001.
A quick one before I start my ten favourites – I’ve realised that I save a lot
of articles and then mention them in these lists, but it might be useful to
share with you the app/site I use to do so. I use Pocket, which I’m totally
obsessed with – I have an app for my phone and iPad, and a button on my browser
at home and at work. If I see an article I want to save for later, I just
add it to ‘Pocket’ and it saves it for reading later – and you can read
it offline, so perfect for train journeys and travelling. Does anyone
else use it?
002.
The first article I saved (and later enjoyed) this week was Lifehacker’s ‘Reduce stress by making “good enough” decisions’. As
someone who agonises over every tiny decision, this has definitely made me
think.
003.
Like every other blogger in the UK at the moment, I’m very excited that it’s
now Autumn. I have a few busy weekends coming up but after that my
weekends are reserved for forest walks, cosy jumpers, X Factor and a takeaway
on a Saturday night, Lush bubble baths (well, that’s every weekend), and lots
of dinners from the slow cooker!
img credit: http://w-i-t-c-h-e-r-y.tumblr.com/
004.
I recently watched a video about Attention Deficit Trait – it’s
different to ADD/ADHD, which is a medical condition, but instead it is a state
of your brain being “overwhelmed with chatter”. The psychiatrist who
coined the term says it’s a condition induced by modern life, in which you’ve
become “so busy attending to so many inputs and outputs that you become
increasingly distracted, irritable, impulsive, restless and, over the long
term, underachieving. In other words, it costs you efficiency because you’re
doing so much or trying to do so much, it’s as if you’re juggling one more ball
than you possibly can.” I can definitely relate to this, and
everything I’ve read about ADT really resonates with me. I constantly
find myself writing an email on my computer, with one eye on Twitter on my
phone, thinking about what I have to do on my journey home and worrying about
something that happened at work. I constantly find half-written emails or
texts because whilst writing them I suddenly think of that article I was going
to read, or I check my Instagram feed, or even abandon it to write a different
email. Despite all of these efforts, I find myself constantly being less
productive than I could be – I constantly wonder how I’m not achieving more
than I can with the time I have. There’s some good articles on ADT and
how to control it – this one in Harvard Business Review is particularly good.
005.
I’m currently reading ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ by Shirley Jackson and
I’m really enjoying it – it’s a relatively short novel (one for a rainy
Sunday!) but it’s quite eerie and spooky and very different to anything else
I’ve read recently! I also signed up for the Audible free trial so I can listen
to audiobooks on my commute, and I’m currently listening to Ruby by Cynthia Bond. It’s very good but I feel like
I’ve been listening to it for ages, so I think it must be quite a long book!
It’s very well written though, I almost wish I had the paperback copy so I
could note down some of the beautiful prose in it.
006.
As usual we’re only a day into Autumn and I’ve already got a lengthy coat
wishlist. There are some absolutely beautiful coats currently in at Joules clothing at the moment and I’ll definitely be
grabbing one of those. I’m not sure if it’s the right season for leather
jackets, but I also really want one of those – I think a leather jacket, scarf
and jeans is a great look for when it gets cooler but it’s not quite Baltic
enough for a thick coat.
007.
My absolute favourite blog read at the moment is Love From Berlin.
A ‘conscious lifestyle blog’ written by Rae, who lives in Berlin (in case
you hadn’t guessed). Featuring absolutely beautiful photography, outfits,
interiors, travel and lots more, it’s my absolute dream blog – I’m obsessed!
008.
I’ve added several of these ‘Ten Most Important Books To Expand Your Brain’ to my Amazon
wishlist…. (although I need to start getting my ‘to read’ pile down before I
buy any more!)
009.
I know I’m probably the only person in the world who hasn’t yet tried it or
raved about it, but I bought the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer from John
Lewis this week, and unsurprisingly I’m in love! Are there any other Laura
Mercier products I should try?
010.
I’ve been pinning lots of recipes to my F O O D Pinterest board lately – next on
the list for cooking is definitely the Overnight Spiced Vanilla Pear oatmeal
(made in the slow cooker overnight!) or the tortilla with eggs, ricotta and
peas. Yum.
img credit: boysahoy.com
What’s
been on your list of articles, blogs or other things you’ve enjoyed this week?
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