Month: October 2016

Online Business

Entrepreneurial: You Win Some You Lose Some

Entrepreneurial: You Win Some, You Lose Some

Entrepreneurial: You Win Some You Lose Some

Oh October! In so many ways, you are my favorite month. You signal the true start of fall in my world, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that with the change in weather this month, you also brought a lot of change to my business. There is a quote I love that goes “It’s so strong that autumn is so beautiful; yet everything is dying,” and this almost perfectly sums up my month. It was a beautiful month in many ways that brought me clarity and even personal change, but in order to get here I had to watch certain things die. As they say, you win some, you lose some!

What I Didn’t Do

1. Spend enough time prioritizing myself: Maybe it was because last month, September, was so self-care focused, or maybe it was because once I got back from vacation I felt the time crunch to get work done, but this month I really dropped the ball on taking care of myself. For most of the month my meal schedule was out of wack, dinners were take out, and “me time” was minimal. Because of this, I was sick for most of the month (residual from a cold I caught on my trip), and then around the mid point, I struggled with anxiety and stress as I prepared for my 2017 insert launch. Luckily, the universe is always so kind as to keep challenging you when it knows you need to learn a lesson, so after a few sleep deprived days led me to the edge, I finally realized that what I had been missing was white space, rest, and lush baths!

2. Finish a project that was scheduled: New inserts were not the only product I was hoping to complete this month. I also had a second project on my list that had been there all year, researched and ready to be completed, but I ultimately decided to let it go until next year. I had even spent much of the month working on, trying to make it work and get it done by the due date, but after breaking down from stress and anxiety and lack of self care, I decided that it needed to be shelved. It was a very scary decision to make because my heart wanted to complete it but my head and timing said no. Once I made the decision I felt like a massive weight had been listed and began to see a path out of the overworked mess I was in.

3. Get out of my comfort zone: I know this may sound a bit odd to be on a business recap, but there were things I did and didn’t do this month out of fear and I don’t really advocate living your life or running your business this way. Now that we are at the end of the month I can see that there are some tough or uncomfortable choices ahead of me that if I am able to break out of my comfort zone and reach for them, it could be a major boost for my business. Or I could let myself be controlled by fear and doubt and keep doing what I’m already doing. I’m not doing bad right now, in fact, I think I’m doing pretty well! But I need to face myself going forward and decide if I want pretty well or if I want great and how far I am willing to reach outside my comfort zone to achieve it.

What I Did Do

1. Launched a new product: I was very excited to launch my 2017 inserts because with them came a new addition to my existing lineup. A Full Size US Letter/A4 planner design that had been highly requested by my audience for a while now. It actually took me a long time to really understand and decide what I wanted to do with this design to make it unique, but one day the vision hit me and I was off executing immediately!

2. Ran a promotion: With my 2017 insert launch, I also ran a promotion for my email/newsletter subscribers. Promotions are great, but I had been struggling with how I could give more value to those within my community who are the most invested in me and my business. Ultimately, I decided to give my email subscribers a special discount code in addition to some bundle deals that were made public. It was simple but effective and my insert launch was very successful this year outside of a major tech issue that occurred on launch day.

3. Invested in necessary upgrades: Overall, my insert launch and promotion went great this month in terms of engagement and sales, which I am always grateful for, but when high volumes of traffic came to my shop that morning, it ended up crashing my site! This had happened to me once before with a promotion so I knew what was going on, so I spent the morning on the phone with tech support and ended up investing in some upgrades to my site hosting that would allow for more traffic and resources to be allocated to my site during peak times. It wasn’t necessarily money I was expecting to spend, but I had it and knew it was going to be a good investment for the future of my site.

What I Learned

1. I need to always prioritize myself first: I know this, this isn’t anything new to me and if you look back over the year of these posts, self-care is something I have been working on all year. I wouldn’t say that this month was a self care fail because it’s not a topic that one can fail at if they are constantly trying and learning. You really only fail when you refuse to try or give up completely.

2. Sometimes all signs can be pointing to yes, but the answer is still no: I consider myself a pretty reasonable and logically person, so I run my business with common sense and strategies I see working for me or others in a similar situation. When it comes to my products especially, I love to create, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who follows me on different platforms, and when I feel like a product or offer is right, I usually get so excited and worked up about it that I am able to make a plan and execute quickly. But, I’m also an intuitive person, and even when everything seems to be right, right product, right time, right plan, I can always sense when something is off and I need to take a step back. This is basically what happened to me this month with that second project. I loved it, it was the right time, I had a plan that seemed flawless. Logic and reason would tell me, move forward right now with this, work hard, get it done but the more I worked on it, the more I felt like this wasn’t the right time for me to do this project. I have nothing logical to point to, except that I don’t feel like I am able to execute my best on it right now. So for quality sake and for mental clarity’s sake, I put it away and hopefully, I can come back to it in 2017 and knock it out of the park.

