The Planned Creative

Did 2019 fly on by you leaving you wondering where the time went and what on earth did you do? Do you feel like you spent the year half-assing things and while you made some forward movement you suspect you made it harder than it needed to be and finished out the year tired and drained? If so, you are most definitely not alone and it is nothing to feel guilty about. This is an opportunity. An opportunity to make a pivot in your life and mindset. I suspect, if you're anything like me, when you really think about it where it went wrong is you were sucked into the allure of multi-tasking... Look how productive I am doing four things at once!!!  Multi-tasking is productive sometimes for some activities. But NEVER for anything important or for a significant part of your day. When you are multi-tasking, you are not doing any of the activities with intention. Essentially you are not absorbing anything or growing... or putting your best effort forward. Multi-tasking is best saved f...

Did you end 2019 sputtering over the finish line out of gas? If you accomplished your 2019 goals did you have the energy to even celebrate your victories? Take a hard look at what your goals are for 2020. Learning, striving, giving, loving, and pushing limits are key parts of a fulfilled and successful life, but don't forget in order to grow you also need nourishment. You can't give what you don't have. You can't care for others as best you can if you haven't cared for yourself. Did you factor in caring for yourself as one of your 2020 goals? Do your goals span a variety of life facets such as family, relationships, health (physical, mental, and spiritual), as well as finances and career? We often get so focused on making more money and advancing careers that we forget the rest. But the rest is what we will truly care about in the end. Advancing careers and making more money are just meant to facilitate parts of the rest - travel, making memories, specia...

Feeling the "new year, new you" impulse but don't know where to start?  Here's a fun list to get the brainstorm going: Drink more water. Get enough sleep. Meditate. Pick exercises you en joy. Eat more fruits. Eat more vegetables. Cut down on processed food. Love yourself. Purge negativity from yourself. Breathe. Deeply. Address emotional eating issues. Live a life with purpose. Improve your posture. Cut out soda. Learn to cook for joy. Bring a water bottle everywhere. Eat at the salad bar more often. Learn to say no. Stop smoking. Have healthy snacks. Try juicing. Try fruit & veggie smoothies. Get out more often. Exercise good dental hygiene. Hang out with healthy people. Join classes. Get plenty of sunlight. Practice random acts of kindness. Practice the art of appreciation. Eat a balanced diet. Exercise your smile. While they all sound like wonderful ideas, I suggest just picking one to start - this will help avoid the We...

2020 Inspire Yearly Collections Printable Journal collections are a beautiful way of curating samples, ideas, events, or memories into one place you can revisit easily and often. They can also be used as a visual aid to set and monitor goals.  An example of this that I see most often is a book collection to keep track of which books you would like to read and then a way to mark them off as you read them.  How fun is that?  People make collection pages for all kinds of things - favourite quotes, ideas for self care, gift ideas, birthdays, anniversaries, bucket lists, the sky's the limit! One of my favourite concepts for collection pages is creating a way to easily enjoy a collection of something else that isn't easily portable or needs a lot of space to display if you were so inclined.  One of those things many planner enthusiasts have is... their washi collection. You might have drawers and storage bins of it, and love it, but can't easily visit it in all i...

What's that? Another list? Absolutely! 😂 I love lists because they are like a kick start to a brainstorming session. You've come to the list because you are looking for a solution or an idea. The list might not have exactly what you need, but odds are there will be something in the list that resonates with you. Take that thing and run with it. Focus on it, tweak it to suit your uniqueness! Plan your day the night before. Get the big rocks in. Do the hardest task first. Single-task high-level work. Multi-task low-level work. Ditch the unimportant. Use a to-do list for important tasks. Use a do-later list for less important tasks. First be effective, then be efficient. Quit procrastinating. Get a head start. Practice the 80/20 rule. Clear you mind - do a brain dump. Be organized. Delegate where needed. Master your skills, learn from the best. Be well rested. Improvise on your performance. Create your life handbook. Batch similar tasks. Reward yoursel...

