

I still left college with too much stuff! This was only part of my room.

And I never stopped. Every move (or pretend move) I got rid of more things. When I moved into my current place, I fit all of my things in/on two vehicles, including my tiny Prius C. It was freeing.

Tidy drawers and extra space!

Through the Minsgame I really got down to where I feel good about the amount of things I own. I finally got rid of the last few things that I had been lugging around that weren’t serving a purpose anymore.

These days I put a lot of thought into the things I buy. Whether it’s the environmental impact of the item or the role it will play in my life, I really deliberate about purchases. I add them to my list and let them sit there for a while. Do I overthink the things I purchase? For sure! I don’t know anyone else who researches t-shirts for more than 10 hours only to give up and not buy any.

Do I have the least amount of things I possibly could? No. Have I hit my balance point? I think I’m close.

Currently reading Clean Eating: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation, and Reset Your Body. While I won’t be doing a “clean eating diet” or a “detox diet,” I am certainly going to incorporate more anti-inflammatory foods in my diet and steer clear some of the big inflammation (and upset stomach) instigators. Hopefully my ankle responds well and heals faster.

Why do we wait for perfect? Let’s encourage all progress toward sustainability.

I want to eat these dark chocolate pots de creme every day. With only 11 grams of sugar from honey per serving, they are my current favorite substitute that my sweet tooth hasn’t noticed isn’t actually full of sugar.

Why are we so unsatisfied with the limits of our bodies?

The LA Times story on Oxycotin was shocking.

But not as shocking as the wage gap for NBA players and WNBA players. Women athletes still don’t make what their counterparts do. Let’s do something about it already.

Let’s keep doing more of this. And remembering to treat what we have well and buy used first.

Things I wrote:

Best Habits of Yoga Teachers

7 Crazy Things Eucalyptus Oil Can Do For You

7 Things You Didn’t Know Pepper Could Do

The Best Gluten Free Ice Cream Brands (I consider myself an expert on this one)

Nothing makes me feel more in control of my life and the way I’m living than my budget. Call me crazy, but I love knowing where my money is going and I get a thrill from socking away money like a squirrel.

I was taught from a young age to save. When my brother and I got money as birthday gifts, at least part of it went into our savings accounts. Our meticulous savings bought us things here and there, but for the most part once money went in, it stayed there.

I started working the summer I turned sixteen and I hoarded money like nobody’s business. I worked as a lifeguard making very little money for the amount of hours I worked and the effort I put in (especially given the fact that I was trusted with so many lives). The thought of movie tickets or lunch out only reminded me that it took me a couple hours of work to make that money back. While my coworkers bought iPhones and went on trips, I spent half of my first and last paychecks and saved the rest.

This habit has stuck with me. I am slow to spend money and quick to save. I made myself budgets before I realized that was what I was doing. I have never once regretted saving my money. It has bought me so much more by staying in my savings account.

Freedom.

Nearly half of Americans cannot come up with $400 in an emergency. I couldn’t believe it. American’s used to save as aggressively as I do. What happened?

Why You Should Have a Budget

Have you ever heard of a F**k Off Fund? You need one. To make one, you have to save.

Do you know where your money is going? I can bet there is at least one or two expenses in your life you could cut and put that money in your savings or toward paying off your debt. A quick look at last month’s statements or a money tracking app can open your eyes and help you cut back (and cry about spending $400 at Whole Foods each month).

Peace of mind! You won’t have to worry about paying the bills or having enough money for that extra thing. Once you get in the habit of only spending your allotted amount you don’t have to think about it anymore. Money and saving it becomes so much less stressful.

A budget allows you to set aside money for the future. Whether it’s for Coachella tickets that you buy with birthday money six months from now or big financial goals like buying a house, a savings account buys you so much more than money in your wallet.

You Won’t Regret It. Ever.

Not once have I thought “why do I bother tracking my spending or saving so much?” I have gone through periods where I was saving nearly 80 percent of the money I was making (to be fair, I was living at home and working towards buying my car).

Yes, you will have to say “no” to some things. Concerts, drinks or dinner out, trips. But that doesn’t mean it’s always “no” or that you can’t have fun. And trust me, everyone will understand and respect you for it. Not once have my friends been upset when I said I couldn’t do something because it just wasn’t in my budget.

For the most part, I have been able to do all of those things because of my budget. I have savings and extra money each month to spend however I want. Some months I put my spending money in savings knowing that I have a trip coming up or a night out with friends that I’d rather spend it on.

Start a Budget

Save your money, please, I’m begging you. So is your savings account and the voice in your mind that can’t stop stressing about money.

Ready to start saving? Start here:

Try a short-term (or hell, year-long!) shopping ban.

Instead of buying something immediately, put it on the list and wait for two weeks or 30 days.

Make a plan to become debt free.

Start your budget! Even if you only do a week at a time. Apps or this guide can help you get started.

Figure out your steps to financial freedom.

Shop online? Block your favorite site for a week or two just to see how you feel. Turn off one-click shopping to reduce impulse or lazy buys (hello toilet paper on Amazon).