Think of this as my Top 25 List of 2022
Since 2018, I've been listing my favorite things, experiences, and items that have really impacted me that year. If you haven't read any of them, check them out:
So below are the experiences, products, and applications that affected me in 2022. I've done my best not to include anything from previous years, but needless to say, the things on those lists (for the most part) carry over for this year as well.
Remember, what may work for me, may not work well for you. The wonderful thing about this article is that it gives you new things to try and incorporate into your life.
2022 EXPERIENCES / CLASSES
1. My 1st Anniversary / Wedding - This August marked a year since my husband and I married. Due to how crazy 2020 and 2021 were, we didn't have an opportunity to throw a proper wedding celebration with our family and friends. So we decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary by having a wedding celebration. It was fascinating planning the wedding, and it certainly was a stressful experience I wouldn't want to do again. But it was worth seeing all my loved ones under the same roof and having such a wonderful time.
2. Daily Journaling - After my 31st birthday in May, I decided to be a lot more proactive in journaling daily. While I wasn't perfect, I could get through an entire planner (the High-Performance Planner) and a gifted empty notebook given to me as a gift. By doing this casual BuJo methodology of journaling, I've been more able to plan my days, reflect on what has gone well, and learn from my experiences.
3. Asana 101 / Loom 101 - I made courses for the company I'm a part of, Start Grow Manage. We created these courses for our clients so that they could more effectively use these tools to become more productive in their businesses. Being on the 'creating' side of the classes was exciting, and I've impacted several people with my insights.
4. Networking - In the spring and summer months of 2022, I did some networking in Northern New Jersey. While I wouldn't say that I 100% enjoyed these experiences, it was good to go out and change up the rhythm of my days by going out and seeing new people.
5. YouTube Videos of Necrodancer- For a while in 2022, I did Daily Runs on Crypt of the Necrodancer. Creating daily videos of my Necrodancer runs was really fun and educational. What was even better was reading the occasional comments that other viewers left me to teach me about specific items and mechanics in the game. And just watching my progress.
BOOKS
6. The Pumpkin Plan- Our Start Grow Manage Leadership team read The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michaelowicz together. It's a great book about how to grow your business by comparing it to pumpkin farmers' strategy to grow show-winning giant pumpkins. I love how this book provides some great real-world examples of applying these concepts to your business, and we have started to incorporate the strategy of doing 'Pumpkin Plan Interviews' with our clients.
7. How to Take Smart Notes- I purchased this e-book in 2021 but finished reading it later this year. Admittedly the reason it took me so long was that the book was so dense and hard to digest, but it's because it's tailored towards people who are in academia and not for the average person. The concepts of Zettelkasten are fascinating. It is all about using notecards to write short notes about what you learn in your own words and then connecting those concepts by grouping these separate notecards into categories. It's a brilliant way to take everything you learn daily and create content with it.
8. St. Mary's Rebel Series- In early 2022, I stumbled across Saffron A. Kent's romance novel series, which takes place in a school for "troubled girls." My favorite was "These Thorn Kisses," with a traditional artist as the main lead character. I just loved their romance, mainly because there were so many tropes rolled into one with this particular series. The other one I'd like to highlight was "Hey, Mister Marshall" because I remember being really excited about it, but it didn't outshine Thorn Kisses. While I love the girls and their tales, their counterparts sometimes act too similar and don't seem as unique as the girls.
9. Royally Rearranged: A Sweet Royal RomCom Series- I stumbled across this book while out with friends. We went to Barnes and Nobles, and the novel's cover caught my attention. I then read the premise and bought the e-book to finish reading it at home. After all, as I shared in my WebToons blog post, I'm a sucker for romance, especially if it's a romantic comedy. The male lead Rafe is a delight, and I was basically wooed by his charisma and energy like the female lead. It was so good!
10. Werewolf Novels- Early in 2022, I got a lot of Facebook ads to read werewolf romance novels. And I didn't make things easier for myself since I'd read all the snippets Facebook would give me and then continue scrolling. Thus encouraging Facebook to keep feeding me more and more of the same thing. Eventually, I caved and picked up a few novels from these ads, one of them being "Catching Genesis" by Nicole Riddley and another "Fated to the Alpha" by Jessica Hall. I know there are several others, but since I would read these in an afternoon (or over a weekend), I could have documented them better. These were like junk food, satisfying to read at the moment, but not really beneficial to me long-term.
APPLICATIONS
11. Asana- At Start Grow Manage, we started to use Asana to replace Microsoft Planner when it came to task management. And thank goodness we did because Asana is leagues better. I love how you can view tasks in a list view, board view, and calendar view. I also enjoy how this tool has immensely helped our team become more productive while working asynchronously. We've also started to use this alongside our clients to keep everyone on the same page. While Notion handles certain things better, this has a smaller learning curve.
12. Loom- I've used Loom this year professionally at Start Grow Manage and personally throughout this year. It's such an easy-to-use screen recording tool. I love how you can easily create videos for yourself or create super simple videos to share with others. True to its motto, I've cut down on meetings by getting the point across with a 1-3 minute video that they can watch on their own time. It's free to use, so I recommend it to see if it's the right fit.
