Objects of Affection | My Creative Toys
The corporate Capricorn in me leeches onto anything with the promise of efficiency and organization. While I suppose I’m a creative, even though I feel a sense of weird embarrassment referring to myself as such, I wanted to talk about some of the silly, but effective toys I use to help me get through my days.
Here is a roundup of unlikely toys & tools I use, and the practices I follow that make self-discipline more palatable as a creative!
TIME CUBE
Lauryn Bosstick of The Skinny Confidential put me on to this back in 2018-ish. I was ripe into my corporate career, moonlighting as a fashion & lifestyle blogger. Lauryn’s charisma and enthusiasm oozed into everything she shared; her content was pivotal for me during that time of my life. I lived for the side hustle and worked myself into the ground, most nights averaging only four hours of sleep.
This time cube was something Lauryn lived & died by. She talked endlessly about time-blocking and batching out her work into short stints to be the most effective. For $10 bucks on Amazon with her affiliate link, I wanted to see what the hype was all about.
Now 7 years later, I can honestly say this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used for my writing, creativity, and overall efficiency. It allows you to throw your phone into another room so you can solely focus on the task at hand for 15, 20, 30, or 60-minute intervals.
Writing can feel incredibly daunting, even more so than when I was a professional emailer. Oftentimes it can feel endless. With this time cube, I’ll designate a quick 20 minutes to crank out anything. Even if it’s five sentences, it’s not nothing!
What I’ve found is when I allot a short block of time to one task, I ALWAYS end up motivated to do more than I had bargained for. 20 minutes turns into 30, which turns into 4 hours some days. How do you think I was able to write, design, and edit an entire zine?? The answer is not Adderall.
If you struggle with focusing on one task at a time whether it be emails, folding laundry, writing, or taking a short brain break, I could not recommend this time cube more.
Time cube link here.
RAINBOW DUMPLING LIGHT
Ironically enough, I received unsolicited negative commentary from two of my former bosses for having this in my old office. It wasn’t minimal enough for them. Surprise, surprise I am no longer with said company. And now I get compliments on this little guy from everyone, including DM exchanges between me & my favorite writer, Cat Marnell.
I don’t remember how or why I stumbled upon this, but this light is one of my favorite desk accessories.
Having a cozy, cute work space is critical to my creativity. I found this dumpling lamp on Amazon for no more than $15 – he’s squishy and shines the full spectrum of the rainbow when you press him!
When I turn on my dumpling, the rainbow light cues me that it’s time to create!
Rainbow dumpling light link here.
HELLO KITTY DESK CALENDAR
Google calendar is super effective, considering you can weightlessly tote it around anywhere. But nothing beats having a physical planner or calendar.
Every Friday, I like to plan my daily to-dos for the following week. I don’t use this so much for personal appointments, parties, or birthdays - that’s a job for Google calendar. When it comes to my to-dos, the physical act of writing them out is really helpful for my creative process. I very much like to see my tasks physically in front of me rather than going to an app.
I’ve tried to find aesthetic planners or calendars on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Papier, all the places. None that I found were set up the way I wanted – I just wanted big daily blocks to check off tasks!
I stumbled upon this $5 Hello Kitty daily calendar at Home Goods and was immediately sold. I am a sucker for Sanrio.
So far I’ve only missed one week in the last two months of buying her! It’s perfect to keep on your desk, not having to lug it around in your bag like lots of other planners. It also allows you to write in the date of the week so you aren’t restricted to a year or specific dates.
I don’t have a link, but I encourage you to peruse your local Home Goods!
LEUCHTTURM1917 DOTTED NOTEBOOK
I have been a diehard Moleskin fan for years. But when I saw Barnes & Noble selling these LEUCHTTURM1917 notebooks, they piqued my curiosity. I loved that there was an option for grid or dotted pages rather than just lines.
Sorry Moleskin, but I’m not coming back. These German notebooks have the perfect amount of physical flexibility in the soft cover & inside pages, allowing for, honestly, more creativity. Instead of just writing words on lines, I’ve used my notebook for charts, doodles, and lots of things in-between. Moleskins are too rigid and, oftentimes, difficult to write in.
There’s so many different variants from soft to hard cover, to size, to types of lines or grids on the pages, that makes them so customizable. Plus, they have the most beautiful selection of colors.
This is the one I use - it’s perfect to throw in my medium crescent Baggu on-the-go. It also has a little folder on the inside to tuck away love letters or stickers.
LEUCHTTURM1917 Notebook link here. You can also purchase them on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and tons of other stationery or bookstores.
FLORIDA WATER
If you haven’t learned by now, I’m a woo-woo witch. I’m big into the energy within a space. My half-sibling, Corinne, bought me a bottle of Florida Water while we were perusing the Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore in Atlanta.
No, this is not literally a bottle of water from Florida. It gives off a floral, herby scent that can be used as fragrance or a way to cleanse the body, mind, and space; synonymous to saging a room.
“It is known worldwide for its magical effect on the mind, body and soul.”
Corinne told me to ceremoniously pour a bit in my hands, close my eyes, energetically rub them together, and cup my hands over my nose to inhale, taking deep breaths. Mindfulness type of work.
I’m not sure if you’re actually supposed to inhale it because there is alcohol & fragrance in it, but I’ve put a lot of other worse things up my nose.
The idea is that it’s supposed to wash away bad energies & spirits, making room for the good to flow in.
I can’t point to a specific time where I can say, “yes! All of the bad energy has dissipated!” but it is a nice, cleansing ritual to start and end my work day.
Florida Water link here.
SCENIC AI YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Remember when we were inside for all of 2020? LOL.
During this time I found myself rediscovering my love for reading; I devoured books like I was ripping vodka cranberries a la club table service.
I was living in a fresh new apartment in north Atlanta. Setting the right vibe was very important for my mental. When I would pick up a new book, creating the idyllic cozy reading atmosphere was a big part of it: brewing some earl grey, dimming the lights just enough, lighting my Nest candles (that I ended up being allergic to?), fluffy queen-size blankets, and throwing on some instrumental music. I can’t concentrate on words on a page if there’s lyrics in the background.
I would go to queue up some bossa nova on YouTube that I fully expected to be a 4-hour playlist with a static image. Turns out you can actually find infinite instrumental videos, and even live-streams, paired with virtually any AI setting you could dream of.
Want to sit at a French cafe, festooned with bougainvillea, listening to light jazz? You can have your pick of no less than 704 videos to fit the vibe. Missing summer already and want to lay by a Grecian pool overlooking the ocean with your favorite beach read? Go to YouTube.
These are some of my favorites:
I throw these videos on to help me write, too. Even if I want some noise, but don’t want to actually consume a show or movie, YouTube is where I go.
This is the ambient cyberpunk city scene - one of my favorites for the evening for sure.
