This is a fun practice that I've learned from some of my favorite online follows, but I've seen it all over the internet. My favorites are episodes from The Lazy Genius and Emily P. Freeman. Here, I'll share 10 things that are saving my life (life savers, if you will) from little gadgets to rhythms and routines in hopes that they might help your life be more purposeful and peaceful too.
Here's 10 Things Saving My Summer/Fall Life, 2024 (July, August, September!)
In no particular order... here we go!!
Continuous monthly calendars. I LOVE this document that I keep blank in my Google Sheets app. I print it off in different rhythms - usually it allows me to see about three months of time on one sheet of paper. I use this to schedule out all of my blog posts for the year for this blog here! I use it to visualize scheduling photoshoots, and this summer I printed it out to be able to see the whole summer at once. This summer my sister-in-law got married and so we had an extra scheduled summer with family visiting in and out! Having this calendar printed (and laminated!!) on my fridge was life saving to keeping my house all on the same page!
Here's Where it Gets Interesting podcast. I LOVE Sharon Says So on Instagram. Her account explains government and breaks down the news in such a digestable way. I've learned so much from her!! In these summer and fall months, I've had lots of time working either on cleaning our rental or editing photos and so I listen to a LOT of podcasts! Sharon has a podcast called "Here's Where It Gets Interesting" and while I enjoy nearly every episode, this series on Stalin: Man of Steel was particularly fascinating.
Deck the Hallmark podcast. Two podcasts in a row! This podcast recaps nearly every movie that Hallmark puts out and while I almost never watch any of the movies, this podcast is lighthearted and fun and I always have a good time listening!
Family helping out with my kiddos. Listen. July, August, and Septebmer were INSANELY busy for me on all sorts of fronts. Our rental gets busier with people checking in and out more frequently, my photo sessions numbers increase with the fall colors. I could not, without a doubt, have as much on my plate as I did in this season without the help of dear ones to help take care of my precious kiddos. I am so grateful.
Scheduling things ahead of time. These couple of months were SO busy for me!! Anytime I can automate something, I love to do it. I schedule blog posts ahead of time, have saved replies for our rental business that auto send to guests and do things like subscribe & save on Amazon to make life easier for me! Here's a hint for when you see photos on my photography instagram page - I almost NEVER post them in real time! I love batching and getting things done!
Photo Mechanic. This program is a LIFE SAVER for these busy photography months! It's a simple way to be able to cull - sort - your images before you input them. There are other AI options out there but I haven't been able to get one to work for me as much as doing it manually through Photo Mechanic has worked!
Reading. I genuinely forgot how much I love reading. I treated myself to a month of Kindle unlimited and read all sorts of cheesy romance books as a way to escape the busyness of these months. I absolutely loved THIS book and wish I could experience reading it for the first time again!
Watering my greenhouse. I am grateful for the way in which watering my greenhouse forced me to slow down. For the most part, we water by the watering can from our rain barrel and it is not fast at all. But being forced to slow down and enjoy the warmth of the greenhouse and hearing the kids play in the yard are really good memories.
Making these sourdough discard pretzel bites. I did not have time to keep up on my sourdough bread, but I did enjoy making these sourdough discard pretzel bites several times! My family can devour these and they're a little labor heavy while cooking but are other wise super easy!
Fred Meyer grocery pickup. This has saved my life for years now, and it has to make the list. As I run out of things at home, I automattically scan them into my Fred Meyer app and add them to cart. Then, before I head to Fairbanks, I can look through any sales and see what else I might need but MAN this saves me so much time!
That's it!! Ten things that are saving my life in the quarter three of 2024. I'd love to hear what's saving your life right now...
Thanks for reading,
-Kami
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