13. The Guest- While The Guest app is retired, I still wanted to mention it on this list because it was the MVP regarding my wedding photos and videos. The turnaround time to get pictures from this app was immediate, and I didn't have to pay thousands of dollars to get over 1K photos from my guests. Unlike my actual photographer, who had a long wait time and a less satisfying experience.
14. Find My iPhone App- While this is an app that comes with all iPhones, I have depended on this app more this year than any other year prior. It's been great to quickly find my wallet and several other things.
15. Pokemon Scarlet- I'm a huge Pokémon fan and have always purchased the main line series games. Due to Sword and Shield, as well as Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, I had low expectations for the latest game. However, this game has been fun despite the immense performance and graphical issues. I shared my first impressions on my other blog, PKMN dailies.
SKINCARE / BEAUTY PRODUCTS
16. Batiste Dry Shampoo- In 2018, I mentioned how I used Detox Dry Shampoo from Drybar. This year I picked up Batiste at Big Lots while shopping with my husband and mom. I like the Detox one more since this one makes my hair knotty and gross after a couple of hours. I will still list it here because I have used it and will continue to use it until it's done.
17. Tricofero for the Hair- When my dad passed away, I got several of his things. One of them is this hair care product that promotes hair growth. So I have used it a ton this year. My husband doesn't like the smell, but overall I like using it in the morning as a part of my morning routine, and it makes me feel closer to my dad when I use it. I'll probably not buy anymore when I'm done with his supply, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
18. Waterpik- I've always wanted a Waterpik ever since I've seen my dad have it in his bathroom. But I never bought my own. Eventually, this year, I finally made the purchase. I got it through the website Temu (which is a booming marketplace). I'm curious if I'm using it correctly, but admittedly it makes a bit of a mess all over the bathroom. I still like it, though; it's significantly better than flossing my teeth.
19. Essie Gel Couture Top Coat- Once every other month, I like to treat myself to getting a manicure and pedicure with my husband. Sometimes we bring along his mom and make an afternoon out of it. We would do this more often, but mani-pedis are expensive! So during one of those trips, I noticed the top coat that the salon used and purchased it on Amazon. And out of all the top coats I have bought, I like how it covers my base polishes. Now all I need to do is find my perfect base coat.
20. Pronto 100% Pure Acetone- Since I do my nails at home weekly on Sundays, I need acetone. This year, I've stuck with the Pronto brand of 100% pure acetone, which works like a charm. The bottle lasts me a good while and does a good job removing my nail polish. And I use a base coat, two coats of color, and then a top coat. So there's plenty of nail polish that needs to be removed, including glittery colors. So unless someone recommends a different brand, I'm sticking with Pronto. It's so much better than the low-quality drugstore brands.
LIFESTYLE - MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS
21. WalkingPad- In the late summer to early autumn months, I kept getting advertisements for the walkingpad. This is a foldable treadmill with the purpose of being an exercise machine you can use while you work from home. Eventually, there was a sale, and I decided to purchase it since autumn was getting closer, and I wanted to maintain my daily 15-minute walking routine. And while the WalkingPad didn't fit perfectly under my standing desk, I eventually found a spot next to it so I could use it. And the manual mode is enough for me. I don't recommend the automatic mode or the app the WalkingPad is compatible with.
22. Vitamin Box- As a part of taking small but steady steps to improve my health, I wanted to make it easier to take my daily vitamins. So I decided to ask my husband to order a simple rectangular box where I could store my vitamins to take daily. While I wouldn't say I like the fuschia color, I do like how it has dramatically improved my consistency in taking my daily vitamins. And I've incorporated filling up the vitamin box as a part of my weekly Sunday reset routine.
23. Supoix Apple Watch Band- A week before my wedding, I had dinner with one of my friends from my board game group. It was then I saw her watchband. She then told me it was from Amazon. I immediately ordered it since I wanted to wear my Apple Watch during my wedding, but I also didn't have a pretty enough band to wear with my dress. And ever since I switched my old Apple Watch band with this new Supoix one, I've gotten so many compliments for it. It also comes in other colors, such as gold, silver, and rose gold (the one I own).
24. Multitasky Traveler Power Bank- I purchased this from Multitasky as a part of a value pack with a Foldable Ring Light. I get many compliments on this battery pack for how creative it looks (since it looks like a tiny suitcase), and it has also come in handy for charging my phone while on the go. The only downside to this is that I can't control when I want it just to be a battery pack versus when I want it to be a hand warmer. So I tend to accidentally use both features at the same time. Which isn't the end of the world, but still worth noting.
25. Novellinks Photo Case- I purchased this Photo Box Storage case in May and then again when I went to Michael's and saw it 50% off. And I bought it not just once, but twice this year because it's really great! So the big case by itself is excellent for storage, but this is a great solution for organizing because it comes with smaller storage containers inside. So I can either organize my things in smaller boxes to store in the main case or take out the smaller containers and use them separately.
What would be on your Top 5 List of 2022?
I'd love to hear what experiences, products, or media really affected your 2022 experience. Perhaps it was something small such as a new pair of socks, to an incredible traveling experience of a lifetime. Regardless of how grand or small, your list may seem, I'd love to read about it! After all, maybe it'll show up on my Top 2023 list!
Read some other great posts
Here are the experiences, products, and applications that affected me in 2022. I've done my best not to include anything from previous years, but needless to say, the things on those lists (for the most part) carry over for this year as well.