3. How important it is to stay on brand: This is another concept that is by no means a new idea to me, but you’d be surprised at how distracting social media and the online business world can be even for someone who is pretty crystal clear on their branding and goals. I’m not sure if this month was a success or a flop for me and my business. On one hand I had a great launch, brought in a respectable income and brought some quality content and products to life. But on the other hand, I had to let go of a project I was passionate about for a very vague reason, and I also felt like I got caught in a trap set by social media that ended up distracting me. That’s why the title of this post is “You Win Some, You Lose Some.” With tools like Instagram and Snapchat its easy to share and consume so much different content. To be honest, most of the content I consume online, is actually not related to the content I create. That may seem odd, but I find that it’s easier for me to create great content when I have kept my eyes on my own paper, and because of that, I like to use different platforms to enjoy content that is more passion or interest driven for me than it is business related. But watching different content means I start wanting to share different content because social media makes you want to share. Then before you know it, you’ve been knocked off course and off brand, and I think this is actually what causes a lot of online businesses and blogs/youtube channels specifically to fail because they had a good thing going that was them, but then they let the world influence them to the point that it changed them. I saw myself falling into this trap this month and made a hard and fast decision to break out of it. I deleted Snapchat off my phone, made some decisions about how I will be using a few other platforms as well, and have basically sworn to myself that I will stick to my content, my brand and my main platforms to give them and my existing following there more time and attention.

Looking back at my month now that I’ve reached the end is a funny thing. There was a lot of struggle this month, but from where I am standing right now, I feel more empowered and prepared than ever for the future. Most of all, I feel very clear on where I am going, a feeling I don’t often get in my business, and one I am sure I will soon lose as I begin working on new plans and projects. So, for now, I am going to do what I can to capture my ideas and goals for how I want to move forward for the end of the year and what I want to achieve moving into 2017!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Business Personal Development Productivity

Practical Tips for Getting Things Done

Practical Tips for Getting Things Done

Practical Tips for Getting Things Done

It’s time for another link roundup! Here are my picks for this month’s best reads around the web to help you with your Personal Development, Productivity and Business! Enjoy!

Personal Development

Productivity

Business

As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed these articles and I’d love to read anything you found informative this month, so please feel free to leave links in the comments below!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Filofax

30 Days of Thankfulness, November Dashboard + Wallpapers {Freebies}

30 Days of Thankfulness Filofax Printable

 

October is rapidly coming to a close so it is time for our November Free Planner Printables and Tech Wallpapers! Novembers task list is called 30 Days of Thankfulness, and it contains a list of 30 easy to accomplish, feel good actions that you can take throughout the month of November to express your thankfulness to yourself, your friends, family and the world around you! I know I am a major proponent of making gratitude lists (which I do recommend in this printable!) however, I feel like there is so much more we can be doing on a day to day basis to show how thankful we are, and to really create memories through experiences that bring us to a greater understanding of the big picture of life. Obviously, since November happens to be the month of thankfulness in terms of the Thanksgiving Holiday (in the US), this is an appropriate time of year to cover the topic of thankfulness, however, you could technically use this printable over and over throughout the year, whenever you feel like you could use an extra jolt of positivity for your life!

30 Days of Thankfulness

Along with the November Thankfulness Task List, you will also get your November Dashboard, both of which come in A5 and Personal Filofax equivalents. Click here to download yours now!

November 2016 Free Tech Wallpapers

And don’t forget your November Tech Wallpapers while you are in the shop! Click here to access those free designs as well and make sure your favorite gadgets are decked out for a month of productivity and gratefulness!

I hope you enjoy your monthly freebies and I truly hope they add to your holiday spirit and brings some extra light into your life!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Productivity

The #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity!

The #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity

The #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity!

No matter how much I write about productivity, I still receive numerous messages each week by loyal members of my community who are swamped with too much to do and too little time to do it! They feel overwhelmed, they want to focus more on the things they love and they want to know the secret to my productivity. I can completely relate to feeling like you are cagged in by your work and a slave to your schedule, but the truth is their is only one productivity tip that will help you, me or anyone else tame our workloads. This tip isn’t much of a secret, unless of course, no one has ever told you about it, so today, let’s unpack this #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity!

What is the #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity?

