Strange & Charmed

My Upcoming Live Class Schedule

Hello My Charmed Ones!

In case you didn’t know, for the past two Saturdays, I’ve been hosting live-streamed workshops on various business and personal development topics over on my Youtube channel. Initially, I started these workshops as a fun outlet and way for the community to come together during an uncertain time. With so many people stuck inside in their homes, either working remotely, or on furlough during this world-wide pandemic, I wanted to do my part in creating content that might be useful and inspiring. But now, with extensions on shelter in place guidelines reaching out to the end of April and likely facing additional extensions after that, I have decided to extend these workshops and make them a weekly fixture for the foreseeable future.

So, today I wanted to make you aware of my Live Class Schedule to ensure you don’t miss the opportunity to join one of these info packed, motivational classes yourself!

• Saturday April 11th, 2020 @ 2PM EDT: IDEAL CUSTOMER AVATAR | Defining Your Ideal Customer for Business Planning

• Saturday April 18th, 2020 @ 2PM EDT: CONTENT KEYWORD RESEARCH | How to research and use the best SEO Optimized Keywords for your Brand & Business

• Saturday April 25th, 2020 @ 2PM EDT: INSIDE MY PLANNER LIVE | How I Plan for Home & Business in One Planner

As you will notice from the titles, most of these topics are business related and that is entirely intentional. With so many people loosing their jobs or the security of a stable income, now is the time to put our creative ideas to work in the form of a business or side hustle. What better way to use this time stuck inside than by building income streams through the power of digital marketing systems.

I am so extremely lucky that this pandemic has not jeopardized my personal lifestyle or business, but then again, luck really had nothing to do with it, did it? I have been intentionally crafting a business based on multiple passive income streams for years now to fulfill my vision of having ultimate time and location freedom. Little did I know at the time that this business model I worked so diligently to establish would also protect my income and stability during a time of international crisis.

In fact, in the last month, as hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens have filed for unemployment due to job changes from this pandemic, my income in the last month actually increased. I don’t say this to boast, but rather to highlight the value of entrepreneurship. Yes, we are living in uncertain times that most of the population of the world will economically struggle through, but that isn’t the only reality right now and there are steps you can take and income streams you can establish to protect yourself and your families stability through future crisis’ as well.

That is why I am committed to hosting these weekly classes and teaching valuable content I have never shared before- because I want to inspire and motivate you to get to work on your own business goals! The next two classes specifically are going to review essential business planning topics pivotal to the success and growth of businesses in online markets. And, it won’t be focused only on information and strategy- I’ll also be using these workshops as an opportunity to share valuable tools and resources that you can use to assist you in proper business planning processes.

Specifically, I am going to go in depth in walking you through inserts inside the CEO Strategy Planner. So, if you have not yet purchased your copy, I highly recommend making your purchase as soon as possible, and printing and binding your copy into the system of your choice before these classes begin.

For those of you who have already purchased, I hope you will join me for each of these upcoming classes and learn more about the essential business planning strategies illustrated through the inserts of the business planner! But I do want to encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about online business topics to join whether they purchase the planner or not! The planner is the tool, I’ll be teaching the strategy to all who want to learn it!

So, I hope you will schedule the upcoming workshops into your planner or calendar system of choice, and if you want future updates on my Live Event Schedule, please do reference the Live Events Page of this site because I will be updating it as often as necessary. For those of you who do intend to join me for the events live, I will be sending out emails to my list on Saturday morning an hour or so before class begins with a direct link to the workshop, but if you visit my Youtube Channel at the prescribed time, you should see the workshop link to join as well, and I do often share the link on my Instagram Story if you are following along there!

Hope to see you on Saturday at 2pm EDT for my next Live Streamed Workshop!

xoxo,

Functional Planning Online Business

2 Simple Strategies to Grow Online Sales

As a business strategist, a frequent issue I come across and work through with my clients is a lack of sales. Obviously, making sales and generating income for your business is a crucial element to keeping your business going but many people find it difficult to begin making sales and then getting those sales numbers to increase. For me, I follow two very simple strategies for making and growing my sales numbers and I want to share those with you today to give you an understanding of how sales work and how you can get your income growing!

