Productivity Archives - Page 21 of 36

How to Plan Your Day like a #GIRLBOSS!

How to Plan Your Day like a #GIRLBOSS

One of the awesome parts of being an entrepreneur is that no two of my days ever seem the same. Although that brings a lot of diversity and excitement to my work, it can also represent a challenge to my planner. What I need from my planning system on a day to day basis can change, but I have no interest in using multiple planning methods to keep up with my business, which is why back in July, I designed my Charmed Life Planner; a complete printable planner that included everything I need to plan my days, no matter what work needs to be done or how crazy (or simple) my schedule looks. The meat of this planner is a vertical week on two pages layout that allows me to see my whole week laid out in front of me, but also gives me the ability to really make use of every inch of space in the individuals days of the spread without feeling like I need more room to write. So, I wanted to take a moment to show you how I use this layout and the tips I have for you to optimize your day in your own planner.

1. Set Your Top 3: When you jump between too many tasks or activities in a day, you end up lowering your productivity. Instead, focus on your top 2 priorities and put those at the top of your list! My printable Charmed Life Planner has a dedicated space for your top 3 sitting right on top of the page.

2. Create a schedule or task list: Depending on your work for the day, you may need either a schedule or a task list. Use the ruled column below your top 3 to break out your appointments or list out lower priority tasks and reminders.

3. Add function with stickers: Stickers aren’t just for decorating anymore! With my line of printable planner stickers, you can add flexible function to your planner by adding a sticker or two to designate special information to help you manage your day.

This system and the Charmed Life Planner has honestly been the first planner system to bring me a sense of lasting planner peace, and if you want to see my planner in action I highly suggest checking out my 2016 Planner Setup video, as well as my DIY Spiral Planner Tutorial showing how I used my printable Charmed Life Planner inserts to create my own custom spiral planner! Of course, if you are still looking for planner peace and you aren’t afraid to try out a printable planner, head on over to my shop and check out the Charmed Life Planner. If you like what you see, use the code CLP2016 for $5 off your purchase of the planner. Happy Planning!

xoxo,

My Productivity Playlist

My Anthem for 2016

To stay productive and create a theme for the new year, some people choose a word. That word becomes their word of the year and they will keep that word plastered around them as much as possible and turn to that word for encouragement and guidance as the unexpected twists and turns of life conspire to push us off course. That works for some people, but it doesn’t necessarily work for me. Instead, I choose a song- an anthem if you will! Something that’s more than a word or even a mere collection of words because music speaks to my soul. I’m just that kind of person.

I don’t ever set out to “find” my song of the year, in all honesty, it just sort of finds me which is exactly what happened when I first heard Bird Set Free by Sia during a live performance on SNL last month. The song immediately stirred something inside of me and I knew, and actually said to myself while the performance was still going on, “this is my song for 2016.”

If you have never experienced this song, I’d recommend it. It definitely has a powerful message that I hope will help keep me strong even when things get tough this year- and I know this year is going to get tough. The best years always do!

If you are someone who also sets an anthem for yourself for the year or perhaps you want to now that I’ve introduced you to the idea, I’d love to hear (haha, so punny) what song you choose! Let me know in the comments or tweet me a link to a music video @MissTrenchcoat!

xoxo,

Productivity

Marketing Tips You Might Have Missed

As a blogger, youtuber and online business owner, it’s important for me to stay focused on my online marketing to make sure I get my content and my products out there into the world to the people who need them most. So, of course, I do a lot of reading and research on the subject of marketing, and although I find that, generally, much of the information is very repetitive, every once in a while I find little gems that I believe are very important to remember. Since many of my readers also happen to be bloggers and small business owners, I thought it would be helpful for you if I shared a few key bits of marketing wisdom that you may not be familiar with, so here are the 5 Marketing Tips you Might have Missed!

1. Consistent messaging is most helpful when targeted at a consistent person: No matter what your business is, whether you’re a blogger, an online business owner or a social media guru, you probably already know that consistency in your messaging is key. However, what you may not have known is that your consistent messaging is most effective when you are targeting your ideal customer consistently. We all have our ideal or target customers, members of our communities and those model consumers we are looking to attract, after all, no one business can cater to 100% of the population! Once you understand who your ideal customer is, what their needs and motivations are, you can then better direct you messaging towards them and reap the rewards.