The biggest secret about productivity that you may not know is that You Can’t Do It All! I know, I know, this goes against everything we have been taught to believe about human ability and persistence, not to mention every girl power message I’ve heard for my last 30 years on this Earth, but it’s true. No one single person can do everything. Yes, I do believe you can achieve all the things you want to achieve in life, but you certainly won’t be doing it alone and if you’re clever, you’ll find ways to hack your daily life and to do list so that you are focusing on the key tasks, routines and decisions that will support your quickest route to success. Now, I want to come back to this point on hacking your life to optimize your success in just a moment, but first, I want to give you some practical strategies for taking this productivity secret and using it to your advantage!

If I Can’t Do It All, How Does Everything Get Done?

You’re probably asking yourself, if I can’t do it all, how does everything get done? You do important work, you have lots of important priorities, and much of what you handle must be done, right? Absolutely! Much of what you handle probably does need to get done, but not necessarily by you. So, if you find that you have too much on your plate, you put in the work and still find that everything isn’t getting done, you really need to start doing two things.

You Need To Delegate And Delete!

First, you need to take a look at everything you do, all your priorities, projects, work, and personal obligations. You need to have a complete understanding of all the elements that take up your time because you will need to Delegate some and Delete others. To delegate, you need to understand what tasks on your list can be completed by someone else. I know many of us, especially the type A’s out there, have a hard time giving over control of tasks to others because we want to know something has been done right, but if something does not require your hand to complete it, you need to assign it to someone else. This could mean an assistant at work, a spouse or child, or even hiring help like a cleaning service or handyman. Not every option is going to be available for every one of us, but wherever we can, we should try to delegate important tasks to someone who is capable of completing the task, even if it means we have to train them how to do it and then reap the time benefits in the future.

Once you do that complete evaluation of your obligations, you will certainly find that you have some things you are doing that can be deleted from your to do list altogether. Like I said earlier, most of what you do probably needs to get done, which means some of what you do can be let go of completely to help you lessen your load. Think about all your extras first, like voluntary obligations outside of work or home. It’s great to be a team player and responsible member of your community, but if you are overwhelmed by everything you need to do and frequently find that you are missing important tasks, you really need to delete any priorities that you signed up for. This doesn’t mean you can never add them back in, but be honest with yourself about what is truly important and be ruthless with anything that takes up your time. Of course, it won’t just be voluntary tasks that you need to delete. Ask yourself what tasks are repeatedly missed or forgotten. Sometimes when we frequently push a task off it means its not actually required to be done. Any extras like this should be deleted from your list until you have reached equilibrium with your time and tasks.

Optimizing Success By Hacking Your Productivity!

Like I mentioned earlier, all of us can improve our productivity and succeed in achieving more of what we want if we optimize our lives with a few hacks here and there. If this sounds interesting to you and you’d like to learn these tips for working smarter, not harder, I’m very pleased to announce that my Planning for Success Master Class is now available! This Master Class and Q&A replay are four information-rich hours of actionable strategies designed to solve your most pressing productivity issues. Included with the class are numerous downloads and worksheets to help you put the strategies taught in place for your specific situation. This class is a tremendous value filled with the precise information you need to optimize your daily life for productivity, but don’t take my word for it! Here is what students from the class are saying:

“The Planning for Success Master Class was so timely for me! I am in constant struggle (more now than ever) with time management and project/tasks all being priority that this class gave me major amounts of tools and guidance that will allow me to gain some sanity again. As a business owner, wife, mother and a person who wants to be all things to most people, this class gave me perspective to what is manageable and plan-able! It has been what is missing in my many years as a professional. I am so glad that I can watch the master class and q & a as much as I want in order to help me build better planning habits. I loved this class and it was time and money well spent! Thank you Alexis!”

– Beth, MO

“The Planning for Success Master Class was a truly great experience! As someone who has run workshops and training, I am in absolute awe at Alexis’ planning, delivery and thoroughness. It has been incredible value for money and I hope that many more will be able to experience this amazing product. I have been given so much information and feel so inspired! Alexis has managed to address most of the organizational, time management and motivational issues that have been plaguing me. I am in-between careers and had hit a dark and sticky rut. This workshop has not only showed me the way forward, it has also turned all the lights on! Many of the concepts were new to me so it has helped to go through the video more than once. It is invaluable that I am able to keep referring to it and I can see how it will all become second nature with some practice. The Q&A session is also extremely interesting. Alexis’ generosity with her time and information sharing are what make her such a great Mentor. I was a fan, now I am a convert! Thank you!!”