Strategy #1: Promote more to your current following or list

The first strategy I use to help me earn and grow sales for my business is to promote to my existing following. When you get started with running a business, list building and growing a following is a critical step to ensure you begin to earn a steady stream of income, but some business owners don’t realize that it’s not enough to mention your business every once in a while or leave a link to your online shop in your social media profiles. You need to actively promote your products and services to your existing audience in order to make and grow sales. A common issue I see when it comes to actively promoting online is that some businesses believe that they have too small a following to begin promoting, but as soon as you begin to get followers you need to start promoting regularly. I personally follow the 80/20 rule when it comes to promoting my business, which means that 80% of the content I produce is informational and value added for my audience and then 20% can be purely promotional. So how often you will need to promote your products or services will depend on how much content you are already (or plan to) create. One thing to keep in mind that can sometimes be confusing for new business owners, is that although it’s good practice to begin promoting immediately, you can really only expect about a 3% conversion rate for how many sales to followers you can expect online. So, if you have 100 followers on your list and you promote to them, you can reasonably expect 3 sales. If you get more than 3, you are doing very well with your promotion and content, and if you get less than 3, perhaps check your content to ensure you are following the 80/20 rule and make sure your promotions are clear for your audience.

Strategy #2: Take steps to grow your following or list

The second strategy I use to help me grow sales for my business is to take steps to actively grow my following. Like I mentioned earlier, list building is an important part of business and if you aren’t currently receiving enough sales for your business, the only way to help that number grow is to take action to get your following to grow. Remember that 3% rule for the ratio of followers to sales? If you have a sales goal for your business, you need to reverse engineer how many followers you would need in order to hit your projected or desired income. Now, once you have that you’re done the easy part! The hard part of all this is to take the steps necessary to increase your following by attracting more eyes to your platforms online and/or to your email list. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is through original content. Developing content for your social platforms and producing content on a regular basis that is designed to attract your ideal customers is the way I grew my following from 0-100,000+ on social media and my blog from 0-1.5 Million annual page views! Because of this, my business earns a regular full time income for me at a conversation rate of 10%+ as opposed to the global average of roughly 3%! If this seems impressive, that is all a result of the great business planning principles and processes I use and rely on everyday!

If you’d like to follow my precise business planning process and use the exact same tools I use to plan marketing campaigns, list building activities and design promotions for my audience to make more sales, you’ll want to get your hands on your own copy of my CEO Strategy Planner! The CEO Strategy Planner is a strategic business planner and the ultimate bundle of business planning tools. If you need a strategic business planning process to help get your ideas out of your head, and onto paper so you can get down to business- the CEO Strategy Planner is the tool for you! Purchase your copy here today!

I hope these strategies give you some better insight into how you can grow sales for your online business. I’d love to hear in the comments below about any struggles or specific sales related questions you have so I can help address those for you either one-to-one or in a future blog post, so please make sure to share.

xoxo,

Online Business

ENTREPRENEURIAL: Executing My CEO Strategy

Welcome to April 2020 my Charmed Ones!

What a month we had in March?

I do hope that all of you are doing well, staying safe and healthy inside as we continue to collectively fight the global pandemic that has hit the world. My thoughts and prayers are with you and yours during this challenging time.

With that said, I hope it’s not insensitive for me to proclaim what a great month March really was for me. Yes, March is my birthday month, so there was that (although my birthday festivities were canceled due to social distancing guidelines) but I also really stayed focus on executing my CEO strategic business plans to revive my business and things really paid off for me.

Never under estimate the affect that some solid planning and dedicated effort can make in your life. A month after writing that last installment of Entrepreneurial and I feel like my business is now in a completely different place.

Let’s quickly recap some of what I think went very well for me in March- hopefully you can learn from my experience and take away some great tips for yourself.

1. I created a ton of great content: From experience I know that creating great content isn’t just great for your business and community building, but on a personal level as a creative entrepreneur, creating is motivation for my spirit. There is no better feeling to me than having an idea and turning it into reality. For me, writing blog posts, creating videos and designing new fun things for you to enjoy is how I create best. It gives me purpose, confidence in my abilities and a bit of catharsis that can only come from bringing an idea to fruition.

