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.
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.
Like everyone in the world, I have good days and bad days and it always seems like the days when I am most productive just sort of randomly happen. They are usually unplanned; one day I just wake up and things seem to flow. There are no obstacles and the day just passes easily while I remain focused on the things I need to accomplish. When this happens, it’s easy to think that I just got lucky. Like the stars have aligned for me to have a productive day, but tomorrow I might not be so lucky. The truth is, however, although we might experience these days as random occurrences, there are things we can do to mimic the conditions and have the most productive day ever, whenever we want. I’ve actually figured out four important steps or phases we can take to have the most productive day ever, and if you also follow these steps you can create the right conditions to have your own productive day on demand as well!
Your Productive Day Starts the Night Before
The most productive days always begin with a few key actions taken the night before, but for each of us, the exact actions to take to set tomorrow up for success might be different. Think about the things that cause resistance in your mornings. Are you exhausted when you wake up? Do you struggle to pick out your clothes? Do you make a mess in the kitchen preparing breakfast and you’re brown bagged lunch? Whatever elements of your morning are a struggle for you, identify them and decide what action you can take the night before to vault those hurdles. Getting to bed earlier, laying out your clothes, prepping a breakfast and lunch? Maybe it’s not your own resistance you face and the struggle is with partners or children. Get them on board if necessary and take some time prepping with or for them so tomorrow morning is a breeze.
Make Your Morning Count
Now that you have mitigated the biggest sources of resistance in your morning, you can start your day with more peace and ease. Begin by spending a little more time in bed this morning. I know what you’re thinking- but I promise, this will be time well spent. After all, you took key actions last night, so now you can spend 15-20 minutes before exiting bed in quiet prayer or meditation. If it helps to use a guided meditation track, have some options bookmarked on your phone so you can pop on your headphones and get yourself aligned before your feet hit the ground.
Once it’s time to get down to business for the day, no matter what sort of work you do, spend a another 10-15 minutes with your planner working out time when you will focus on your most important priorities. Decide what those priorities are; time with family, a workout before or after work, an important event or meeting, or specific work that is due. Once you know those top 3 priorities for the day, make sure you have the time blocked off for their completion in your schedule. Then of course wrap up your planning with any other scheduled events or tasks you need to remember.
Wrap Up and Wind Down
Towards the end of your workday it’s incredibly important that you intentionally wrap up any work that may need to be carried over for the next day and get your workspace or inbox in good order. This will make it much easier for you to have a productive work day again tomorrow. Spend perhaps the final 30 minutes of your workday intentionally winding down for the transition from work back to home life. Set the intention that you are leaving work at work and moving into the next phase of your day with peace and ease so that you can now step into being your best self for your personal priorities. Whether you work outside or inside the home, that intention mental switch is an important daily transition to make so that you are showing up as your best self for yourself and other, and also making the most of the next phase of your day.
Simple, right? Maybe not necessarily easy, but a pretty simple four step plan. I’d love for you to test this plan out in your own life and report back on how it worked out for you. Remember, this plan is intended to be general steps for you to take, but you need to hammer our the specifics for your day and your life for things to work out as productively as possible for you. But, it is great to have this template or outline to work off. Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
10 Productive Time Management Tips that Will Change Your Life!
Much of the measure of our personal productivity comes from the way we spend our time. Students often come to my content and classes with the hope of learning a secret technique that will change their lives, suddenly helping them achieve a weeks worth of work in a single day. For many people, that is the goal of proper time management and productivity. To figure out a way to cram more tasks into a shorter time frame. To find a way to hit a metaphorical pause button on time so that you can deal with the task at hand and avoid the unexpected interruptions that leach time away from you. To master a sense of self-discipline so we are excited to wake up early and focus on completing a string of predefined tasks that will bring meaning and value to our effort and sacrifice.
Can I let you in on a little secret?
There is no one technique or strategy that will help you achieve this, instead, from my experience this sort of productivity comes from a mindset shift where we make many small strategic changes to the way we approach our time and work that ultimately add up to big results. Shifting the way we approach each individual choice we make, each micro-habit if you will, can lead us to feel like we are managing our time well, and ultimately we feel more productive. When we feel more productive, we become more productive. For that reason productivity is a mental construct just as much as it is something that can be tracked by measurements and metrics. So, if you would like to start making these strategic little shifts to your mindset to become more productive, here are 10 productive time management tips that will change your life.
1. There is always enough time for the things you prioritize.
How often do you find yourself saying “I wish I had more time in the day for X.” Fill in the blank with any number of personal priorities that are seriously lacking time and attention in your life. Notice how I said personal priorities too, and not work priorities. Most of us don’t feel like we are focused too little on work, instead, we instinctually know we are focused too little on the quintessential meaningful things in life. Family, friends, our health, personal goals, rest, you name it- if it’s something truly important in life, we are likely sacrificing it for something that is ultimately less meaningful but seemingly more urgent. The problem is though, those meaningful things are our priorities, or at least we would say they are. But we are actually de-prioritizing them and then acting like time is the enemy here when really there is enough time in the day for those priorities, if we actually prioritize them. You know this is true. You know you get the same 24 hours in a day that everyone else has, so the problem isn’t that you don’t have enough time. The problem is that you aren’t prioritizing the things you say are priorities. Remember, the to do list is never ending, there will be more to add to it tomorrow and the chores will need to be repeated again. So, spend time on the important things first, and you can let everything else fill your spare time.
2. Plan a little less to make room for things that pop up
If you find it hard to get things done because you experience a never ending string of interruptions to your work that ultimately dig you into a time and productivity hole you struggle to dig yourself out of, you need to readjust your expectations. Specifically, you need to cut back on the amount of things you plan to achieve each day, and make room for those unexpected interruptions that pop up. You know I love me a good plan, but when you are failing to complete the plan repeatedly because there is too much on your plate each day or your focus and attention is often redirected to emergency or unplanned events- you need to start planning for that. Yea, expect the unexpected and put some white space or buffer time into your plan. Take a look at the patterns of your interruptions and the work you plan and fail to accomplish each day. Are you planning for 8 hours of work but only achieving 5 hours on average? Well, then start planning for 5 hours and see how that goes. And I know what some of you are thinking, that you have 8 hours of work to do each day so you can’t plan for less, but you can. You see, if you aren’t getting it all done that means some things are being pushed off for the next day, and after too many consecutive days of this you find yourself in a hole. So, some things are either not getting done, or you are carving into personal time, sleep, family time, etc, to try to get everything done. So, something is ultimately falling off the to do list for good. What I am suggesting is that you get a little more strategic about the work that goes onto your plan each day and intentionally cut off things you know are less important so those items don’t take up precious time. Give it a try, see if adjusting for and planning around interruptions gives you back time and energy to get the most important work done. I have a strong feeling it will.
3. For best results, do one thing at a time
I can remember back a decade or so ago when the concept of multitasking was all the rage. And then research stepped in and explained that when you multitask you don’t complete twice the work in the same time, you either spend much more time accomplishing the tasks or are lucky if you even get one of the tasks done properly. Focus and dedicated attention to a task are incredibly under rated time management strategies, but if you try them for yourself I think you will find that you get a much better result and drain less of your energy. Yes, there are of course times when you can do more than one thing at a time because the tasks don’t matter- like listening to a book on tape while working out or doing chores- but an example like that only works when one activity was passive to begin with and doesn’t need to use the same brain centers to work. Try listening to a book on tape while following a recipe for dinner- you need some form of attention on both of those things, so you will ultimately burn the entree or have to go back to replay a missed chapter. So, be intentional when you multitask and instead try doing one thing at a time and see how well and how quickly you actually accomplish it.
4. If you lack motivation, create and stick to a routine
When it comes to productivity and time management, it’s easy to feel like you require strong motivation in order to propel yourself, but this isn’t necessarily true. Yes, motivation is great and when you are highly motivated you are very likely to enthusiastically pursue a goal or complete a task, but motivation usually doesn’t last. What lasts are the patterns created by a daily well established routine. This is a strategy I often see used by great writers. From the outside, we might think that writing a book requires motivation and inspiration, but when you learn about the lives of writers, you find that they usually have a dedicated routine for their writing that they follow day in and day out despite their motivation levels. Because self-discipline and routine are actually stronger factors than motivation and more consistent as well. You could be motivated to write a book one day and then the motivation runs out after a few hours or days, but if you have created a daily routine for your task you will come back to the writers desk day in and day out until the work is done. So, if you have goals or objectives but no motivation- no problem! Define a routine, execute against it, and after a while that routine will propel you further than motivation alone ever could.
5. Determine what will have the biggest impact and do that first
I’ve researched so many different productivity philosophies pertaining to the order in which you should complete tasks and although all of them do work in their own way, I’ve found that nothing is more guaranteed to succeed than working on the most important and impactful work first. It all comes down to prioritization and the true nature of productivity which is to achieve the greatest results with the least effort. Note that I did not say achieve the most tasks, or check the most items off the to do list in the quickest time. I said achieve the greatest results. So, if we start by identifying which tasks will have the most impact and the biggest payout and do those first, we are seeing instant productivity outcomes. Yes, this means we need to pause and analyze what we are doing and why. It means we need to take a task and see the process and outcome and weigh those factors for each task on our list to determine what goes first. But if you can spend this time, you will ultimately have more to show for your effort. Remember, there are always things we have to do but that doesn’t mean they generate results. Not all actions generate a valuable return on time invested. And more time spend on a task doesn’t mean it will have more of an impact. We need to be strategic about where we spend our time and focus our energy first on those result driving actions if we want to better manage our time.
6. Before you start a lengthy task, write down all the steps and arrange strategically
I often extoll the virtues of project planning, but I feel like I often leave out an important step in the process that really makes all the difference to the amount of time and energy it will take for you to achieve an objective. Before you start on an objective, something that takes more than a few actions to complete, you really should write down all the steps you think you will need to take and then consider how you can arrange the steps strategically to make the process as seamless as possible. Yes, a project plan itself is a set of written steps towards an objective, and we do often write the steps out in an order that makes logical sense initially, but that first draft of tasks can always be improved upon. You can look at that list of action steps and perhaps remove a few items that might be redundant or unnecessarily. You may be able to group a few different tasks that belong to different phases of the objective to save time and energy. The point here is just that we don’t want to start with our first draft of a plan. We want to refine it. We want to take some time to play out the details in our mind and see if we missed any gaps or can consolidate any actions. That will always give us the better result in the least amount of time.
For more productivity tools and resources for planning, download your copy of my FREE Productivity Toolbox by clicking the image above!
7. More time doesn’t equal more productivity, less time usually does.
I realize this tip is one that seems completely illogical but it absolutely works. We often think that the more time we dedicate to a task, the better the outcome will be. Think about it, you have some work you need to accomplish so you carve out some time in your schedule (a very productive move) and you block off a little more time for the task. Or you have a project due in a few weeks time, so you allot yourself the full duration to work on it, because you think the more time you spend on it, the better the outcome will be. While it is true that better results come from having adequate time to execute, there is a point where giving yourself too much extra time can become a waste of time. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fit the time allotted for its’ completion. Meaning, that if you have an objective that should take a few hours to complete, you can achieve it within that span of time, but if you give yourself a full day, or a full week to achieve it, it will also expand to that full day or week of work. This is why more time doesn’t equal more productivity, but instead, if you give yourself less time or just enough time, you can achieve great results with time to spare. Now of course, buffer time is always great to help account for interruptions which can be a problem for many people. But that is where you may want to consider giving yourself an earlier deadline to achieve an objective where the true due date might be a little further off.
8. Procrastinate on purpose and work around it
Procrastination is something that affects all of us, no one is immune to the inclination to waste a bit of time. The most productive people, however, know how to procrastinate purposefully. This comes down to understanding the ebb and flow of your personal energy cycle so you can work at full force when you have the power to do so, and can take a meaningful break when your capacity is lower. Track throughout your days when you find your energy is at a peak, when you are in flow with your work and getting things done at a good pace. Track also when your energy begins to wane. When you find yourself loosing focus, when your pace slows and when you may be more easily distracted by people or gadgets. When you find your personal focus and energy peaks and valleys you can then plan to procrastinate or take a break right as your energy is falling and you can give yourself permission to relax. That’s the most important part really. I think when we procrastinate during the day we often feel guilty for doing so and don’t fully enjoy the little mental break we are taking. But when we procrastinate on purpose with our energy cycle, we can feel good about it and see the procrastination as a productive way to recharge our personal energy. I don’t know about you, but when I am low on energy I can do no real meaningful work and everything takes me twice as long to get done. So, if by allowing myself space to delay my work helps me to rest my mind and bring my energy back up quicker, that is the best way for me to spend that time.
9. Write everything down and set alerts for as much as possible. Do not rely on your brain to recall information
How many times do we have to forget important details before we learn that we cannot rely on our brains to remember things. Instead, we need to get in the habit of writing things down and setting alerts so that we recall said information at the proper time. The way I do this is simple. When I think of something I feel like may be important, I list it in the brain dump section of my planner. If the information pertains to an existing project, I list it on the project page, if it is something I want to remember on a certain day I put in in my calendar. If it’s time sensitive, I set a reminder or calendar alert. If I am out and about without my planner, which happens often, I use another device to track said information- my phone! By either creating a note, adding something to my schedule from my phone or by sending myself an email so I don’t miss the information later. Then, when I am back with the planner anything that needs to be written down gets put in it’s proper place. Yes, this is a habit that takes time to implement, but it is so worth it not to miss important information. By writing everything down I have seriously minimized the number of metaphorical fires I have to put out that might otherwise steal my time and attention, and I see that my work has improved when I have all my creative ideas at my disposal at the time the work is done. All because of one key habit.
10. Systemize repeating and ongoing tasks
As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to out to do list, there is no end to the amount of tasks that we need to accomplish and many of these items are repeating or ongoing tasks that we will never truly finish or permanently remove from the to do list. Unless, of course, you find a way to systemize the task. Meaning that you develop a method or process for handing the task that simplifies or minimizes it. Let’s take chores for instance. Chores are a never ending series of tasks. We vacuum the floor one day and it immediately begins to get dirty again, so we need to repeat the task the next day or the next week. We do the dishes but they pile up at the same time. So, how do we systemize these things? By defining a regular cycle in which to address them. Dishes may need to be washed daily, our floor vacuumed once a week, the blinds dusted every other week. By taking the time to list out the task, decide on the frequency we will address it and then scheduling the time into our calendar, we can minimize the amount of energy and time we spend on it. Now, of course, some tasks may be able to be automated as well. When we automate tasks, we set up a system that repeats on its own. When I think of automated tasks I often think of bill payments and purchases. Most bills can be set to autopay so that we don’t have to think about them. Money can be automatically transferred to an account and then the account can be debited for the bill. Or regular purchases can be set to automatic schedules so it saves you the time and energy of having to remember to refill a necessity yourself. I do this with my pet supplies and some supplies around the home that deplete at regular intervals. Many sites have auto ship options to make systemizing ongoing purchases one less thing to have to remember, ultimately saving your time and energy to devote to other things.
So those are 10 productive time management tips that will change your life, if you let them and if you execute on them of course! If you enjoyed these tips I would love to hear which were most impactful for you and of course which are giving you the best results in your life and productivity. So, please do leave me a comment below and let me know!
