My 2020 Reading List

I can’t tell you how happy I am that I rediscovered reading at the end of 2018. I read some great books this year and I’ve already complied my list for the new decade. If you want to read more in 2020, check out my 2019 reading list and the list for 2020 below for some fun suggestions. And hey- maybe you know someone on your Christmas list that might enjoy one of these, too,

2020 Reading List

Good Morning, Good Life: 5 Simple Habits to Master Your Mornings and Upgrade Your Life by Amy Schmidttauer Landino

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin

Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence- and How You Can, Too by Gary Vanyerchuck

Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo

Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results by Jack Mitchell

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

You Are A Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero

9 Steps to Financial Freedom by Suze Orman

Hey, I’m Meghan

I love coffee, yoga pants, planners and color coordinating markers. Sound familiar? Yes! Let’s be internet BFFs. I am here sharing content on all things organization, productivity, goal getting and personal growth. Welcome!

3 Things I've Bought to Improve My Life Lately

Instead of doing a “favorites” post this quarter, I thought I’d highlight some of the things that I’ve bought recently that have ACTUALLY made a difference in my daily life. Hope you enjoy! 

Hello Fresh- I’ve been wanting to try a meal delivery service for some time now. I’ve known many other people who’ve tried them and I wanted to see if it would help me get back some more time in my week by not having to think of meals and buy all of the ingredients at the grocery store. They have some introductory pricing available for new customers, so our plan for 3 meals for 2 people came to just $24 for the first week and about $30 each week for the next month. Regular price is around $60, so it’s nice to get to try it out at a lower rate before deciding whether to keep my subscription. I will be sure to share my thoughts on Hello Fresh on my Instagram! 

New vacuum- This is how you know you are officially old- you spend your Friday night buying a new vacuum at the store and then coming home to put it together and vacuuming your entire house. Our old vacuum had completely lost its suction and we did our best to clean it up and clear it out ourselves, but in reality, the vacuum was 6 years old. As I was shopping around for new ones, it was very clear that they’ve made some big design and functionality improvements since 2013! I ended up with this Shark rocket stick vacuum because it works well for both carpet and hardwood floors, has a detachable hand vacuum and was ultra light with a self-cleaning brushroll. SO MUCH EASIER to vacuum! 

New books- I’m really excited to be starting The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin this week and I also grabbed the classic 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey in my order as well. Check out my 2019 Reading List or my post on Four (More) Books to Read in 2019 for some more book recommendations. 

Tell me about something that you’ve bought lately that has improved your life in the comments below. Have you tried a meal delivery service? What household item can you replace to make your cleaning more efficient? What books are you reading right now?

Have a great week, 

Meghan

Hey, I’m Meghan

I love coffee, yoga pants, planners and color coordinating markers. Sound familiar? Yes! Let’s be internet BFFs. I am here sharing content on all things organization, productivity, goal getting and personal growth. Welcome!

Book Review: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Unless you’ve been a hermit lately (which, by the way, is cool too), you’ve probably heard about Marie Kondo’s show Tidying Up on Netflix. Have you been watching it? I’ve seen a few episodes and I have to say my favorite part was when she walked into a messy room and went, “I am excited. I love mess!”

If you haven’t seen it, Marie is a Japanese organizing expert and the show is based on her best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which I just so happened to have read in November. If you’re also obsessed with her show, the book may just be for you. Here’s my review:

Why I Picked It Up:

In general, I love organizing things. Sorting, color coding, labeling, etc- I’m all about it. At the time I picked up the book, we were deep into packing up every single item we owned to move into a new house, so I figured it was the perfect time to read it.

What I Learned:

In all honesty, Marie’s deep, spiritual approach to tidying up is a bit out there for me, but I did take away some good perspectives that influenced the way I have been approaching setting up our new house.

• It’s all about the JOY. You should only keep things that bring you joy. and you should only purchase new things that bring you joy. According to Marie, people get so caught up in what to throw out that they forget to put thought into CHOOSING the things they keep.

• Marie is not a minimalist. She will not tell you to get rid of everything; only the things you do not truly love. In her eyes, it’s okay to have stuff, you just have to really like it.

• Her strategy for conquering the tidying is to collect all of the things you own that are in the same category- say books, for example- from everywhere in your house and put them in one big pile so that you really get a good idea of what you have. And for ease of use, the items you keep should be all be stored in the same spot.

• One handy tip that I found was that she recommends to get rid of the packaging on your items that have words, as they create a lot of visual chaos. And when I think about all of those stunning pantry pics I’ve see on Pinterest, she’s totally right. All of the products are stored or contained in a clear or solid container without words.

““When it comes to the things I own, the clothes I wear, the house I live in, the people in my life- when it comes to my environment as a whole- though it may not seem particularly special to anyone else, I am confident and extremely grateful to be surrounded by what I love [and] by things and people that are...special, precious, and exceedingly dear to me.” ”

— Marie Kondo- The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!