Does your to-do list span the length of your arm? Do you feel like there is too much to remember and not enough time in the day to get it all done?  Now let me ask you this. Have you ever looked into your options of automating and delegating regular life to-do's? People and companies out there have come up with some extremely creative and affordable options as they have recognized there are a ton of regular folk out there that just need some help relieving the pressure. Remember, YOU are a priority. If you have access to ways to take regular life things off your plate so that they are easier - or even better - take care of themselves, this clears space for you to spend time with the things you value.  Do something fun with the kids, go on a date night, take time for a little self-care with the stereotypical bubble bath, or just take five minutes to breathe and recenter.  Here are some of the services I've found and tried, or am wanting to try in the next few month...

Inspire Yearly Trackers Who doesn't love that feeling when you fill in December 31st on a year long tracker and bask in the glory of being able to review your year in a quick glance? No one. Or at least no one I want to know!! 😆 If you've never tried this, you don't know what you're missing! Or maybe you're here looking for a new idea - because of course, more trackers = more glory .  If a year long tracker is a new thing for you, here's the breakdown. It's a layout where the entire year of whatever you want to track is on one page - yep, one page. Usually each day gets a square, and there is a legend to code each day into your designated result. Check out the examples because, as usual, a picture is worth a thousand words. Enough jibber-jabber, let's get to the inspiration! Number of steps Exercise Weather Meditation Mood Savings Spending Bills Water intake Healthy eating Reading Time Crafting Sleeping TV time Flossing Tak...

Color Me Planner & Journal It seems everyone is looking for the magic bullet to look and feel great, all while making bank and living their dreams. There's no shortage of people looking to sell you on programs and supplements - just do THIS for one week, one month, and VOILA!  Voila indeed...  I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no magic pill. The "secret" is kind of a grind. Are you ready for it?  It's small daily actions and habits that you do consistently over time... basically forever. 😅 And while it's true day over day you will not see a marked nor incredible difference, compare month over month - or even better, year over year! I've also found the key to stay on track is to use trackers to keep easy notes on what small things I've done each day. When it's small it's hard to remember a week later. Did I take 5 minutes to meditate three times or four times last week? When did I last listen to my favourit...

Imperturbable Emma Plan for success by keeping a list handy of actions you can take when you notice yourself enter any kind of mindset downward spiral.  This way in the moment you don't need to dream up something to help - you can just grab your list and pick an item that suits the moment! Keep it handy whether it's a note on your phone, in your planner, or wherever you can reach it easily throughout your day. Fill it with anything and everything that's ever worked for you - or that you think might work for you.  Some suggestions for your list: 💗 Listen to upbeat music 💗 Get a good laugh 💗   Walk around the block 💗   Declutter 💗   Give someone a hug 💗   Think about what went well 💗   Allow yourself to vent 💗   Write it down 💗   Help someone else 💗   Smile! 💗   Smell orange or lavender 💗   Look at flowers 💗   Visualize your best self 💗   Write down everything you are thankful for 💗 ...

Love Today I love lists - especially lists that help you consider areas for improvement!  As you read through, think about how you feel replacing "She" with "I". Pick the one that makes you feel most squeamish and there you go - your next area of action. Focus in and consider. What can you do RIGHT NOW that will bring you closer to feeling like it is a true statement. AND DO IT! She makes time for herself. She challenges herself. She educates herself. She understands guilt, acknowledges it and moves on. She knows healthy doesn't always mean going to the gym. She is financially savvy. She smiles. She can step away from her job and have a life outside of the workplace. She sets herself goals and methods for keeping track of them. She celebrates wins, both big and small. She helps others through selfless acts of kindness. Act like a lady, work like a boss, and love today !

Which Way? What if I told you both are right?  Ugh. Yes, it's one of those kinds of things where I'm going to challenge you to examine what you are doing and why. Are you going with the flow even though it is not in your long term best interests but it makes things easier right now? Or is it because you've set up the right circumstances and you now find yourself in the coveted "flow" or "zone"? Are you fighting the current to make a conscientious change or are you accidentally working against your own nature and making your life more frustrating and difficult than it needs to be?  There are times to go with the flow and there are times to swim upstream and fight the current. The hard part is recognizing and making sure you've actually CHOSEN and know WHY you've chosen to do what you're doing.  So which way are you going?

Grace & Hustle You are amazing. You have been busting your butt like nobody's business, and even though your brain is busy with all the things left to do, or things you didn't quite hit the goal when you wanted to - you are amazing . Resilient. Driven. Head down, hustling. Look at how far you've come. Amazing. Messy bun and getting things done - the essence of  grace and hustle . You've got this, you're rocking this!

Be Silly Be Honest Be Kind ❗ STOP Now that I have your attention 😂 I want to ask you a question. How are you doing - really? Time for a quick check in with yourself. We all rush headlong through life, sometimes willy-nilly, and sometimes in a carefully planned prioritized way, but it's still rushing along.  Every once in a while we need a reminder just to stop, breathe, and ask ourselves how we are. Are you so wrapped up in getting things done you've forgotten to take a couple minutes here and there for fun? Or stopped noticing the little fun things we can see all around us there for the taking if we just notice them? Are we missing little moments in time that take next to nothing from us to do or say something kind that could change someone's outlook on their day?  Even an opportunity to be kind to ourselves. Be honest with yourself.  Be silly. Be honest. Be Kind.                           ...

Inspired 2020 I'm so excited to start using next year's planner!  It's built to help you assess each month and come up with a plan for where you need to focus the most. I don't know about you, but I tend to get obsessed with one area and ignore the rest... to my detriment.  I designed this specifically to help me keep the overall in balance by starting each month with a self-assessment life wheel tool and then helping me think through what I want to do to help build out the section of the pie needing the most work. Then at the end of the month there's a page to take a minute to think about how you did, what worked, what didn't, and most importantly, picking how you're going to celebrate your month of work!!! Remember to dream big, create your own happiness, and look forward to an inspired 2020!

Focused and Fabulous Fall Time for the final push to wrap up the year. I don't know about you but I'm beat! It would be so easy just to roll into a blanket burrito by a lovely fireplace and zone out on some Netflix... Ah, actually that sounds pretty fantastic! Remember - you can't function at 100% for 100% of the time - that's just begging for burnout. Of course you still have things to do, but I'd like to invite you to consider this: will driving yourself relentlessly produce something you will feel proud of?   On the flip side, say you schedule yourself an R&R day every week (hello blanket burrito!), is it possible that maybe, just maybe, the time you spend working to finish your year will go smoother, with less mistakes to fix (or embarrass you later), and complete in less hours?  I would like to suggest showing yourself a little compassion and fueling your body and mind will let you not only finish, but have something shiny to show off, and leave you...

she designed a life she loved Here you are - all full of spit and vinegar with you lofty goals and what you want to get done in the next year or so... What do we all do next? Well leap in and do ALL THE THINGS because we're super excited to get rolling of course! What happens next?  A bit of time goes by, we get tired. Life starts rearing its ugly head. Busy season at work comes, kids activities get rolling, holidays happen, family comes to visit, skip a couple days here and there... wait has it been two months since I looked at that already? Cue self-flagellation spiral, a couple more false starts and crap. Now there's only three months left to do a year of work, and it's chock full of other commitments already! What if I told you that one little step, maybe a couple hours of your time, before you go running off gung-ho could make the difference between insanity and success? Get your hands on a year calendar like any of these here . Grab some different coloure...

Inspired Inspiration... It's all around us. If only we take a moment to really see. It's what can keep us going, keep us looking forward and striving for our goals. It's also what can help us fully appreciate everything we've done and have at this moment.  We get bogged down in the day-to-day hustle, forget the point, forget what we want, forget what matters to us. It's sneaky and relentless.... and our greatest enemy. In my mind I picture it like a creeping shadow stealing in over the world around you slowly sucking the colour and light into a drab grey scale landscape. Ew. Ever see The Never Ending Story? Yah, like that. The good news is it doesn't actually take much at all to keep the Nothing at bay. One teeny daily practice, and I promise you won't even look that weird.  Step one: Set a daily reminder alarm on your phone, for a time you typically are not in meetings or driving or some other normal scheduled time you shouldn't be distracte...

Don't Forget to be Awesome Ah, fall. Let the mayhem begin! Kids are back to school and the extra-curricular activities are back in full swing, work is wrapping up third quarter and everyone is just realizing they haven't even finished second quarter goals and somehow the year got away from us and we need to pull a miracle out of our butts to accomplish everything in the last quarter, not to mention all the upcoming holidays we need to figure out Christmas gifts and Thanksgiving supper, and... and... and! Stop. Breathe. Reel it in. You've got this. Map it out on your calendar. Decide what you can ask someone else to help with. Ask them. Let go or schedule the rest. And remember this one thing...... Don't Forget to be Awesome!!!