– Maria, Australia

“The Planning for Success Master Class was amazing! I have been feeling overwhelmed and almost paralyzed lately in regard to achieving my goals and completing projects. This Master Class provided me with a clear and manageable blueprint that I believe will help me to begin living my life fully again. The value I received from the Planning for Success Master Class was far greater than what I paid for it. Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge and your time. And, I think your online presence is both impressive and beautiful; how you manage to communicate with complete strangers you can’t even hear or see, with such a high level of compassion and grace, is beyond amazing!”

-Cynthia, NV

Don’t let your dreams and goals sit by the wayside any longer! Sign up for the Planning for Success Master Class and join the countless members of my community who’ve benefited from this informative and actionable class!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Productivity

The 3 Quick Tips For Feeling Productive Right Now!

Feeling Overwhelmed? These 3 Quick Tips will have you feeling productive ASAP

The 3 Quick Steps for Feeling Productive RIGHT NOW

Overwhelm can strike at any moment and turn a seemingly organized, well-planned day into a downward spiral of confusion and self-doubt. When this happens, it’s so important that you quickly recognize the pattern and take immediate action to halt and reverse it. You can take back your day no matter how deep a spiral you have fallen into, but you need to take these 3 quick steps to get you feeling productive right now!

Step 1: Turn off Distractions

When I get overwhelmed, even the slightest distraction can cause me to panic, so I need to make sure everything that makes noise or has an alert/alarm is silenced. Silence your phone, kill the music, and turn off your computer’s audio and display. If you can’t avoid all noise completely, put on a pair of headphones or put in some earplugs to give you peace and quiet for a few moments as you gather your thoughts.

Step 2: Do a Brain Dump

When your head is spinning out of control and can’t focus on a single task to work on, you need to make space in your mind by performing a brain dump. Take out a piece of paper and a pen and just start listing out everything you are thinking about that is causing you stress or overwhelm. The items don’t even need to be task related. Jot down those negative thoughts, what they are saying and how you are feeling inside. By writing it down, you are figuratively transferring that energy out of your brain and onto the paper. This works well with anything that comes to your mind that for one reason or another, your brain just won’t let go of. So write it, dump it out and get your brain clear to focus.

Step 3: Breathe

Hopefully by this point, you have significantly reduced any distracting noise or screens around you and have completed a brain dump to get everything out of your head and onto paper. Before you get back to work and process through your to dos, take a moment to sit and breath in the silence. Close your eyes, sit comfortably and inhale deeply through your nose, exhaling from your mouth. Breathe in for five seconds, hold your breath for 2, and breathe out for 7 seconds. Repeat this process for at least five minutes before getting back to your work.

I hope these tips help you to regain your control and sense of productivity when overwhelm strikes! Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips or suggestions that you use in this situation. 

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Online Business

Why Kim Kardashian’s Terrifying Robbery was a Wake Up Call for Us All!

Why Kim Kardashian's Terrifying Robbery was a Wake Up Call for Us All!

Why Kim Kardashian’s Terrifying Robbery was a Wake Up Call for Us All!

You could definitely say I’m a fan of Kim Kardashian. Not just Kim, but really her whole family, at least the ones you frequently see on their reality shows. Love them or hate them, they are all very beautiful, have entertaining personalities and family dynamics, and are undeniably business and social media savvy. Which is why when news broke of Kim Kardashian’s terrifying robbery at gunpoint, I was personally shaken. As someone who works online, puts much of themselves on the internet, and relies on social media to run my business, I began to question my online activities and if my social media habits were putting me at risk for a similarly terrifying situation. To be clear, I do not think I am anything close to Kim Kardashian. Her and her families fame and fortune is far beyond my wildest dreams and expectations, however, I do believe that you, me and everyone we know on social media should consider Kim’s misfortune a wake up call for the way we each share online. In our age of total interconnectivity, it honestly only takes one person, one bad apple paying too much attention to our feeds for each of us to be in a similarly terrifying ordeal. And while the chances of something like that ever happening to any of us are truly slim, the truth is, we are all vulnerable on social media. So, after giving serious thought to this situation and what it means for me, my friends, family and followers online, I have a few insights and lessons I want to share to hopefully keep all of us safer!

1. Turn off location services

Humans are creatures of habit and I bet that the majority of content you have shared on your social media feeds were posted from places you frequent. We post from our homes, jobs, favorite restaurants and local hangouts. Although many of these locations may be “public” that is no reason to geo tag your current location so everyone of your followers know where you are and where you are not at any given time. I understand wanting to tag your location if you are at a very special event, but other than in rare circumstances, keep your location services off when you post to social media so ill-advised followers don’t begin to learn your routines and invade your personal privacy by showing up out of the blue to meet you.