2. I launched a bunch of new products: Last month I believe I had a total of three new items hit The Charmed Shop. The High Vibe Bible Digital Planner Inserts, the updated Master Meal Planner Insert Bundle and the CEO Strategy Planner. All three of these inserts are right now bound in my own personal planner and having them for myself has been such a great way for me to stay organized across all the areas of my life. Yes, of course, launching new things is great for my business and revenue, but really for me just having those new tools created for just myself to use is a game changer for my planning. If you haven’t noticed, ever since I went back to a discbound system with my new Chanel Agenda cover, my planning and productivity has hit a new peak and these inserts have everything to do with that!

3: I hosted a super successful business planning workshop: If you’re following along with my content, you know at the end of March I hosted a Live Planning Class where I taught my complete business planning process. A lot of preparation and work went into that live workshop, of course part of it was tied into my launch of the CEO Strategy Planner which was incredibly well received during the event, but part of the class was just an opportunity to bring my community together and I was so blown away that over 200 of you were present with me for the workshop. I know 200 might not seem like a big number in comparison to my overall following but I know for a while there attendance at my live classes and views on my video content had been shrinking. So to have an event go so well and be so well received was really a high point of my month. The success of that live class has really given me the motivation to continue with these live workshops and bring some awesome topics to you that I have been holding off on for some time.

So, what’s the plan for April?

Continue with the content creation.
Continue spreading the good news of all my latest products that have seriously helped me transform my productivity, life and business in March alone.
MORE LIVE WORKSHOPS! Specifically geared towards business topics as I think I have a lot to add to the conversation of online business, especially with all that is going on in the world I think online business owners are struggling in a way that I may actually be able to provide some little relief and strategy to help them through! Plus I just love interacting with you all live and seeing each of you interact together during a workshop as well. Presenting is my strong suit and if it’s what I can do to serve my community during this time, I’m committed to it!

So, with that being said, I’d like to make a few quick announcements while I have your attention!

→ Saturday, April 4th, 2020 I am hosting another LIVE Workshop I’m calling KNOW THYSELF. This is a workshop I have been eager to create for you for some time now, because it is about a topic that is near and dear to my heart- learning and understanding more about yourself! In this workshop I am going to walk you through a few of my favorite personality typing systems like Enneagram, Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and Gretchen Rubin’s 4 Tendencies. As a business owner and someone who is obsessed with personal development, I love using personality typing systems to get to know myself on a deeper level. Self-awareness is a crucial part of success in life, but according to psychological research, it’s a trait only about 5% of the population have. So, join me live on Saturday at 2pm EDT over on my YouTube channel to learn more about what makes you, you, and how we can use that knowledge to maximize our strengths and become more aware of opportunities for personal growth! If you would like email reminders and a direct link to the workshop emailed to you, make sure you are on my list by clicking here!

→ I wanted to make sure each of you knew that today, April 2nd is the final day for the introductory pricing deal on the CEO Strategy Planner. Right now the planner bundle is priced at $49 but tonight at midnight eastern time the price goes back up to the full retail of $75! So, if you are interested in the strategic business planner, now is the time to buy before the price goes up! So far, feedback on the CEO Strategy Planner has been phenomenal, so click here to act now before the deal ends!

Okay, well with that here’s to another great month ahead! I hope this post has been insightful for you and I’d love to hear more about what you are working on this month in the comments below!

xoxo,

Business Functional Planning Personal Development Productivity

#ICYMI March 2020

We’ve now come to the end of March and I have to say- despite all the setbacks happening in the world right now, I’m feeling so positive and expansive as we move into April. Remember a few weeks ago when I told you about how my new intention was to create more content on my platforms? I am so proud of how much I have been creating and the flow I have found myself in again. Honestly, I haven’t felt this good about my creation process and this hopeful about where I am headed with my business in several years. I am seriously in the midsts of reviving my stagnant business as per the plan I had laid out at the start of March.

I could not be happier about how this month has progressed, and so I want this to be a reminder for any of you out there who may be feeling down about the issues on the world stage, or maybe before all this you were questioning you purpose or direction. It’s okay to have those feelings and I think you should sit with them for a while and express them. You can’t get them out of your system unless you express them. But, once you have, you need to pull yourself out of your own funk. You need to start taking some action. You need to set intentions, you need to work on a simple routine to manage your energy, and you need to start planning and executing on objectives. I have never seen the power of intention, planning and execution work so well in my life as it has the last month. I’ll definitely been looking for new ways to share this process with you into next month as well, but for now- let’s take a look at all the wonderful content I created for you in March-in case you missed it- so you can catch up!

