Month: October 2016

How to Tell if You’re Making Progress

How to Tell If You're Making Progress

A lot of the content I create on my platforms is strategy based, where I’m sharing a process for how to do something specific or how to course correct your already established processes. But making new change is always difficult. I’m not blind to that fact. It’s hard for me, it’s hard for you, and most of all, when we badly want to make a change and try to put a new strategy into place, it can be discouraging if we don’t see that we are making progress. Most of us have a very bad habit of giving up before we reach our goals and I bet if you asked, quitters would say they gave up because “it wasn’t working” or “I wasn’t able to do it.” If you’ve ever given a similar excuse, I bet what you really meant to say was “I tried but I didn’t see any progress so I quit!” It’s hard to see progress, especially if you are really making progress because usually, when you are in the thick of it trying hard and actually moving the needle, you don’t notice anything different because you’re too close to the change to notice a difference. To see progress we need to step back and look at the big picture. So today I want to share with you a few different ways you can do that so you can tell if you are making progress on your goals!

3 Ways to Tell You’re Making Progress

1. Track your actions and results: this works very well with any goal or project that includes measurable objectives like weight loss or sales. You should keep track of your actions, what you are actually doing to make a change, as well as your measurable objectives. This works because when you see your actions, you become more accountable. And when you see the results, you connect the dots between how your actions made a difference. Don’t be surprised if this simple act of tracking ends up being your greatest motivator moving forward because connecting those dots can be very powerful and give you a sense of control over your goal and your life.

2. You’ve hit a roadblock: Change always brings with it a new set of challenges to overcome, and luckily for us, most people see their roadblocks clearer than their progress. So if you are working towards a goal and aren’t sure you have made progress, think about the challenges you’ve faced in the process. The presence of a challenge alone means you were making change, and if you were able to solve the problem and overcome it, you are seriously moving forward.

3. The plan keeps getting tweaked: If you think that having to change your original plan towards your goal means you have failed to make progress, think again! Just like roadblocks, alterations and adjustments are part of the path of progress. If you find that you are negotiating a lot more than you used to as you plan your life around your goal, this means big things are happening. Progress is difficult because it involves adjusting life as you know. Even if you think you set a goal or established a new routine for a minor part of your life, you’ve really started a domino affect that will shift your whole world around you, even if it’s ever so slightly.

Think about an area of your life where you are making change but don’t feel like you’ve seen any progress. Can you apply any of these insights to your situation? If you can identify measurable objectives, start tracking your goal immediately! 

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

How to Decorate Your Planner for Fall!

How to Decorate Your Planner for Fall

Fall is here and for many of us planner girls, it also happens to be our favorite time of year! September brings that fresh start, back to school feel, embellished with sweet but spicy candle scents from Bath & Body Works, Pumpkin Spices Lattes from Starbucks and of course beautiful autumn accessories like riding boots and blanket scarves! The best part about the fall, in my opinion however, is Halloween! Other than my birthday and Christmas, Halloween is one of those days I wait for all year! I can’t wait! So, to celebrate this season I put together a set of printable planner goodies to help you personalize your planner for the Fall months in style! Let’s take a look!

fall-in-love-cover

The first part of my fall collection is called “Let’s Fall in Love” and takes inspiration from a Parisian Cafe! This collection includes 5 unique graphics that can be used as planner covers, dividers or dashboards for your planner, as well as a set of journaling cards as pictured above!

bowtie-cover fall-essentials-cover lex-face-cover PSL-coverLet's Fall in Love Sticker Set

And of course, no collection would be complete without a set of vertical square planner stickers as pictured above! Print these out on full sheet labels, cut out the simple squares and Voila! You have a never ending supply of inspiration for your planner!

I Put a Spell on You Planner Cover

The second half of my fall planner collection is a homage to Halloween called “I Put a Spell on You!” Don’t you just love the lyrical inspiration for the names of these collections? No matter if the title of this collection evokes Nina Simone or a trio of witches from Hocus Pocus, this collection is going to have you spellbound with a collection of 6 cover art graphics and journaling cards. Take a look below at the designs and I’ll bet you’ll be enchanted!

black-cover double-cover halloween-cover nerdy-cover wicked-cover

I Put a Spell on You Printable Sticker Set

And last but not least, a printable sticker set that you can use to cast a spell on your planner for inspiration and productivity this fall!

Oh! And I almost forgot to mention! I’m currently offering these bundles at special pricing through the end of October. Get the “Let’s Fall in Love” Collection or the “I Put a Spell on You” Collection for $20 each or BUY BOTH for just $30. This spellbinding offer only lasts for a few more days, so grab a pumpkin spiced latte, and hop on your digital broomstick to take advantage of this special sale pricing!

I can’t wait to see how you use these goodies in your planner, so make sure to take a picture and share it on Twitter or Instagram, tag me @MissTrenchcoat and use #CharmedGTD so everyone in the community can get inspiration from you as well!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

The 2017 Charmed Life Planner is Here!

2017 Charmed Life Planner

The 2017 Charmed Life Planner is Here!

It’s back and better than ever and I want to spend just a few moments giving you some important details about this year’s launch! First of all in case you didn’t know, the Charmed Life Planner is available in both A5 and Personal size Filofax equivalents.

2017 Charmed Life Printable Planner A5/Half Letter

The A5 version, pictured above, has a vertical week on two pages layout for your daily planning, along with month on two pages layouts, a master monthly task list and an expense sheet for every month! It’s a complete printable planner solution but this year I’ve made it even better. Printing inserts at home isn’t always the easiest, printers are not all created equal and there are different paper sizing standards around the globe that make designing a single usable file difficult to manage. After talking to many customers who use and love the Charmed Life Planner, this year I’m adding 2 additional files to your A5 Charmed Life Planner purchase to give you options when printing your planner at home.

The three (3) files you will now get for this size are:  

  1. US Standard Half Letter File (same as last year’s design)
  2. US Bordered Printing Option (so those with printers that cannot print borderless don’t have to guess on how to scale the file)
  3. True A5 File designed to print on A4 paper (for those of you who use A4 as your standard).

2017 Charmed Life Planner Personal

2017 Charmed Life Personal Planner

The 2017 Charmed Life Printable Planner in personal size is the same great day on one page design as last year with the muted time table for scheduling a full day of events and tasks! Due to its more compact size that prints well on US Letter or A4 , this planner was easier to print without issue and so there is no major design changes or additional files necessary. This size, as well, includes the month on two pages layout, a master monthly task list and an expense sheet for each month of the year.

Bundles & Bonuses

2017 Functional Planning Bundle

This year I have decided to swap the Business Planning Bundle with a Functional Planning Bundle for both the A5/Half Letter and Personal size planners. The bundles will include the Charmed Life Planner in your choice of size, the Yearly Project Tracker, Project Planning Sheet and an additional Task List.

And don’t forget the bonuses!

For a limited time, when you purchase ANY 2017 Charmed Life Planner or Bundle, you will receive two (2) great freebies!

  1. #CharmedGTD Quick Start Guide: Inspiration and instruction for working smarter, not harder
  2. Exclusive Downloadable Graphic “I’m a List Lover with a Planner Problem!”
  • Both Freebies are included in the downloads for your purchase automatically!

Make sure to check out my recent planner set up video for my full announcement and my updated planner set up video and I can’t wait to see how you set up your 2017 Charmed Life Planner, so make sure to take a picture and share it on Twitter or Instagram, tag me @MissTrenchcoat and use #CharmedGTD so everyone in the community can get inspiration from you as well!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature