Bought New Items from Ugmonk.com
There's a design studio down in Downingtown, PA creating items that help promote schedule + goal planning and workspace organization: UGMONK
A week ago, I bought three items from them and wanted to share these with you in case they might be of interest for you as well.
25 Minute Hourglass (Amber)
25-Minute Hourglass
Trying to get back into reading before this year ends. Due to social media my attention span is fried. Earlier this year I read 3-4 novels in January but like any New Years Resolution, I burned out and didn't read much the following months.
I like to be in a very quiet space when reading: phone turned off completely, sitting in a comfortable position and no people around. I never understood how people could cut out all the surrounding chatter and are able to read a book in a coffee shop or in the bookstore.
I wanted something to help me read for a certain amount of time but didn't distract me in the process of reading. I tried setting a timer on my phone to create a dedicated time frame. But having the phone on created strong urges to check for notifications and it made it easy to lose focus.
When I saw this beautiful hourglass on the Ugmonk site, I immediately added it to the shopping cart. Small size, beautiful color, minimalist and doesn't make noises.
Not only do I use it for my silent reading time, I also use it to write. 25-minutes is a good amount of time to write out a decent first draft.
What I like about this piece is the fact that there aren't any written words or numbers on it. Previously, when I used a timer on my phone, seeing that timer getting closer to zero puts me in an anxiety. I think maybe due to movies, when I see a timer, I associate it with the antagonist trying to set off a bomb to destroy the city.
2. Walnut Valet Tray
Every morning, I waste five to ten minutes looking for my daily essentials. My wallet is still in yesterday's pair of pants and rummaging through the laundry basket. My keys are under the pile of mail or computer desk. My work ID lanyard is MIA and need it to access certain facilities for work.
Many times I leave the house and enter my car sweaty because I was looking for these items that are scattered all around my room.
It sounds stupid but this valet tray has helped me keep my daily essentials in one place. As soon as I wake up to get to work, everything is on the tray and can easily grab everything and leave for work anxiety-free.
It's become a daily ritual. As soon as I get home, I take all the "must have at all time" items out of my coat pockets and lay them on the tray for when I wake up the next morning.
3. Analog Premium Weekly Kit (Walnut)
This is the most important of the three for me. I'm not a fan of Google calendar. I've tried using a 12-month calendar both the desk and wall variant but there hasn't been one that I liked due to issues with spacing, paper quality, bulkiness.
Weekly planners was a little bit better. The problem with these is that they're closed and if you stack them with other books, it blends in and you forget using it.
This weekly planner fit everything for me:
high quality wood & stock paper
size fit on my desk w/o getting in the way
sufficient space for each day to write your schedule
The planner comes with a rack that reminds me of the rack used to place the letter tiles in Scrabble. And it comes with a 52-count box of weekly cards (enough for the entire year).
What I like about it is you can use it as a bookmark so even when you are out of the house, you can easily see your weekly overview in case someone asks for your availability.
At the end of the week, I'll take a card and write out my schedule for next week. This gives me a gist of what my week looks like for now and can figure out when I can go out to shoot or hand out with other people.
Because it's on paper, it's so much easier to make edits on the schedule. Also, the back side is blank so you can use it to jot down random notes.
Why I bought these items
The world has shifted towards digitizing everything: photo albums, calendars, notebooks, etc. Even though this has helped eliminate physical space and turning them into productivity apps on your devices has it really helped you keep your life organized?
I found myself adding more and more apps that were supposed to help me stay organized but did the complete opposite. Many times I have a hard time finding the app I want to use. I'll forget the name of the app and have to go through my apps one by one. Sometimes, it logs me out and I can't recall the password to my account, and then app asks me if I can leave a review on the app store.
With these products that are hand made in a local studio, you can tell these are made by people who enjoy the work and the process to creating unique these unique. They products on the Ugmonk site might be a little on the pricey side but these are supposed to last for a long time and be used everyday to help make your daily work go as smooth as possible.
There's something with physical items I love that apps cannot replace. When I visit someone's home and can see what they have on their wall, shelf or table, I get a sense of who they are. I love to see someone's movie and book shelf it gives me a sense of what they're interested in. Now everyone is streaming movies and owning their books on kindle. I still love minimalism trend but having items such as these add character to your home. Digital can be helpful It's finding the right harmony between physical and digital which are both effective. You have to find things that work for you and it's helping you improve your time management.
Check out Ugmonk.com.