ICYMI: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

• ENTREPRENEURIAL: HOW I’M REVIVING MY STAGNANT BUSINESS
• High Vibe Bible Inserts Are Here
• A Daily Manifestation Journaling Practice that Works!
• 7 Task Lists to Add to Your Planner
• Master Meal Planner Inserts are HERE!
• The #1 Time & Money Saver Everyone Should Keep in their Planner!
• 10 Productive Time Management Tips that Will Change Your Life
• How to Have the Most Productive Day Ever!
• Planning in Uncertain Times (Video)
• Tips for Working from Home Productively- Especially if you’ve never done it before! (Video)
• How to Use the Moon Phases to Manifest
• VIDEO CONFERENCING FROM HOME (Video)
• How to Create a Functional Plan
• FREE LIVE PLANNING WORKSHOP!
• April Free Planner Insert*
• BUSINESS PLANNING FOR CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS (Video)
• The ULTIMATE Strategic Business Planner for the Modern Creative Entrepreneur

*Indicates an associated download

I hope this roundup helps you locate any content of mine you may have missed this month. I’d love to hear which content was your favorite from the month and what you’d like to see more of from me in the future. Please leave me a comment below and share your thoughts!

xoxo,

Business Functional Planning Online Business

The ULTIMATE Strategic Business Planner for the Modern Creative Entrepreneur

Are you a Creative Entrepreneur in need of a strategic business planner? The CEO Strategy Planner is an undated, print on demand business planner with 60+ elegant and functionally designed inserts to help you organize, plan and execute on your business vision! Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper, and get down to business with the CEO Strategy Planner!

The CEO Strategy Planner is the ultimate bundle of business planning inserts designed for the modern creative entrepreneur or business owner. The planner is divided into multiple sections that follow the essential parts of any good business plan. This strategic planner seamlessly integrates with the calendar or agenda system of your choice. Whether you use a physical planner, a digital calendar and planning tools, or, if like me, you use a mixture of both- the CEO Strategy Planner can be used in conjunction with any calendar and planning system to create your custom business, marketing and financial plans.

I designed this planner first and foremost, for myself, out of a need for structure to keep myself focused on my business goals and objectives. As a lover of paper planners, who works via the power of digital media, I needed dedicated inserts with enough structure to allow me to outline all my essential business objectives, marketing activities, and financial tracking into one streamlined business plan on paper before I then executed on the work on my computer.

As a paper planner lover and a creative, I know the power that taking pen to paper can be for your ideas, inspiration and clarity. There is nothing like getting ideas out of your head and onto paper and then getting down to business organizing and creating your vision.

The CEO Strategy Planner contains all of the essential planning tools you need to organize your business, tackle your to do list efficiently, manage your marketing efforts and keep track of all your key financial targets. With the help of this strategic business planner, you will create a vision for your business and have all the tools and strategies at hand to execute!

The CEO Strategy Planner Will Help You…

Create a vision for your business and break that vision down into manageable steps
Set clear objectives and outline plans that help you work more efficiently
Maximize your marketing efforts by organizing and outlining content, campaigns and messages
Keep a close eye on all your financial targets to grow your income, shrink expenses and get direct visibility to your profitability

This strategic business planner contains over 60 professionally designed undated printable inserts, covering all the essential areas of business planning without any fluff or filler. These designs were created using professional, industry standard design applications, and with elegance and simplicity in mind. You will notice that these inserts are easy to print at their original half letter dimensions, or can be easily adjusted to A5, US Letter or A4 as well.

With your purchase you will receive a set of easy to follow print instructions to help you achieve your desired print size.

And of course, because the CEO Strategy Planner is print on demand and undated, you can use and reuse these inserts year after year, as much as you need to get the job done!

WHAT OTHER CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS ARE SAYING

“When it comes to creative entrepreneurship and planning tools, Alexis is the real MVP and boy, the CEO Strategy Planner doesn’t disappoint! If you need a roadmap to stop dreaming and start doing when it comes to your creative strategy, this is the product for you. Each of the beautifully designed pages are packed with goodness that will give you the nudge you need to make that creative business of yours an empire.”