Today, I want to talk to you about the #1 time and money saver that I believe everyone should keep in their planner! That time and money saver is Meal Planning. As you may remember, earlier this week I announced the release of the Master Meal Planner printable insert bundle, and today I want to explain more to you about those inserts, how to use them and the process I follow to plan and prepare my meals each week.
My goal in creating the Master Meal Planner Inserts, as is my goal with all my products, is to share information and tools to help make your life better. From my years of studying and researching the topics of productivity and planning, I have found that although no two lives are the same, there are essential strategies that can be used by nearly anyone to set better expectations, streamline their tasks and ultimately reallocate their time towards higher priorities. Much thought, planning and feedback from my community went into creating this tool to make it as useful and actionable as possible.
My hope is that this meal planning tool helps you close the gap, learn an essential process and strategy for time management, and helps you reallocate time to your goals so that you too can develop an action oriented attitude towards your life. Whether or not you understand it at this point in time, when you purchase a tool like the Master Meal Planner, you’re taking a major step in the right direction to help you get your life in order. You’re making an investment in your future and in yourself that most fail to make. There is nothing more important in my mind than acknowledging your shortcomings and then making an effort to correct them- it’s the basis of all progress and the precise reason why human beings are able to achieve wonderful and sometimes miraculous feats. So, I know that when you purchase the Master Meal Planner inserts, you are taking a step towards a better and more fulfilling life!
The final thing I want to share with you before we begin with today’s topic, is that in the circle of life there is no right or wrong time to start getting your life in order and making your dreams a reality. It is never too early or too late to begin taking actions to design the life you have always wished to lead. If the only time is the present, then the present is where we must begin.
The #1 Time & Money Saver Everyone Should Keep in their Planner
How often do situations like these happen to you?
• It’s dinner time and you’re starving, but when you open your fridge you have no clue what to make. You shift around some raw ingredients, pace back and forth to your pantry but you are absolutely stumped. Yes, there is food in their, but no meals. You order delivery instead.
• It’s the end of the week and the fridge is empty- time for a grocery shop. You get to the grocery store and walk around looking at everything trying to piece together meal ideas in your head. You pull out your phone to search pinterest, but alas, your grocery store gets terrible reception. You have a few go to meals that you can rely on in your memory, but you are completely unprepared and can’t remember what ingredients you have at home or all the ingredients you even need to begin with. You walk around purchasing everything you can think of, hoping for the best and spending way to much money on random things that may not even form a complete meal. When you get home, you find you’ve forgotten a few key ingredients but purchased extra things that won’t even go into the meals for your week. Whatever, you’ll make it work, right?
• You are dead set on sticking to this new healthy eating plan. You have the recipes, you know what you can and cannot eat on the plan, everything is set, right? Wrong. A busy day hits and you’ve forgotten to pack your lunch, so you power through without eating, not wanting to make a mistake on your new plan. Once you get home, you are starving and although you have what you need at home to prepare your healthy dinner, it’s so much chopping and then a 30 minute cook time on top of that. You cave, and have a snack that is not quite on plan while you decide what to do. Instead of taking action, your hunger cues kick in and you grab another questionable snack while you think. One thing leads to another and suddenly you realize you’ve eaten a complete box of snacks instead of just buckling down to make that healthy dinner you had ready to prepare in the fridge. Ugh!
Look, if any of these situations sound like you, let me reassure you, I have been there too! I don’t know what it is about cooking and meal times, but even when we have food in the fridge and the best of intentions, we often make very poor decisions that ultimately cost us time, money and our will power. This is why I firmly believe that Meal Planning (and Prep!) is the #1 Time and Money Saver Everyone Should Keep in their Planner! Thanks to my meal planning practice, meal time now looks less like those situations above and more like this:
• It’s dinner time and I head to the fridge, there in storage containers are my dinner options for the week. I decide between one meal or another, pull out the prepared ingredients, plate my portion, heat it up and enjoy! Dinner now takes me all of 5 minutes to prepare.
• I’m starting to get a little hungry but I have some time to spare to prep something from scratch. I take a glance at my meal planner and remember that I bought the ingredients to make avocado toast for some lunches this week. I head to the kitchen and whip up one of my favorite quick and easy lunches.
• It’s Saturday morning and I’ve been sticking to this new healthy eating plan all week, so it’s time for a little treat. Luckily, I prepped a few on-plan muffins precisely for this moment of sudden craving. Diet disaster averted!
Aren’t these situations so much nicer to encounter throughout our week than the alternative? I think so, and that’s why I am a dedicated weekly meal planner and prep-er! Yes, meal planning and prepping can take up a good block of time, but it’s time I plan for and time that I save (or should I say, saves me) throughout the week from deciding, preparing and cooking meals.
And my meal planning and prepping process is made infinitely more easy, thanks to the use of the Master Meal Planner Inserts. So, let me explain what exactly those are and how you use them.
How to use the Master Meal Planner Inserts
Let me guide you through the inserts included in the Master Meal Planner and how to use each to maximize your meal planning process!