2. Come on strong: Although coming on strong isn’t something you may want to do when it comes to real world marketing, when promoting yourself on the internet, it’s a must! Why? Well, because online communication is hard. It isn’t a traditional form of communication where you are interacting one on one with your target customers, it’s a sea of people who have literally a thousand other things to pay attention to. So if you want to be seen and heard on the internet, it’s important to talk loudly and carry a big microphone! Put your content and messaging out there everywhere it is relevant and as often as possible. Do things in a big way to create more buzz around you and your business, and don’t be afraid to reach out directly to those you believe will benefit from your products and message!

3. Use rhyming phrases, they are more persuasive: Apparently it has been statistically proven that people inherently believe phrases that rhyme are more accurate that non-rhyming phrases. Weird, huh? Well, I think it just proves how persuasive a good turn of phrase can be, especially when it’s lyrical. So, consider how you can use rhyming phrases in your messaging to your benefit!

4. Anticipate objections and overcome them: As someone who spent years working in sales for a fortune 50 company, I know that anticipating objections is an important part of direct selling. However, when it comes to online selling, we don’t have the benefit of talking one on one with our prospective customers to hear out their concerns and then put their mind at ease. Instead, in online business, you need to anticipate the objections your customers will have, address them and then overcome them in your messaging. This is a perfect example of why it’s important to

5. Give people things to share: In this modern online world of ours, you may have noticed that people love to share. This is one of the major reasons social networks like Facebook and Instagram are so popular. People love giving their opinions, sharing things they like, and feeling like the things they share are helping those around them. Deep down inside, people have a need and strong desire to feel important and valuable. This is a need that you can leverage to help you market your content and business, if you make an effort to create items that are sharable online. Give your customers and community items that they would be proud to share in their social feeds. Things like thoughtful articles, beautiful images, helpful tips and tricks. If you sell a product, give away freebies online like digital items that supplement your products, something people can admire and share with friends. You may have to put in some extra work, but those little extras will pay off in the end!

I hope this post taught you a new tip or trick for marketing yourself or your business online! Let me know in the comments what resonated most with you, and feel free to share your best marketing tips as well!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 8th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Blogging Solutions

How to Find Inspiration

One of the hardest parts of being a blogger is coming up with great new content every week. As a blogger, I need a constant stream of inspiration in order to come up with ideas for my posts, images and my blog’s design. Although as they say, inspiration is everywhere, being a constant learner is an important part of locating inspiration in your life. If you are having trouble finding inspiration, here are a few things I like to do to find inspiration when I need it most!

1. Listen to music: I suggest listening to all types of music, even genre’s your not that familiar with or don’t even like. Variety is so important when opening up your mind to inspiration and you need to listen to everything that’s out there if you want to discover something new that will inspire you to think differently.

2. Read about something new: Scientific articles tend to be the most powerful for me, but learning about any new subject can open a door of possibilities and inspiration. It doesn’t really matter what your blog topic is or what you normally write about, just learning a bit about a new discipline or subject can really help open the channels of creativity in your mind!

3. Write stream of consciousness style: Sometimes you never know where your own mind will lead you until you follow it. One great exercise I suggest for writers is to do a bit of stream of consciousness writing. This means you just start typing and listen to that voice inside your head about what to write. Start with things on your mind and your own thoughts and just follow them through and see where they lead you.

4. Go to a new place you have never been: New experiences generate inspiration like none other! I find that just driving or wandering to a new part of town I have never been to really helps open my brain up to possibilities. Seeing new sights, smelling new smells and living through new experiences can be very inspiring and something of an adventure!

5. Get to know someone new: Meeting new people and getting to know them is a very powerful one on one experience. There are so many wonderful people out there in the world with so many interesting points of view that hopefully by getting to know one of them, their views may rub off on you a bit and cause you to look at the world differently!

6. Watch a movie that you don’t think you’re interested in: Often times its important to challenge our perceptions of our own likes and desires. Breaking established patterns like watching movies in genre’s your not used to watching is a really simple way to sample and test out new things without making a major commitment. Hopefully, that movie you weren’t interested actually entertains you and brings you to see that you shouldn’t discount things based on what you think you already like!

