Not to be too much of a cliché, but I am leaning into spring cleaning this year: My workflows, my fashion sense, and at some point my finances as well. Below are some systems and tasks that have been on my mind lately!
Notes app everything
I am resistant to most new tech until one day lightning finally strikes and I can’t imagine a world without it. This was even true of using the Notes app on my phone—I still love paper and pen! That is until I downloaded Simplenote and started using it for everything, including to-do and grocery lists, story ideas that occur to me when I’m out and about, random thoughts I don’t want to forget but inevitably do, and tracking my monthly bills.
I even use one running Simplenote as a makeshift calendar, tracking what I have scheduled on any given day, something my friends (lovingly?) rib me for. It just works better for my brain than Apple or Google Calendar, which I only use/update when forced to by Lindsey.
Still, stuff dashed off in your Notes app of choice can be easily forgotten. Or as Lena Dunham writes much more brilliantly in her newsletter: “Being a writer is only about 17% writing—the rest is thinking, and the real challenge is finding a way to organize those thoughts … NotesApp came along to give us a place to stick it all, but so often it ends up like a fridge full of farm stand produce you swore you’d have time to cook—past its sell by date, kind of stinky, embarrassing to show even your loved ones.”
Dunham goes on to break down how she uses the Notes app to organize everything she’s working on, and I’m deeply in awe of her process. Simplenote doesn’t offer the same folder system she uses (I don’t think?), but it does let you look at your notes by tags, which I find extremely useful.
I used to be a Microsoft OneNote girl (perhaps the only such girl?), which offers many more capabilities than Simplenote and would allow me to have folders within folders, à la Lena Dunham. But at a certain point, you’re simply using too many different apps/notebooks/white boards/organizational systems, and despite being so inspired by Dunham, I am trying to cut down. I find it easiest to turn to Simplenote to jot down everything I am thinking/would like to think about, and so Simplenote it is.
Dual white boards
Work-wise, Lindsey and I are always trying to find the right project management system that can help us plan out not just our editorial calendar but longer-term projects, social media posts, brand deals, and much more. We’ve yet to land on the right system (that we actually remember to use), but we’re testing out a few different things.
I’m also trying to perfect it in my own life (until this week, I was juggling four different Gmail accounts and their respective calendars, and it’s simply too much). I have the aforementioned Simplenote calendar for life events, but that doesn’t really work for work and all of the daily micro-tasks my various jobs entail.
Currently, I’m using a dual white board system: One is a month-view calendar on which I write all of the big due dates I have plus work-related events, interviews, meetings, etc. The other is a week-view calendar on which I’m writing The Purse’s publishing schedule for the current week as well as the social posts I hope to create.
I probably need a better system than this. There’s simply too much to remember all of the time!
New spending rules
After a few intense weeks of work, I am in nesting mode and have been working on reorganizing and redesigning some spaces in my apartment. As a result, I have been doing deep dives on eBay and other secondhand sites, and while I know consumerism is still consumerism even if you’re buying pre-owned, it’s much more satisfying to comb through used goods to find something sort of unique rather than buying whatever the same three brands on Instagram are serving to me.
I don’t really follow interior (or fashion) trends—I like what I like—so this also works better for my personal taste than buying what’s available in store because it’s convenient. That said, I obviously give into some trends—I’m but a woman at the whim of the algorithm. I spent a not insignificant amount of time this weekend researching different types of the very trendy jelly ballet flats before questioning whether I actually even wanted them or if there was a concerted effort to flood my FYP with them. (Lindsey says DO NOT give into this trend!)
In the midst of these online shopping excursions, I came across this note from Purse reader and Untrickled author Michelle Teheux about never purchasing anything that’s advertised to you, and it snapped me out of it. I’m going to make that a new spending rule! (I still kind of want the jelly flats though. I think they’re fun!)
Finding fashion inspiration
I’ve been in a personal style rut for what feels like years. It’s one of the great conundrums of our time: I have lots of clothes and yet nothing to wear; I don’t like how anything fits and feel like I can’t put outfits together.
Like my home, I’ve been putting time into rethinking my personal style and how I might be able to execute it. I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from the following (though I admittedly do find the level of consumption of most fashion influencers, including some of those below, pretty jarring):
- Mandy Lee: I am obsessed with her shoe and sock collection.
- Diana May: I love her videos on TikTok, though she has a newsletter on Substack, too.
- Vivian Chen: Wonderful, interesting style that is too cool for me, but I am inspired.
- Lena Dunham: As I said previously, I went on an eBay (and Poshmark and The RealReal) shopping spree because of her and picked up some (hopefully) interesting secondhand pieces. I’m particularly intrigued by her eye for jewelry.
Getting back to basics
I was getting into a really good groove of cooking from scratch and trying new recipes. Then work got busy, and the first two things I gave up were consistent exercise and meal planning. Why do I do this?
But our most recent Meal Plan was very inspiring and gave me a lot of good ideas for implementing some changes. I plan to make use of my extra large sheet pan and Melissa Clark’s cookbook. I’m also intrigued by the soy-glazed chicken recipe our writer made, which is from Smitten Kitchen. (I’ve never actually made a SK recipe before!)
Alicia Adamczyk
It’s probably silly to say, but a 40-minute walk really helped this week when I was starting to feel overwhelmed with all of the life and work tasks I had to do. It was a good reminder to not sacrifice movement (and healthier eating!) at the first hint of a full schedule.
Finally, I stumbled upon this monthly reset routine by The Living Standard on Substack. I do not know who runs this newsletter, but I like these questions and appreciate the intention with which the author wrote about them. I answered these as a sort of spring reset, but conveniently tomorrow is the start of a new month, so maybe you’ll want to answer them, too.
Reflect: Take stock of the last month—what worked and what didn’t
Plan: goals and focuses for the next month
Reset: digital housekeeping, finance check, personal upkeep
What systems have been working for you lately? Any changes you’re implementing to your work or life flow?