• The first set of inserts of the Master Meal Planner are called the Meal Master Lists. These inserts are where you can list out all the different meals you make or want to make and then check off the category for each. The categories for meals are breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack/dessert. When listing out each meal name, you can designate one or more of these categories by check mark to quickly locate meal inspiration when planning. There are a few different ways you can organize meals on this list. The first is to just do a complete brain dump of all the meals you can think of and then add more as time goes on. The next option is to dedicate a page or a spread to a collection of recipes for each season, for each member of your family that you cook for, or by dietary restrictions. For example, you could make a dedicated list for your favorite meals and another for your partner, child, etc. You could use one sheet for vegetarian meals, another for gluten free, or any other dietary restriction or category that applies to you. You could even dedicate sheets to cooking methods like BBQ recipes, crock pot meals, or freezer meals. As the meal planner inserts are print on demand, you have the space to play around with these lists in different ways that make sense to your lifestyle so consider those options and how you can add an extra level of organization to your meal planning process through the organization of your meal lists.
• The second set of inserts in this planner are the Weekly Meal Plans and consist of two worksheets, a grocery list and a meal planning matrix. Again, as the inserts are print on demand, it is up to you whether you want to use one set of these inserts for your whole family or break out meal plans for individuals if you prepare different meals for different folks. Also, it will be up to you whether or not you meal plan for one week at a time or more, however, the plans are organized per week and broken down into breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack columns with rows for each day beginning with Monday.
• The third and final set of inserts in this planner are the Recipes. This section is a dedicated area where you can track recipes relating to the meals on your master list. Each recipe worksheet is a two page spread which should be enough room for you to write out even longer recipes, or feel free to paste in printed recipes or recipe cards onto these pages if that suits you better.
The Meal Planning Process
Finally, let me outline for you the basic meal planning process I use and recommend.
The aforementioned avocado toast, made from scratch with low carb bread!
Meal Planning is the process of predetermining your meals for a specific period of time, either a week or perhaps even up to a month at one time. Once you have a plan in place for your menu, you can take some time each week to do meal preparation, cooking and/or portioning out food for your weekly meals and storing them properly for future meal times. Meal Planning and Prepping can be an excellent way to keep yourself on track if you are following a specific diet, but even if you are not, it is both a major time and money saver as you are able to define a menu ahead of time and bulk prepare meals. Prepared and portioned meals can be a life saver when your week gets busy or if unexpected events inevitably disrupt your week and normal eating patterns.
Step #1: Make a list of all of the meals and snacks you would like to eat and can prepare at home. Break down the meals into categories for the meal time they belong to, for example, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or dessert. Make sure that you either know how to make these meals already, or have the recipes saved somewhere for easy access, such as in a recipe book, or saved on a Pinterest board.
Step #2: Plan out your meals for each day, for the length of time you desire, from at least 1 week to up to 1 month maximum. Although the amount of time you choose to plan out is up to you, I find that planning any more than a month in advance can be a little too much as plans, tastes or cravings can change.
Step #3: On a day of your choosing before the next week begins, make a list of groceries you will need to prepare all your meals and snacks for just the coming week and then shop for them. If you follow store sales and want to stock up on frozen or non-perishable items for future weeks as well, that is fine, just keep in mind that it’s not advisable to fully prepare more than one weeks worth of food at one time, simply because the food would most likely spoil.
Optional: Weekly Meal Prep
Once you have completed your menu planning and grocery shopping for the week (or more) you may want to take your meal planning process one step further by doing some meal prep! This is a process that I undertake the weekend before a new week begins, and I find that it saves me a tremendous amount of time, energy and stress when I have all my meals prepared for the week instead of having to prepare them one by one each day.
When it comes to meal prep, you can choose to be like me and cook and store all your meals for the week ahead of time, or you can be more selective about the preparation you do.
Option 1: Precook and store all meals. Once you have your menu planned and groceries purchased, dedicate a portion of the day 2-4 hours depending on the length of your recipes, to bulk cook all meals. When I do this, I choose meals for the week that have similar cooking times or temperatures so that I can prepare the ingredients and then cook multiple meals at once in the oven, on the stovetop, in my crock pot, bbq or even air fryer. It might seem like a lot of work to do at one time, and perhaps the first few rounds of this might take a bit longer, but as you get used to the process, you’ll naturally begin to understand how to streamline and optimize even further. Once everything is cooked, depending on the meal, I make sure to properly store each item to retain freshness. Most items I cook go into the refrigerator, are sealed and handled properly, and are eaten within a week. If you are skeptical of storing meals for this length of time before eating, one major tip I have for you is just to practice good food safety. As most of my meals are stored and eaten over several days, I remove portions from storage with clean utensils and heat them up individually. I don’t let stored food out of the refrigerator for more than a few minutes to prevent contamination or spoil. I also tend to only prepare as much of the meal as necessary to maximize freshness, so toppings are usually added at the time of consumption, again as a measure to prevent spoilage.
Option 2: Precook select meals. If you don’t like the idea of having all your meals ready to go for the week, you can choose to precook a few meals to have on hand. For this I’d recommend focusing on preparing bulk dinners or tedious meals like school lunches that you won’t want to forget about. It’s easy enough to cook a large batch of a favorite dinner and consume it over a few nights and that becomes a great way to ensure you have something ready to go and don’t need to turn to delivery or fast food if time gets tight. You could also prep a few freezer meals- recipes that you can precook and keep in the freezer and defrost or finish cooking at a later time. Again, even these semi-prepared meals can save you time during the week or prepare for situations where the main cook of the household might not have the time to get the job done and needs to pass the baton to another.