2. Don’t share travel details publicly

I learned this one years ago and am still always shocked at the number of posts I see sharing travel details on social media. No matter if your social media accounts are private and you are sure that you know every one of your followers, you should never share travel details on social media. In case you weren’t aware, there are people who target individuals and families they KNOW will be away from home for extended periods of time and rob them. This has been a common practice for years, even before social media, with people who scan the obituary section of the newspaper to get details on local funerals so that they could burglarize an unoccupied home at a time when all the family members would be absent. If you think that’s despicable, consider the fact that many unauthorized home entries and robberies are perpetrated by friends and neighbors who know your travel plans, what valuables you own and are familiar with the layout of your home. We need to have a little collective common sense with these issues and as much as it’s exciting to post about your upcoming vacation and share photos in real time while you are away, you are taking a tremendous risk that someone you know and trust is taking advantage of the opportunity you have flaunted in their feed. Now, I’m not perfect with this one either, and I realize the temptation to share a post or picture in the moment is made simpler by our wifi and data connections, but even when I went away recently and shared details and posts, I did so knowing full well that my husband was working from home while I was away so my home wasn’t in imminent danger.

3. Delay sensitive posts

Of course, there are safe ways to share and situations where we can enjoy social media without putting ourselves in danger. One way we can do this is by delaying sensitive posts so that we are not giving away important location details in real time. Using social media schedulers like one of my free favorites, Hootsuite, means we can capture our moments and schedule them to go live once we have left a location. No one needs to know precisely where you are to enjoy a fun snap from a concert or event, and your great photo won’t get any fewer likes if you post it the next day. Getting into the habit of delaying your posts is a good way to share while retaining a level of privacy that is critical to your safety and well being.

4. Get some sort of security system

The most shocking detail of the Kim Kardashian robbery is certainly the fact that she was alone in a hotel room without any form of security, despite traveling with a bodyguard. Hindsight is 20/20 and of course there have been numerous interviews and reports from professional celebrity bodyguards and security experts that say a lack of security was truly at fault for this event. Now, you and I most likely don’t require a bodyguard, however, we could all up level our personal security at home and while traveling with the aid of modern technology. Potentially lethal forms of protection aside, it is relatively easy and inexpensive to install and travel with personal and home security systems. Installing a home security system was a top priority for my husband and I when we purchased our home, and the upfront and ongoing cost to do so is truly minimal in comparison to how much more secure we know we, our dog and our possessions are now at home. But what are the options for personal security outside the home and when traveling? This article outlines some awesome hi-tech security systems that you can wear via clothing, jewelry or attach to purses or keychains. Although there is some variety in these gadgets, many protect the wearer by creating audible and/or silent alerts that transmit your location and/or live audio feeds to trusted friends and authorities that can come to your aid in an emergency. When traveling, simple things like luggage tags, locks and hotel safe’s can keep our belongings secure by creating a simple barrier that will deter the average thief or opportunist. Additionally, simple door alarms and window pressure sensors are portable and inexpensive ways to provide an alert to a potential threat no matter where you are.

 5. Keep valuables off your feed

A final action we can take to minimize ourselves as potential targets on social media is to keep our valuable possessions off our social feeds. I know this one can seem especially difficult because the nature of social media is to share and so often what we are sharing are purchases and products we enjoy, however, we all need to expand our common sense on this point and be careful not to overshare or highlight valuables that may draw unwanted attention. In the case of Kim Kardashian, it has been speculated that the robbers where targeting her specifically due to a very valuable ring she had been sharing on social media. It’s one thing to take a selfie wearing your favorite piece of jewelry, but quite another to post precise details of quality and value, and engaging in that type of behavior regularly may encourage attention we don’t want. Again, this is something I too have been guilty of in the past and I’m not here to tell people what they should or shouldn’t post. Let this just serve as a reminder to all of us that our behavior can be a contributing factor in why we may be targeted. Again, there are so many examples of opportunistic criminals that found themselves in the right place at the right time with the right information, and we shouldn’t assume that it won’t happen to us. So, let’s just be smart with what we share.

I know this post was a bit of a different pace for my content, however, my purpose as a creator is first and foremost to ensure I am educating my audience, and as social media is such a prevalent topic I cover, I felt personally moved to share these ideas with you in real time. I hope you gained some insight from this post and if you find this information valuable, I would urge you to share it with friends and family on your social media feeds so that we can spread the word on this important message and keep our loved ones safe. If you have any additional insight or tips you would like to share with the community, please do so in the comments so that this post can become a resource for others.

