It's a new year, and that means it's time to look back over the last year and see what worked for us and what didn't. I know that something I struggled with last year was balance. My work/life balance was not at all, and I'm determined in 2018 to bring more life and less work to the balance. So while I'm still all over last year's obsession with Danish hygge (I love comfort!), this year I'm adding lagom. 

Lagom is the Swedish idea of trying to find balance in life. It's about living simply and with intention, while leaving behind overshopping, overspending, overcrowding, and over-everything else. And the best quick introduction to lagom I've found so far is The Little Book of Lagom by Jonny Jackson and Elias Larsen. It is small, like the title says, only about seven inches square (or whatever size your tablet is, if you're an ereader like me), and under 150 pages. And if that sounds like a lot of pages to you, realize that there are many pages with only photos or illustrations, so it's very fast to zip through and get introduced to the concept of lagom. 

Divided into four sections, The Little Book of Lagom give advice on creating a balanced home, a balanced sense of health, that work/life balance that eluded me last year, and balance in your legacy in the world. There are lots of quick tips, a few recipes, and numerous ideas for reducing stress, decluttering, eliminating waste, and living a life that makes you happy. None of the advice is overly deep or difficult; mostly, it's quick tips and ideas to help you get focused again and make smarter choices. It's not about fixing everything that's wrong in your life or living so piously that your friends no longer want to know you. It's about finding what's right for you, what works for you, what makes you happy and gets you closer to your goals. Lagom is that simple. And The Little Book of Lagom keeps things that simple. It makes a fantastic gift, for yourself or for anyone you know who is struggling to find balance in their life. 

And now that you know all that, you still have one questions. I know what it is. It's pronounced lah-gom. 

You're welcome. 

Galleys for The Little Book of Lagom were provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.