Option 3: Prepare and Package Ingredients. Perhaps your meal choices require fresh preparation each day, but you can save yourself some work by cleaning, cutting and portioning ingredients ahead of time. Anything you can do to save yourself time during the busy week by cutting down on prep or cleaning will be valuable. So cleaning, slicing and storing fruit, making a batch of hard boiled eggs, rolling up lunch meat, or even just dividing something like a tub of yogurt or snacks into ready to go portions can be a life saver!
Well, I know that was a lot of great information, and now you should have a clearer idea of the purpose of the Master Meal Planner, the inserts included with it, and now understand the general process for meal planning. Now, I think you can see how Meal Planning is truly the #1 Time and Money Saver Everyone Should Keep in their Planner! If you agree, click the button below to purchase your Master Meal Planner and get started planning, organizing and prepping your meals asap! I know establishing this practice will be a game changer for your life and time management for sure. Can’t wait to see what you cook up with the help of this awesome tool!
If you have any other questions about the Master Meal Planner, feel free to let me know in a comment and I’d be glad to help you!
Meal Planning is truly one of the best secrets to successful time and life management! We all gotta eat, but in our busy day and age, fast food or delivery has become our meal planning time saver and backup plan, much to the chagrin of our wellness. I believe in a better way- a home cooked, menu planned, and meal prepped way.
The Master Meal Planner provides you with all the tools you need to save yourself time and money eating for your best life. With a little bit of planning and this indispensable tool, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to take back control of your time by learning to manage necessary but often tedious area of your life!
Inserts Included with the Master Meal Planner
• Master Meal List: List out all your favorite meals and categorize them by breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack/dessert so you have a list at the ready when planning your meals.
• Grocery List: Keep a running list of groceries to ensure you purchase everything you need for your meals
• Weekly Meal Plan: Plan out your meals for the week to take the guess work out of meal time and cut back on decision fatigue and poor dining choices.
• Recipe & Notes: Keep your recipes organized so you have a quick reference of ingredients and instructions to make meal prepping quick and easy!
• BONUS Cover Art/Dashboards: Your purchase includes 2 unique Cover Art designs you can use to create a dashboard or divided section for your meal planner.
Important Additional Information
The Master Meal Planner Insert Bundle comes with three sizes of inserts. Personal Filofax (3.75″ wide by 6.75″ high), A5/Half Letter & A4/US Letter are ALL INCLUDED in this bundle!
If you have any questions about printing, with your purchase you will receive a set of printing instructions for Personal, Half Letter, A5, US Letter and A4 printing as well.
Want to Learn More about My Meal Planning Process?
The video above outlines key questions I receive about meal planning, as well as my meal planning and prep philosophy. If you are new to the idea of meal planning, I would recommend checking out this video to get a sense of the process and inserts included in the Master Meal Planner.
If you have any other questions about the inserts, please do let me know! And don’t forget, to celebrate my birthday this month, I have a special discount code you can use in the shop.
As someone who has been a public personality in the planner community for several years, I am often asked about the many different ways you can fill and use your planner, so in true planner fashion, I’ve been keeping lists with different ideas. I’d like to start sharing these lists here on the blog, focusing each installment on a different category of activity.
In the first installment of this series, I shared 13 Items to Schedule In Your Planner. Today, however, I want to talk about Task Lists. Planners and lists go together like peanut butter and jelly, so there are plenty of different types of lists you can make and keep in your planner. These 7, however, are ones I consider essential for your productivity!
7 Task Lists to Keep In Your Planner
General Inbox: This is going to be your catch all of tasks and to-dos, anything that doesn’t go onto another list, will go here!
Chores: I love to keep a list of my daily, weekly, monthly and less frequent chores in my planner to keep me on track with cleaning my home to ensure I don’t miss anything.
Work Inbox: Like the general inbox, except for work related tasks only.
Goals: People who keep their goals listed out on paper are 42% more likely to achieve them, so it’s a nice list to keep in your planner.
Projects: A list of all the projects you’re working on, and taking it one step further, listing out each project as an individual task list is a great way to keep your objectives organized and make it easier to execute.
Systems: I consider systems reoccurring projects. A list of action steps necessary to complete a specific objective. If you have systems you use in any area of your life, codify it and keep the list in your planner.
Self-Care: As a woman, I feel like there is a lot of maintenance, hygiene and general self-care that needs to be completed regularly. Keep a list of your handy in your planner. Here is a free download I created specifically for it.
For more productivity tools and resources for planning, download your copy of my FREE Productivity Toolbox by clicking the image above!
I hope this list has given you some ideas for task lists to add to your planner. I hope you’re enjoying this new series so far and make sure to check back often to see more planning ideas. I’d love to hear what other task lists you keep in your planner, so be sure to share in the comments.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might remember that I had been struggling for a while to establish a daily journaling practice. There is something about journaling that just seems to go hand in hand with the planning community, and knowing how beneficial journaling can be for your mental health and motivation, I was determined to establish the habit for myself.