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Productivity

The 7 Common Mistakes Killing Your Productivity

The 7 Common Mistakes Killing Your Productivity

The 7 Common Mistakes Killing Your Productivity

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing,” and in the case of those looking to do their best work and be as productive as possible, mistakes are commonly made when we take concepts at face value without understanding how to apply them. So, today I want to cover the 7 common mistakes I see people make, that are most likely killing your productivity as well!

1. A Disorganized To-Do List

Anyone will tell you, if you want to get more done, you need a to-do list, but did you ever stop to recognize that your to-do list may be the cause of your productivity woes? A disorganized to-do list can often be more dangerous to your productivity than no list at all. When a daily to do list is too long to complete, fails to batch like-items together or lacks a structure for prioritization, it will debilitate even the most productive person. To remedy this, keep one master to-do list with all your open actions but make a separate daily list with a reasonable number of tasks so that you aren’t overwhelmed by the expectation you are setting. Next, list like items together or use a symbol or color code to match up items that should be done together or maximize efficiency. Finally, identify three items on that list that are the most urgent and complete those as soon as possible before moving on to the rest of the items on your list.

2. Multitasking

The concept of multitasking is an example of when common knowledge doesn’t equal common sense. Years ago, the concept of multitasking was the hot productivity tip that led countless workers into the deep end in terms of poor quality of work, focus and overwhelm. Yes, humans can do more than one thing at a time, but study after study shows they can’t do more than one thing at a time well. Work on only one task at a time, give it your entire focus until completion and then move on to the next. Don’t juggle multiple items at once or you will find all your work crashing to the ground around you.

3. Accepting Tasks Without Question

You probably think that cheerfully accepting tasks from your superiors without question makes you an excellent employee, team player, and asset to your workplace, but when we accept work without asking at least some questions, we waste time and dilute our productivity. Whenever you are given an assignment, you should always get the most important details of the task before agreeing to complete it- if you don’t you may find yourself in deep water when you either overcommit or fail to complete the assignment properly. When you are given a task, activity or project, find out specifics about the due date, expectations (quality, format, budget, goals), and possible support if you experience a conflict (who can you go to for help or information). Most of all, ensure you that understand fully whether this task belongs to you, so that you are not being saddled with someone else’s responsibility or tasks above (or too far below) your pay grade. Failing to understand these important details before committing to work can cause you to spend too much or too little time completing the assignment, cause embarrassing delays or make you look disorganized/irresponsible in the mind of your superior if you keep having to come back to them for more and more details.

4. Doing Everything Yourself

Either out of a sense of perfectionism (“only I know how to do this right”), control (“it’s my responsibility because I’m in charge”) or guilt (“I don’t want to burden anyone else”) individuals commonly kill their productivity by failing to delegate. Most of us work in teams, have a system of family and friends and/or have the ability to delegate or outsource our work, but choose to go it alone and take on everything ourselves. This can put us in a terrible situation of feeling overwhelmed, overworked and isolated, not to mention being a complete waste of our time. Understanding what constitutes the best and highest use of our time, builds key productivity and management skills that we may lack, while simultaneously shaping us into more effective people. To start this process, identify the activities that aren’t the best use of your time and figure out how and who to delegate these tasks to, both inside and outside the office. A busy working mom may see that hiring a cleaning service (or her cousin who works part time) makes her more successful at home as well as in the boardroom or PTA meeting. A junior level sales manager may opt for a virtual assistant to handle their scheduling and finances to have more one on one time with clients and climb the corporate ladder. Likewise, an amateur writer may partner with an amateur photographer to trade copywriting for headshots, capitalizing on their talents in order to delegate work to someone better suited to the task. You may think that you have no one to delete to or no way to afford assistance that may not already exist but if you think strategically, you can delegate any productivity problem.

5. Procrastinating

Procrastination is the productivity killer that comes in many forms. By accepting perfectionism, we procrastinate. By overthinking a problem, we procrastinate. By failing to make decisions, we procrastinate. By leaving tasks unscheduled, we procrastinate. By over-planning, we procrastinate. The only way to end the habit of procrastination is through action. Do something (but not anything), make progress, advance a project, and action will beget action.

6. Drinking Too Much Water

I say it all the time, keep hydrated during your workday to stay sharp and prevent fatigue, but drinking too much can inevitably cause frequent interruptions in the form of bathroom breaks that can kill productivity and create bad work habits. To manage this, drink from a larger bottle and get into the habit of finishing it before getting up to relieve yourself. Drinking from smaller cups means more trips to the water cooler to refill, which increases the time you will spend out of your desk and the number of trips you make to the bathroom. Now, to clarify, it’s not the amount of water at fault, but our hydration habits. Water runs right through us, and if you like to sip, sip, sip throughout the day, you will be running to the bathroom just as often. The point here is to swap sips of water for gulps to absorb your recommended volume in fewer intervals.