Kelsey Chapman | Author and Podcaster

“The CEO Strategy Planner gives me everything I need to map out my business objectives and marketing for the year, while integrating seamlessly with my paper planning system of the moment. I like to try new systems and I also require simplicity and flexibility in every area of my life. As much as I love my physical planner, as a business owner, I also need to be practical and use digital planning tools as well to manage my team. I love that the CEO Strategy Planner gives me the ability to take pen to paper, get creative with business (and launch) planning for myself with all the different business planning inserts included and then just transfer those final ideas and concepts to my digital editorial and marketing calendars. It’s the best of both worlds!”

Anne Samoilov | Launch Strategist and Author of “The White Space Solution”

WHO IS THIS PLANNER FOR?

The CEO Strategy Planner is ideal for any online or creative business owner. Whether you are a solopreneur like me, or you manage a small team, these strategic planning inserts will help you set your goals, manage your expectations, and distribute the workload efficiently.

But, the CEO Strategy Planner is not just for business owners and entrepreneurs. Bloggers, YouTubers, Podcasters, and other online or social media influencers will find the tools within this planner infinitely helpful in helping them create better content, grow their audience and organize more effective campaigns.

Perfect for experienced content creators and beginners alike, if you have been eager to start creating content and building community on digital or social media platforms, these inserts will give you the clarity and organization to finally get started! Then of course, you have everything you need at your fingertips as your endeavor begins to blossom into bigger and better opportunities!

VIDEO WALK THRU

LIST OF PAGES

(not the order of pages in the PDF file)

• Cover

• Business Plan Divider

{CREATIVE BUSINESS PLAN}

• Executive Summary

• Target Market

• Brand Vision

{YEARLY BUSINESS PLAN}

• Yearly Objectives

• Yearly Overview

{QUARTERLY BUSINESS PLAN}

• Q1 Income

• Q1 Overview

• Q2 Income

• Q2 Overview

• Q3 Income

• Q3 Overview

• Q4 Income

• Q4 Overview

{MONTHLY BUSINESS PLAN}

(inserts reflect months but not dates)

• Monthly Objectives Overview

• January Overview

• January Key Tasks

• February Overview

• February Key Tasks

• March Overview

• March Key Tasks

• April Overview

• April Key Tasks

• May Overview

• May Key Tasks

• June Overview

• June Key Tasks

• July Overview

• July Key Tasks

• August Overview

• August Key Tasks

• September Overview

• September Key Tasks

• October Overview

• October Key Tasks

• November Overview

• November Key Tasks

• December Overview

• December Key Tasks

{BUSINESS OBJECTIVES}

• Objectives Divider

• Workflow

• Project Plan

• Project Budget

• Project Tracker

{BUSINESS MARKETING PLAN}

• Marketing Plan Divider

• Content Brainstorm

• Content Planner

• Content Outline

• Content Tracker

• Campaign Builder

• Broadcast Tracker

{FINANCIAL PLANNING}

• Finances Divider

• Profit & Loss Overview

• Yearly Overview

• Monthly Bill Tracker

• Yearly Bill Tracker

• Income & Expense Tracker

• Savings Tracker

• Donation Tracker

BONUS DOWNLOADS

The CEO Strategy Planner comes with multiple exclusive free bonus downloads at no additional cost

• CEO Planner Cover/Dashboard

• Additional section and monthly dividers

• Printable Tab Set

• Smartphone Wallpaper

• Desktop Wallpaper

FILE LIST

Upon checkout you will receive the following 6 files associated with this product listing.

CEO Strategy Planner PDF
CEO Strategy Planner Print Instructions PDF
BONUS CEO Divider/Dashboard Set
BONUS CEO Printable Tabs
BONUS CEO Desktop Wallpaper
BONUS CEO Smartphone Wallpaper

Important Additional Information

Printing: Although this is a digital PDF file, sized to half letter dimensions 5.5″ x 8.5″ with your purchase you will receive a set of printing instructions for A5, US Letter and A4 printing as well.

Refund Policy: Due to the nature of this item as a digital PDF, no refunds will be accepted, so please make sure to read through all details of this listing and contact Alexis with any questions before making your purchase!

Copyright information: The copyright to all digital download pdf files remains with the designer, Alexis Giostra. Files are intended for personal use by the single purchaser, and may not be copied, shared, distributed or resold.

Customer satisfaction is of the utmost important to me, and although I do not issue refunds on digital downloads, if you are experiencing any unforeseen issues with your purchase, please notify me immediately via email and I will work with you directly to resolve your issue!