Let’s talk about the the benefits of establishing a journaling practice first. There is actually a lot of great research that shows how journaling and the act of writing things down by hand affects your mood, stress and even your success. Gratitude journaling specifically has been shown to create a 10% increase in happiness for those who establish a daily practice. Writing down your thoughts in a brain dump or stream of consciousness style is shown to make you feel more productive and in control, relieving anxiety in a significant portion of people. Research has even shown that people who regularly write down their goals and intentions have a 42% increased chance of achieving what they set out to do. More studies into success and visualization show that those who mentally practice their actions ahead of time, even by scripting out actions or situations in written form, have better results than those who go into a situation cold. In many different ways, unpacking your thoughts onto paper and getting into alignment with them is a key to personal happiness and success, and in many ways is a precursor to creating and executing on a successful plan. So, for those reasons and more, I was personally very interested in establishing a daily journaling practice for myself!
My first real success with a daily journaling practice came from my weekly gratitude inserts that I designed to be a quick and easy way to get myself into the habit of daily reflection. The idea behind those inserts was that I would list something I was grateful for each day and set an intention for myself for the week. This was a practice that took mere minutes a day to establish thanks to my convenient design, and it certainly helped me to establish an easy daily gratitude routine. They say people who perform a daily gratitude practice are 10% happier, an oddly specific number, but each day I completed my line of gratitude I could feel a shift in my mindset. Check the box, it was working and I could feel it.
But, eventually, I yearned for more. I didn’t want to loose my daily gratitude practice, of course, but I wanted to add to it and enhance it. After reading The Artist’s Way and learning about the concept of morning pages, a daily journaling practice where you write stream of consciousness style everything you are holding onto in your mind when you wake up, I began to feel like spending a bit more time on my journaling could really help get my mind right for the day. In The Artist’s Way, the author, Julia Cameron suggests that your morning pages practice should be three pages long, but for me, three pages was extremely daunting. I found that my pages became incredibly repetitive and lacked any real direction or substance, as I would force myself to write within a reasonable span on time so I could check the box, feel the benefit and move on with my day.
That’s when I decided to again design my own practice where I could blend the known benefits of journaling with the convenience of a more strategic practice. After all, I was journaling to help me become a better me, to get clear on my intentions for what I wanted to achieve and to set my vibration for the day to one of gratitude. I didn’t need three blank pages to do this, I just needed a bit of structure. So, I set out in designing the High Vibe Bible, the 90 Day Manifestation Journal to Raise Your Vibration and Manifest Your Desires.
The High Vibe Bible is unlike any other guided journaling experience I have ever come across. Most guided journals ask you too many questions each day, or are designed like fill in the blank word puzzles that don’t give you the true experience of journaling. The High Vibe Bible gives you the space to outline and reflect on your intentions for the week, and then the space to get grateful and aligned with those intentions each day. At the end of the week, you have a short review you can complete to keep track of your results. It provides the structure for you to set intentions and gratitude, but also provides space for you to get into alignment with your daily objectives quickly. You can write stream of consciousness style or bullet style- whichever works for the way your brain processes information.
Your brain and the way you feel after your daily journaling practice is the priority with the High Vibe Bible. For me, having the simple, structured daily practice from the High Vibe Bible has made me feel more disciplined, more relaxed in the morning and much more intentional about how I spend my time. Every day has it’s ups and downs, but getting started by reminding myself what’s important and what I feel I need to do to get myself where I want to be is invaluable to me. Having journaling inserts that I can keep right inside my planner so I can quickly flip from intention setting and manifestation to action and execution has been a game changer for me and my personal organization as well!
Printing is a breeze and the inserts work in a variety of different planners or binders sized for A4, US Letter, A5 or Half Letter! Don’t worry- you’ll get a set of printing instructions with your purchase to make the process as simple as possible!
Enjoy and can’t wait to hear how your new daily manifestation journaling practice benefits you!
Since launching the High Vibe Bible last year, I’ve received lots of inquiries into when I would be turning the manifestation journal into a set of printable inserts on my shop.
The HIGH VIBE BIBLE was intentionally designed to help you raise your vibration and manifest your desires over the course of 90 days or roughly three months. One part journal, one part manifestation tool, the High Vibe Bible is a loosely guided journaling experience intended to help you get super clear on what you want to achieve or receive, and then help you align your thoughts and actions to make it a reality.
Within in this journal you will find inspiration and guided prompts to help you clearly state your desires, create a plan for managing your energy and space to align your thoughts.
Each week starts with a worksheet where you will: • Write out an inspirational mantra or affirmation for yourself to use that week.Clearly identify what you wish to manifest • Identify how your manifestation makes you feel • Provide strategies for how you intend to raise your energetic vibration towards a positive mindset • Document signs and synchronicities that indicate your manifestation is coming to fruition • Track actions you will take over the course of the week to keep yourself in alignment
Each day you have a designated area to: • List out daily gratitude • Briefly journal your thought for alignment that day
Each week ends with: • A summary of what manifested for you • Space to identify the high point of your week • An area to briefly journal what you’ve learned
At the end of the journal you will also find a collection of seven lists that you can populate during the time you use the journal. Update and refer back to these lists often to help keep you in alignment with a positive mindset!