7. Sticking to Only One Productivity Strategy

Nothing demonstrates the danger a little bit of knowledge can pose to your productivity as much as someone who is partial to a single strategy and blindly applies it to every situation. The point of productivity is to get more done with less time as often as possible, but humans do not live in a single-situation loop. Every moment of everyday we experience variety, which is why life isn’t a cake walk. We experience new situations constantly, so to say that one single strategy for productivity applies to everything is missing the whole point of being productive. Instead, we must learn about many productivity strategies, what they are best used for and when/how to execute them in our lives. To help make this information more accessible, I have recently started a new YouTube series called Work Smarter, Not Harder. You can check out my first installment of the series here to learn three popular productivity strategies and when they best apply. Keep up to date with the series by subscribing to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss an installment and opportunity to expand your knowledge base and learn how to work smarter, not harder!

Which of these common mistakes is holding you back from maximizing your productivity? Let’s share in the comments!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

books

10 Pumpkin Spiced Books to Read in October

10 Pumpkin Spiced Books to Read in October

Although Fall begins in September, October is truly the month that brings the autumn chill and with it, plenty of opportunities to snuggle up with a good book and something warm to drink. So, I have been compiling a list of my favorite books to read in October. Some are quintessentially spooky for Halloween and others are classics that just feel like they need to be read with a side of pumpkin spiced anything!

Necronomicon by H.P. Lovecraft

Amazon Says: H.P. Lovecraft’s tales of the tentacled Elder God Cthulhu and his pantheon of alien deities were initially written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and ’30s. These astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when they were first published.

This handsome tome collects together the very best of Lovecraft’s tales of terror, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were originally published. It will introduce a whole new generation of readers to Lovecraft’s fiction, as well as being a must-buy for those fans who want all his work in a single, definitive, highly attractive volume.

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

Amazon Says: Undoubtedly the most famous verse written by Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven is also one of the most famous poems in the world. Though it did not bring him much in the way of money, this piece was, as per the author’s statements, composed quite methodically, with an aim to appeal to the masses. And appeal it did, making Poe an overnight sensation, a household name almost the moment it began to circulate. Full of brooding guilt, moody atmosphere and love lost, The Raven depicts Poe’s overwrought narrator and that most infamous of all fowls, the titular croaking Raven.

Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Amazon Says: A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. 

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Amazon Says: Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That’s because he’s being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he’s really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Amazon Says: Few creatures of horror have seized readers’ imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The story of Victor Frankenstein’s terrible creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense. Considering the novel’s enduring success, it is remarkable that it began merely as a whim of Lord Byron’s.

“We will each write a story,” Byron announced to his next-door neighbors, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley. The friends were summering on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816, Shelley still unknown as a poet and Byron writing the third canto of Childe Harold. When continued rains kept them confined indoors, all agreed to Byron’s proposal.

The illustrious poets failed to complete their ghost stories, but Mary Shelley rose supremely to the challenge. With Frankenstein, she succeeded admirably in the task she set for herself: to create a story that, in her own words, “would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror — one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart.”

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Amazon Says: In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James’s belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft.

In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife’s ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes?

Like other plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation. Its story was once seen as that of a hero who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price. Recently, it has been applied to nations that overreach themselves and to modern alienation. The line is blurred between Macbeth’s evil and his opponents’ good, and there are new attitudes toward both witchcraft and gender.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Amazon Says: English solicitor finds himself at the center of a series of horrifying incidents. Jonathan Harker is attacked by three phantom women, observes the Count’s transformation from human to bat form, and discovers puncture wounds on his own neck that seem to have been made by teeth. Harker returns home upon his escape from Dracula’s grim fortress, but a friend’s strange malady — involving sleepwalking, inexplicable blood loss, and mysterious throat wounds — initiates a frantic vampire hunt. The popularity of Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror romance is as deathless as any vampire.  Its supernatural appeal has spawned a host of film and stage adaptations, and more than a century after its initial publication, it continues to hold readers spellbound.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Amazon Says: This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire’s breathtaking New York Times bestseller Wicked views the land of Oz, its inhabitants, its Wizard, and the Emerald City, through a darker and greener (not rosier) lens. Brilliantly inventive, Wicked offers us a radical new evaluation of one of the most feared and hated characters in all of literature: the much maligned Wicked Witch of the West who, as Maguire tells us, wasn’t nearly as Wicked as we imagined.

