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...