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Click the button below to purchase your copy of the CEO Strategy Planner and get your creative ideas out of your head and onto paper so you can get down to business!

xoxo,

Functional Planning printables Productivity

April Free Planner Insert

What a difference a month can make!

As we now enter the month of April and come to the close of March, so much has transpired in the world over the past month that I am sure most of you reading this are living a much different life than you were only 30 days ago. With the spread of the COVID-19 virus, much of the world has completely shut down and encouraged us all to remain safe inside. I’ve been in complete awe seeing how the pace of the world has slowed as we all retreat into the safety of home.

Since the pandemic has hit, I have been reaching out to those of you in my community looking for inspiration and ideas for content to create for you during this uncertain time. My lifestyle has truly seemed to be spared during this crisis so far- I mentioned in a video last week that I’m not feeling the affects many around the globe are feeling, and because of that I want to do whatever I can to help those of you feeling the real burden of all this.

I definitely encourage you to keep up with the content I am producing across my platforms. Here on my blog, over on my YouTube channel and also on Instagram! But for today, I wanted to share with you a special FREE Planner Insert that I’ve designed with this trying time in mind.

As we are moving into the Spring in the northern hemisphere and soo many of us are unexpectedly stuck at home, I have created a Spring Cleaning Checklist. Just a simple insert to help you keep on track with any home cleaning and organization you might be doing, especially since home has become the center of the universe for each of us.

Click here to get your FREE Spring Cleaning Checklist in my shop, and take a look around to see if there are any other productivity tools, workbooks or classes you might be interested in trying out now that we all seem to have much more time on our hands at home!

And of course, if there is anything you need from me, any questions you have for dealing with your productivity or life during this challenging time, please let me know how I can support you and bring you the solutions or resources to make things a little easier for you!

Stay safe, healthy & productive at home!

xoxo,

Functional Planning

FREE LIVE PLANNING WORKSHOP!

Hello my charmed ones!

I have some fantastic news to share with you today!

Many of you asked for me to host another LIVE Planning Workshop and I am more than happy to oblige!

This Saturday March 28th, 2020 @ 2pm EST, I will be hosting a live streamed Quarterly Planning Event. In the class I have a bunch of new planning tips and processes I can’t wait to share with you to illustrate how I plan for home and business related topics in one steamlined process.

So, if you are a creative entrepreneur specifically, you do not want to miss this event!

All are welcome, of course, and no matter if you are a stay at home mom, career woman, student, or retiree I know you will still pick up some great tips during this class. I think this will be a great way for us to spend an hour or two while we are stuck inside for social distancing purposes!

So, please, CLICK HERE TO SAVE YOUR SEAT FOR THE WORKSHOP!

By signing up I will send you some reminders and the link to join the class live the morning of the event, plus I have a few fun planning freebies to share with you as well!

Can’t wait to see you on Saturday! Make sure to mark your planner!

xoxo,

Functional Planning

How to Create a Functional Plan

If you are struggling to use your planner to create a cohesive functional plan that helps you get clear on your objectives and strategic on how to manage your time and energy to get things done, here are 10 steps you must take to create a functional plan!

#1: Map Out Your Month

The first step to create a functional plan is to map out your month. The way our lives are structured, a month is a great unit of time to map out, in order to get a good big picture view of whats going on and what we need to be mindful of for our time management.

On a monthly basis its a great idea to sit down with your planner and take stock of the month ahead:

Make sure to map out Special days like holidays, birthdays, anniversaries.
Appointments, scheduled meetings and due dates for projects.
Track Travel plans, content calendars, and reoccurring items like paydays or trash days!
If you set monthly goals, make sure to list those out on your monthly calendar as well!

#2: Track Your Tasks for the Month

Sticking to the month as a good basic unit of time management, during your monthly planning session its also a great time to make a list of tasks that you want or need to accomplish in the month.

If you have project plans or lists of todo’s, I recommend reviewing these and identifying which tasks belong to your month so you can have all your to dos listed out on one master monthly task list.

For habits, routines, income, expenses or reoccurring tasks that you want to keep track of, I recommend listing those out on a monthly tracker that gives you the ability to check off these individual items in one place, saving you lots of precious space in your planner!

#3. Manage Your Week

Once you have a plan for your month in place you can break down your plans into weeks!

When I plan my weeks, I like to first identify any appointments or scheduled items and make sure those are clearly marked in my planner.

Next, I turn to my master month task list and assign tasks to my week overall, or to specific days in my week. I try not to plan too far ahead and leave plenty of white space (or buffer time) in my days because you never know what surprises might pop up in your week and nothing is worse than over-planning only to leave tasks incomplete!

In order to avoid over-planning each week I like to identify 3-5 projects that either need to be completed or moved forward during a week so that I stay focused on my essential tasks and don’t take on too much at one time.

#4: Balance Your Workload with a Yearly Project Tracker

Another great step to organize your planner so that you are staying organized and functional but not overwhelming your schedule is to project plan!

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “You can have it all, just not all at once” then you understand the concept of my yearly project tracker! Over the course of a year I might have dozens of projects I want to complete, but I can’t do them all in one month- so breaking them out over the course of the year gives me the sense that there is time for everything, when I am intentional and have patience!

#5. Plan Out Your Projects

Now, when I have a project I want to complete, it’s important for me to create a project plan where I can keep all the details in one place. Think of a project plan like a to do list of like items that have a specific objective in mind.

Making a simple task list for a project is great, but I like to to things one step further and use project planning pages where I can lay out tasks along side a clear description of what I’m trying to achieve and any resources or notes that I need to consult along the way!

#6. Get It Out of Your Head and on Paper

If you struggle to find clarity with your planning, then this functional planning tip is going to be essential for you! From time to time, on at least a monthly basis, if not more frequently, I like to perform a brain dump. A brain dump is a funny way of saying a mental download, or the process of writing down all the tasks, information and ideas that you have been holding onto in your mind!

Despite a popular misconception, our brains are not meant for storing information, but for processing information. So, if you have a hard time planning or finding clarity, a brain dump can really help clear your mind of clutter through the simple act of writing things down.

But once your done writing everything down, what do you do with all that information?

Great question! This is where I like to use a prioritization matrix to help me identify which tasks need my attention and which can be delegated to someone else, added to a to do list for later, or deleted completely. By taking the time to understand which tasks are important, not important, urgent and not urgent, my planning becomes so much simpler and I get an instant sense of clarity!

#7. Brainstorm Your Brilliant Ideas

Now, before I can schedule my tasks into the calendar portion of my planner, I need to have a good idea of what I am working on, right?

Before I even make a project plan, I need to brainstorm to help me outline my ideas and decide what I want to accomplish based on the problems I am facing or raw ideas I want to bring to fruition. So, I will have a brainstorming session (or a few sessions) where I will use a specially designed planner insert to define my problem or objective, and then come up with ideas to solve the problem.

This insert that I designed is a great tool to help me organize different steps or categories of information, and then create the skeleton of a project plan that I can review and edit until I feel confident moving forward. Of course, plans laid out in a brainstorm will then be codified into a project plan!

#8. Take Notes

Your planner is made to be written in and studies have shown that writing things down actually helps us improve our memory and productivity! So, having some lined note sheets in your planner for extra information that doesn’t quite belong in your calendar is always a great idea!

I use the notes section in my planner to keep lists of quotes, meal ideas, and inspiration for my life and business. The options are endless, so make sure you have some spare notes sheets to use as needed!

#9. Index It

What is the point of filling your planner with all this important information if you can’t refer back to it and find what you’re looking for?

One of the drawbacks of using a paper planner is that they lack a search function to help you locate text, but, by numbering your planner pages and using an index, you can create your own system for tracking the contents of your planner for quick reference in the future.

You can create a simple list by page number and page contents, or create categories of information and list out the pages that contain that information for you to track it!

#10. Use It or Loose It

Your planner can be a powerful tool to help you organize your life and achieve your goals, but only IF you use it regularly!

Becoming a daily planner is definitely a habit that you can build through repetition and by using a planner that is functional enough to contain everything you need to plan. I find that so many people struggle to use their planner because they actually have to use 2 or more different planners or notebooks in order to achieve ALL of the tips I shared with you today.

That is why I highly recommend that if you struggle with planning, to purchase the Charmed Life Master Planner!

The Master Planner is a Functional Planning System of my own design that includes all the inserts you need to organize your life and get more done. It comes in book bound or print on demand planner inserts that work with a variety of popular planners and binding styles. I personally use the A5/Half Letter Master Planner Print on Demand inserts with a disc bound system in my Chanel Agenda cover at the moment!

Click here to watch my latest planner setup featuring the Master Planner!

So, what are you waiting for? I would LOVE for you to purchase one of my Charmed Life Master Planners because it truly is a unique planner system that is designed for functional planning and productivity.

I’ve seen the difference the Master Planner and it’s Functional Planning methodology has made in the lives of many within my community and I know it can also be the perfect tool for you to get your plans out of your head so you can get down to business!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF THE MASTER PLANNER NOW!

And of course! Don’t forget the Master Planning Master Class, my companion class for the planner that will walk you through the functional planning philosophy, how to get the most out of the planner and help you to overcome the 3 most common planning mistakes!

I can’t wait to hear about how you are using your Charmed Life Master Planner to organize your life and improve your productivity!

xoxo,

Functional Planning Metaphysics

How to Use the Moon Phases to Manifest

How to Use the Moon Phases to Manifest

If you’ve been following me on Instagram over the past few months, you may have noticed that I’ve been sharing intentions and journaling prompts aligned with the phases of the moon. I personally love the idea of using moon phases to set intentions and to help open and close cycles in my life. So, today I wanted to give you a little overview of the moon phases and what they each represent if you too would like to use the natural cycle of the moon as a guide for manifesting and intention setting.

New Moon
As the name suggests, the new moon phase is all about new beginnings and setting intentions for what we want to manifest over the next few weeks. Consider the new moon a clean slate, a time for gathering your thoughts and making an intentional plan for what you’d like to achieve in the coming days and weeks.

New Moon Mantra: I have a clear vision for what I will manifest.

*Interested in Manifesting Money? This activity workbook is filled with additional techniques, affirmations and information to raise your vibration and call in abundance!*

Waxing Moon Phases
The term waxing moon refers to the phase where the moon is beginning to fill up with light. Common moon phases during this cycle are the waxing crescent (moon is less then half filled with visible light) , first quarter moon (moon is exactly half filled with visible light) and waxing gibbous (moon is more than half filled with visible light). The waxing phases of the moon are a time to take action on your intentions and refine your plans. No plan goes in precise order, so during this phase consider how you can find ways to overcome obstacles and continue to move forward towards your objective and intentions.

Waxing Moon Mantra: With each step I take I feel joyful anticipation for the arrival of my manifestation.

Full Moon
The full moon phase is a time for reaping and harvesting your rewards. If you’ve been taking action over the past few weeks, you should have results to show for your efforts. Now is the time to enjoy and receive them. Celebrate what you’ve accomplished and indulge in the fruits of your labor.

Full Moon Mantra: My manifestation is now coming to fruition.

Waning Moon Phases
The term waning moon refers to the phase where the visible light of the moon is shrinking. Common moon phases during this cycle are the waning gibbous (moon is still more than half filled with visible light), third quarter moon (moon is exactly half filled with visible light), and waning crescent (moon is less than half filled with visible light). The waning phases of the moon are a time to reflect and surrender to the unknown. This is the ideal time to rest and rebuild your energy stores for the next new moon cycle of action. Although it may be difficult to sit back and trust that all will be well, patience is an important step in the manifestation process that follows a period of action and activity. There is only so much we can do to control an outcome, so now it is time to believe in the power of your intention and manifestation.

Waning Moon Mantra: I rest peacefully knowing my manifestation is nearly complete.

I hope this guide to manifesting with the moon phases provides you a simple strategy to intention setting and working with the natural flow of energy to bring your objectives to fruition. I’d love to hear how this process works for you, and of course for more moon manifestation and intention setting tools, make sure to follow me on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat.

xoxo,

Functional Planning

Planning in Uncertain Times

With recent events as they are, I felt compelled yesterday to film a video update for you sharing my thoughts on what is going on in the world and how we can use the power of planning in these uncertain times to bring us purpose and comfort. If you have been feeling anxious or isolated, please know that if you need anything from me, I am only a message away and I have set the intention for myself to be available as best I can to you in my community.

The world might not be business as usual for many people, and if you are one of those significantly affected, my prayers go out to you. During this time, however, I am choosing not to feed into any negativity or drama and I believe it’s best if we stick together in this. So, check out the video, I do hope that it gives you a simple strategy for taking your life day by day and focusing on what matters right now.

Love you all and I’m here if you need me!

xoxo,