The Shining by Stephen King

Amazon Says: Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

Amazon Says: This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz’s popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright.There is a story here for everyone — skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her murderer; and a haunted house where every night a bloody head falls down the chimney.Stephen Gammell’s splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories — and even scary songs — all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark.

If you have any October favorites you would recommend, please make sure to share yours in the comments below, or better yet, snap a pic of your favorite books, post it to Instagram or Twitter and tag me @MissTrenchcoat and use #CharmedGTD so the whole community can get inspiration from your recommendation!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

My Productivity Playlist Productivity

A Happy Halloween Playlist!

A Happy Halloween Playlist!

A Happy Halloween Playlist!

Are you ready to seriously jump into the halloween spirit this month? There is no better way than with an awesome playlist of spooky Halloween hits! I don’t know about you, but I have a diverse pallet when it comes to my music taste and there are so many great songs that totally embody the spirit of Halloween for me, so I have put together a fresh playlist for you to feast your ears on! Feel free to use it at an upcoming Halloween get-together or on your car ride to the pumpkin patch!

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this playlist, I’d love to hear about it and I’d be thrilled if you would share it with your friends and family through social media so we can all enjoy some spooky October tunes while we wait for our candy covered comas to arrive!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

 

Productivity

The Anatomy of a Productive Day

The Anatomy of a Productive Day

We talk a lot about productivity and achieving more of your goals here on my blog, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself what a productive day would look like to you? The first step when you are trying to achieve any goal is to understand what the results should look like, and that goes for designing your day as well. I gave some thought to this idea and I came up with a framework that I believe is the basic anatomy of a productive day. Now, granted, this may not be a one-size fits all schedule, but I do think that we should all be making time for each of these daily activities and integrating them into our days more often to regularly establish a habit of productivity into our lives.

A productive day…

…Starts on Time: It’s hard to have a productive day after oversleeping and starting your day off on the wrong foot, so make sure you have a hard wake time for your day, even on the weekends, if you want to set yourself up for success.

…Includes a Morning Routine: Whether your morning is 6am or 6pm, you should have a simple routine established to help you get ready to start your day. Click here if you’d like to learn more about morning routines and establishing one for yourself.

…Happens in an Organized Space: For most of us, being productive requires a bit of organization. I realize that people do have different working styles, and some of us need organized spaces to work while others can work in clutter, but be aware of your work style and make sure you are starting your workday in the proper environment.

…Requires Time Spent Planning: There is no doubt that in order to have a productive day, you need to take time, first thing, to look at your plans, schedule and tasks. During this planning time, you should prioritize your top 3 activities for the day and keep a to-do list with next action items ready to go.

…Manages Time in Blocks: Depending on your work for the day, in order to create and sustain your focus, you should divide your day into time blocks of anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours. Assign specific work to your blocks of time and keep a timer or clock in sight to make sure you stay on task and on time.

…Makes Time for Regular Breaks: Within those time blocks, make sure to give yourself regular breaks for meals, decompression, and to stretch your legs. You should take 15 minutes off for every 2 hours of work, and 30 minutes off after 4 hours at work.

…Wraps Up Your Workday Seamlessly: At the end of your workday, take time to wrap up and recap what you have done and what you have left to do. Make a to-do list for the next day, clean your workspace and turn off any work related devices. Don’t forget to leave work at the proper designated time because after a productive day, you need to shut off and remain on time for your personal life.

…Treats Dinner as a Scheduled Event: While you were doing your daily planning or even at some point before that, you should have planned out what you are having for dinner. After a long work day it’s so easy to get lazy about your last meal of the day but doing a little bit of planning or prep ahead of time will transform dinner from a chore to a treat.

…Prioritizes Self Care: When you work hard, you also need to play hard, or in this case, you need to ensure you spend time taking care of yourself so that you are in tip-top shape to have another productive day tomorrow. Click here for some great self care ideas if you need some.

…Winds Down with an Evening Routine: Just as your morning routine helps you prepare for the day, your evening routine helps you transition from productivity to sleep. Spend time on your nightly hygiene, reviewing your day and swap screens for books an hour before bed.

…Ends with a Scheduled Bed Time: Just as it is important to start your day at a regular time, you should also end your day with a scheduled bed time to optimize the amount of sleep you will get to be refreshed and prepared for your next productive day!

I’d love to hear how you add these elements to your day and what a productive day looks like for you so make sure to leave me a comment down below!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature