Shopping Haul 1

Full disclosure: this post contains affiliate links, so if you purchase, I will earn a small commission, but rest assured that I would recommend these products without it!

I know it comes as a total shock, but I’m a cheapskate. I LOVE a good deal. I often take forever to decide to buy something, even if it’s an investment in my business. That said, I recently bought 3 items for my business that have made a huge difference, and I thought I would share! I blamed it on treating myself for my birthday, but really, I should have done this a LONG TIME AGO!

Issue one was that I had a rinky-dink dispenser to dispense packing tape. You know the kind–it’s red and plastic and the tape falls off the little tabs and back to the tape roll, requiring minutes of fingernail scraping and trying to see the little ridge and some utterances under one’s breath… not to mention how much tape gets wasted each time while you try to get the roll back on track. My husband and I both tried to make it work. For months we tried to remember to fold the tape over after each use so it wouldn’t get re-stuck. It was such a waste of time. I finally decided to go find the best-rated packing-tape dispenser on Amazon and “take a chance” on it being better than this red piece of junk. 

So I found this Tape Terror Dispenser and let me tell you–I’m NEVER using that stupid red plastic thing again. It would be like cutting my grass with scissors instead of a lawn mower. This thing holds the tape LIKE GOD INTENDED cuts quick and easy, without the blade being something I fear my toddler accidentally touching (It has a nice protective lip to it, but I’m sure you could hurt yourself with it if you tried). It was super easy to load, and can accommodate a very thick roll of tape down to an almost-empty one. Check it out and I promise you will love it.

My next issue that I’ve been struggling with for over a year is back pain due to terrible desk posture. Having ADHD, I quickly forget that I’m hunched over, sitting on my ankles, losing circulation in my legs, until my back starts to ache and my feet fall asleep. I sit myself up correctly, get back to work, and minutes later, I’m back in hunch-back mode. I looked at “zero gravity workstations” that were thousands of dollars and wondered where I would put all my stuff (I need a big work space for all these piles, you guys), and how it would even fit inside my house. I thought of asking my husband to build something from his infinite piles of leftover wood (let’s be honest, he’d probably buy new wood and then add to the leftover pile afterward). How hard could it be? All I really needed was a good chair that can recline, allow me to put my feet up, and a way of making my monitor come closer than it was in the back of my desk, without losing desk space. Is that really too much to ask?

I am not kidding when I say that I shopped and hemmed and hawed for over a year. I finally decided that a monitor extension arm and a “gaming” chair were the things I would try first. When Amazon Prime day arrived, I pounced.

This Amazing Pink Desk Chair won out because, let’s be honest, it’s adorable. There were many black options but this one just said “You want me” and my 11 year old daughter looking over my shoulder said, “YES MOM THE PINK ONE” and it thus was decided.

It arrived and while the instructions came in every language EXCEPT English, we figured it out. It reclines just like it says it does–I could definitely sleep in it. There’s a slide-out leg rest that goes under the seat when you’re not using it. The arm rests adjust in three different ways–up/down, inward/outward, angled/straight. There are two pillows, one for your head and one for your lower back, and you can position them however you like (and they stay that way). I saw that it had an optional USB cord attached to the lumbar pillow and wondered, “I wonder what that’s for? Maybe a speaker? I’ll find out later.” I later found out that it’s a vibrating massager. You guys. IT MASSAGES MY BACK FOR ME. It might as well take me out to dinner.  

Next we rigged up the Monitor Extension Arm. I was anticipating having to install it on the edge of the desk somehow, since it looked that way in the pictures, but with the instructions in English, we discovered we could install it in the middle of the back of the desk if I wanted, as long as we drilled a hole through the desk. Given that this desk is from our college days, it was a risk we were willing to take. The great thing about this arm is that it has a gas spring inside so that it holds the heavy monitor upright without it falling down, but has adjustable pressure so that I can easily move it without it being too rigid. It’s like something from Star Trek. Or from your doctor’s office. I’ve seen them there too.

But seriously–I installed it in the back the top of my desk, and my monitor can extend way out to my face (just like my eyes like it) and it can tuck back against the back of the desk when I’m not using it. It glides back and forth and it takes up almost no space on my desktop at all–about 3″ by 4″. Like a deck of cards. My only mistake was that I was in such a hurry to try it out that I didn’t thread the cords of the monitor through the holes before setting it up, so I ended up just using painter’s tape like the goof-ball that I am. No one sees that part anyway, least of all, me!

So while my desk still doesn’t look “instagram worthy” it sure is a step up from where it was. I can recline, design, and see my screen so clearly. No more hunching, no more feet falling asleep, and I’m happy as a clam taping up packages!

If you need any of these, I definitely recommend them!

Who knows when I’ll go shopping at Amazon again for my business, but when I do, I’ll let you know what I think!

xo,
Erin