7. Do something physically challenging to you: This doesn’t have to mean you should go out and run a marathon if you don’t normally run, it just means to push yourself physically. While I’m at the gym I find so much inspiration just hiding out in my own mind while I’m on a machine. I think that when you’re focusing your physical energy on working out, your mind starts to open up and relax allowing new inspiration and ideas to just hit you. Give it a try and you’ll be killing two birds with one stone!

What sorts of things do you do to find inspiration? Have you ever tried or plan to try any of the items on this list? How did it work for you? Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on March 20th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Productivity

Productive Things to Do During Christmas Vacation

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, most folks get at least some time off during the Holiday Season, so make the most of your vacation time and sneak in a few of these productive activities that are sure to keep your work and life manageable in the new year!

Clean Out your Smartphone

Like most people’s homes and desks, smartphones usually accumulate a lot of extra stuff in the form of apps, photos, information and contacts that need to be sorted through and in some cases deleted. Its the end of the year after all and there is no better way to start off the new year than with an organized smartphone. While you’re at it, make sure you have all your emergency contact information and necessary phone numbers stored in your contacts just in case you need them one day!

Listen to a book on tape

Now, this doesn’t have to be a work related book, nor does it need to be a non-fiction or self help book! Reading is a great way to de-stress and I think listening to a book on tape is just as good for your mind and your productivity! So, if you have a bunch of chores or other to-dos, throw on a book on tape while you’re busy and it will help keep you cheerful and motivated! Audible.com has a great smartphone app that makes it easy for you to find any book your looking for, but you can also stop by your local library and borrow a book on tape the old fashioned way!

Spend some time on yourself

If your busy and trying to use your Christmas Vacation time to get some important to-dos checked off, you may not think it a productive use of time focusing on yourself, but trust me, it will have long term benefits. So, carve some time out of your day, take a bubble bath, listen to some music, have a nice workout or just lay in bed and relax because your peace of mind is so important for increasing your productivity and most of us don’t spend enough time working on that!

Learn a new simple and quick recipe

When it comes to meals, I would venture to guess that most of us have a repertoire of a few dishes that we continuously cycle until we get sick of eating them and then order out! So, I think its incredibly valuable for each of us to learn a new recipe that we can add into to our normal routine that may end up saving us time and money in the long run. Spend some time thinking about meals that you enjoy and see if you can find a quick recipe online that you can perfect during your downtime!

Connect with family & friends

Look, with so many of us out of work for a day or two, it really makes sense that you should spend time with loved ones during the holidays. You don’t have to do anything too stressful, just a day together walking outside in the snow or a meal cooked and shared together can be the difference that makes you feel more satisfied and in control of your life.

So, what are your plans for this Christmas Vacation? Let us know in the comments!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 19th, 2013 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Career Productivity

Letting Go to Do Your Best Work!

Does this ever happen to you? You sit down to start an important project, you know exactly what’s expected because you have either done it before or are familiar with what the end result should be, however, even before you have begun, those expectations begin to nag at you. You begin to worry that you may not do a good job, you obsess and knit pick over elements of your project and after all your mental anguish and second guessing you finish your project and it all turns out fine. Maybe you have also experienced this second scenario. You sit down to start an important project, but this time it’s something you have never done before. You’re not exactly sure how to begin or how things will look by the end, but you think about your project logically, put in a solid effort and in the end, it turns out spectacular! Why does that second scenario usually turn out better than the first? You would think that someone would do better in a situation where they had more experience and understood the expectations, but that isn’t always true. It’s beginners luck! You may have heard of it before, it’s a common phenomenon where someone attempts something new and ends up successful in their effort. Now, while “beginner’s luck” has never been statistically proven, most of us have experienced it in one way or another and we can certainly learn a thing or two about how to do great work from it!

Beginner’s luck is tied to the idea of expectations. When you attempt something new and admittedly know very little about it, you often find that when you give it a try, you are much better than you would have assumed. That’s because you didn’t expect much, but you gave an honest effort none-the-less! As humans, we are often tied up in notions of what is possible and what is impossible, and in that mindset we project upon ourselves what we think we can do, what we think we can’t do, and we end up surprising ourselves when we actually succeed where we had no expectations of success.

Okay, so how do we use this concept of beginner’s luck to our advantage? There are a number of ways where a shift in your perception to this beginner’s luck mentality can help you do your best work and live your best life!

1. Don’t be afraid to try new things, you will do better than you think!

This goes for work and personal situations. Although many of us are plagued with fear of the unknown, beginner’s luck tells us that when we try something with an honest effort we get a better result than anyone would have guessed. Even if you have tried something before with a negative result, giving it an honest shot the second time around may prove fruitful!

2. Reach for the “impossible” because that standard is imagined.

Voices outside and even inside of ourselves are often telling us what is possible and what is impossible. Think of these voices as bookies at a horse race giving you the odds in a situation. If you bet on the long-shot and lose, you just lost the few dollars you initially bet, but if you win you will rake it in! The odds may be against you in a certain scenario, but taking beginner’s luck into account, anything is possible. When it comes to your future and your dreams, if you have more to gain than to lose, trying for impossible is actually a better bet!

3. Let go of your expectations and just get to work!

Don’t think, just do! Thinking can often over complicate things and cause irrational fears to pop up. If you let go of your expectations for the end result, you will be open to whatever direction you are led to while you work. Some of the most creative and brilliant solutions have been found by accident while trying to find a solution to a different problem. Do not think, become.

Are there any areas of your work where you feel like expectations are getting the better of you? In what ways do you plan on letting go of your expectations and embracing the concept of beginner’s luck to help you do better work? Let me know in the comments how you think you can execute these ideas in your own work life and feel free to share any success stories that may have resulted from your own beginner’s luck experiences!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on July 10th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Solutions tech

Treat Your Tech Right this Winter!

You probably didn’t know that the cold winter months can take a toll on your gadgets and tech devices! Its true, the cold weather creates a unique set of issues for gadgets that you should be aware of in order to keep your tech working properly. Here are 5 tech tips to help you treat your tech right this winter!

1. Do not leave gadgets like computers, smartphones or iPods in your car while its cold outside. The weather can freeze internal parts of your devices and potentially cause damage.

2. Keep your gadgets in heavy duty cases to protect from precipitation and drops onto snow or ice. Otterbox and Lifeproof cases that cover ports and openings in your gadget will help to make sure no excess moisture builds up in sensitive areas of your device.

3. Keep a stylus on hand in case your fingers are too cold to register on your touch screen devices.

4. If a gadget is excessively cold, be sure to bring it up to a normal temperature before turning it on or using it or else you could compromise internal parts.

5. Carry backup chargers for important gadgets as batteries drain quicker in the winter!

I hope these tips were helpful to anyone who is experiencing cold winter weather or who may live in a region where cold weather is the norm! Do you have any other tech tips to share to help us get through the chilly winter months with our smartphones intact? Let us know in the comments!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on January 28th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Solutions

How to Find Peace and Unwind

Do you ever feel like life is so hectic sometimes that you just don’t know how to unwind? I mean, we hear about the importance of finding time to locate your inner peace and all, but how does one actually start that journey? Do we need a map to locate peace of mind? Sometimes I think so! In all honesty, I am writing this post for myself because I have been so out of it and stressed for so long that I need to remind myself to take time and unwind, even if it’s really really difficult to do it! So, I sat down and thought about all the things that are mentally blocking me from unwinding and relaxing and some ways that I cope with stress when it gets too out of control on my own life. Hopefully this list will resonate with you, too!

1. Turn off notifications that ding: The threat of a dinging notification is a stressor in and of itself in my life. I have taken to turning my iOS devices on airplane mode just to escape them!

2. Light candles all over your home: I don’t know what it is, but for some reason candles make me feel like I have a clean home (…even if my home isn’t clean) and this releases an OCD stress about everything having a place and being there!

3. Take a nice relaxing bath: I suggest using epsom salts for a deep muscle relaxation and using whatever aromatherapy bubble bath or oils you have available to do. When I take a bath when I am stressed, I drown myself in the stuff!

4. Drink plenty of water: If you are well hydrated you are less likely to get a headache and I feel like water also helps me feel fresh and clean on the inside. Its like the water is cleaning out all the toxins from my cells and flushing them out (I actually think that might be what water does, so the more the merrier)!

5. Listen to soothing music or a book on tape: This one is pretty self-explanatory. If I take a bath with epsom salts and then put on a book on tape (usually the Hobbit!) I am guaranteed to fall asleep in 5.7 seconds!

What other tips do you have for relaxing and unwinding when you are stressed out? Please, please, please tell me, because I really need to know!!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on February 27th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Solutions

How to Clean Your Devices

It’s that time of year again, and no I am not referring to the return of the Pumpkin Spiced Latte at Starbucks, but if you want my DIY PSL recipe, click here! I am referring to the return of cold and flu season! I know, so much less delicious than a pumpkin spiced latte, but it’s here and we all have to deal with it! I know we have it drilled into our heads to make sure we carry around little bottles of antibacterial hand gel and to wash our hands frequently and sneeze into our elbows (gross, but it does help fight the spread of germs), but how often do we stop to clean our devices like our iPhones and laptops that we are constantly touching? Your iPhone can actually carry more germs than the lever on a toilet and you are putting that up to your face on holding it in your hands countless times a day! So, I thought I would review the steps to help properly clean an electronic device like a computer or smart phone so that you can start keeping your gadgets clean without fear of shorting a circuit!

Step 1: Turn off your device. Whenever you are going to clean your device, make sure its off. This helps prevent you from getting some sort of electric shock in case you do make a mistake and get moisture into a crevice in your device.

Step 2: Use an antibacterial wipe to gently whip down the surface of your device. I like to use Wet Ones wipes because they are antibacterial and easy to take along with me. The problem with some “tech wipes” is that many aren’t antibacterial so you may be cleaning dirt off your device but not preventing cold and flu germs from spreading! Make sure the wipe is moist but not to wet before you begin. If it is let it sit out for a minute or two to dry or try ringing out any excess moisture.

Step 3: Avoid any openings in your device like headphone jacks or charging ports. You can get close, but don’t try to clean inside because those openings go directly to the innards of your device and can cause damage! If you are cleaning a computer keyboard, you can wipe over keys and in the spaced between, but just make sure you don’t get moisture into the openings under the keys!

Step 4: Dry your device with a microfiber cloth. Although your device shouldn’t be wet, you will have some moist spots on the casing or screen from the wipe down. So, use a microfiber to quickly wipe off any moisture left on your device before you turn it on. Once your device is dry and clean, turn it back on!

Step 5: Repeat this activity 2-3 times a week! Technically, I think this should be done everyday, but I understand that not everyone has the time to do that so if you can do it 2-3 times a week you will probably do a lot to cut down on the amount of germs your devices are carrying around. If you think you will forget to do it, set a reminder on your phone!

Do you frequently clean your devices? What products do you use? Do you think that cleaning your gadgets helps to cut down on instances of illness for you? Let us know in the comments!

xoxo,

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on October 8th, 2013 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

Productivity

How to Build Confidence, Boost Your Productivity & Be Your Own Boss!

How to Build Confidence, Boost Your Productivity & Be Your Own Boss!

It’s time for another link roundup! With only two months left in 2015, we have now reached that part of the year where we make our one final push to hit our goals and get organized before the new year begins. For me, I find the best way to get inspired is to immerse myself in great content that provides insight and advice to challenge my thought processes and engage in meaningful solutions to my everyday problems. That’s why I love doing these link round up posts for you! It gives me a chance to share the content that inspires me and helps me to be a better content creator for you, and in turn, I hope you find solutions and inspiration to help you make an impact in your life. So, here are some articles I have been reading and thought you might also enjoy!

Personal Development

Business

Productivity

I hope you found something new and inspiring to read from this post! If you have any other articles you have read this month that you loved and want to share, please do so in the comments below! Also, if you are a female entrepreneur, small business owner or aspiring #girlboss, I would love to welcome you to join my #CHARMEDBIZ COLLECTIVE Facebook community filled with like-minded women who are supporting each other to build their online empires! I hope to see you there!