→ Imagine feeling the clarity of knowing exactly what you want in life and what you are working towards. There is no confusion, you know your time is valuable and meaningful because your life is filled with wonderful things that you’ve manifested and there is so much more on the horizon! → Imagine waking up with a purpose, excited to start the day because your journaling practice helps shift your mood to one of positivity and optimism. You feel more like the woman you’ve always wanted to be and you are unapologetic about treating her the way she deserves to be treated! → Imagine experiencing your day as that pleasant, low stress woman that family, friends and co-workers flock to because you are like a ray of sunshine for their day. You’re magnetic, you easily get what you need from others, and they feel truly blessed to know you! → Imagine the delight of getting each desire you ask for in such an easy and unexpected way that you feel like the luckiest woman on Earth. You choose to allow your life to be difficult or easy, why struggle when you can let it be easy!
These are the side affects that the High Vibe Bible can have on you when you commit to using this simple but powerful tool to establish a daily manifestation practice. Even if you are not usually drawn to journaling, the High Vibe Bible is such a different experience, but one that has the power to transform your energy and attitude through the act of putting pen to paper.
What You Get With Your Purchase: When you purchase the High Vibe Bible Printable Inserts, you will receive a PDF file of the High Vibe Bible that is enabled for printing in A4, US Letter, A5 or Half Letter size. You will also receive a PDF with detailed print instructions to help walk you through the process!
So, what are you waiting for? Get started with the High Vibe Bible Manifestation Journal today and follow along with the same quick but fulfilling daily practice I use to set my vibration and manifest my goals!
Today I am bringing back a series that used to be part of my monthly editorial calendar: Entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial is my monthly entrepreneurship journal entry that I make public to give insight to my community, and lead by example for fellow entrepreneurs to see the highs and lows of running an online business. Each month, I generally have a topic that I want to share on that relates to the state of my business or my current priorities. This month we are going to talk about how I plan to revive my stagnant business.
Over the last few years my business has felt like it hit a ceiling. Now I fully understand that this ceiling has been the manifestation of my own limiting beliefs around my business and truly has nothing to do with my business itself and it’s scalability. Although I make a great income from my business, and a mostly passive one at that, I’ve been wanting to take my business to the next level financially for some time, but I’ve made a bunch of mistakes along the way to find what my next level version of business success looks like. Hence, feeling like I’ve hit a ceiling.
I think its normal for people to hit a ceiling like this in their business and perhaps to, like me, feel trapped or boxed in to certain achievements and expectations. If you’re not careful though, hitting this imaginary ceiling can cause you to actually start declining if you aren’t careful, and I feel like my business has been declining in some sense but I know it doesn’t have to. I know that the decline I am feeling has come from a rut I allowed myself to get into.
I spent so much time thinking and researching on how to get myself past the ceiling I felt like I hit to make it to my next level that a few negative side affects started popping up. First, I was doing way too much researching and thinking and not enough executing on what I had learned. Ugh! I know some of you can relate to this. Not taking action because you feel like you don’t know enough to make the best choice yet, or starting down a new path based on information you learned but then finding conflicting information that leads you to continually change course. Double ugh! I definitely spent the last few years in this cycle. Knowing I needed to make a plan for the next level, doing the research, coming up with that plan, and then either chickening out or changing the plan so many times that I started things but left them incomplete. This was disastrous for me and it definitely lead me to make some poor decisions with my business that ended up hurting my revenue, not growing it like intended.
The second negative side affect I experienced was massive burnout. What is interesting about this side affect for me was that I had been working and creating content at a feverish pace for a long time before the burnout hit. And when I think about it, it wasn’t the pace or amount of work that ended up causing the burnout, but truly I think it was a symptom of the overall problem that I wasn’t growing. Anyone who creates any sort of content online can probably relate that when you are creating a lot but getting a lot of great feedback or activity on your content, it fuels you to want to create more. But when you are creating and not seeing the feedback you expect, it can be disheartening and draining. That’s where my burnout came from. For a while there I was creating content but not seeing the response I wanted over and over and over again. Because of that I burned out and became disillusioned by certain platforms.
Despite all this however, I have to remind myself how freaking grateful I am to even be in this position and that I still have a functioning business that earns me a full time income from home. The fact that despite these issues my business is still working and new customers and community members are still finding me is such a testament to the power that great passive income foundations can have in a business. My top performing content and existing funnels have been shouldering the marketing load for my sales and keeping my income consistent as I research, plan and experiment with ideas, even bad ones!
So, it’s with that gratitude and perspective in mind that I consciously decide to keep moving forward and turn to a fresh page with my business. Here are some things I’ve been doing recently to revive my stagnant business:
Back to Branding Basics: I’ve been asking myself a series of foundational brand questions to get super clear on my direction moving forward.
What do I want to be known for?
How can I be of service to others?
Who are my people?
Why do they come to me?
What do I do?
What do I NOT do?
That last one is very important because it’s easy for someone like me to feel like I need to be and do everything for my audience, but that will spread me thin and it already did!
Auditing my Business: I’ve been reviewing different aspects of my business processes over the past few years to understand my strengths and weaknesses, and where investing my effort has or hasn’t paid off. As you may know, I’m a solopreneur and although I’ve worked with a virtual assistant in the past, I’m now considering how or where I might actually need more support in different areas.
What worked for me in the past, what didn’t?
What was I doing very well?
What was I avoiding that I may need help with?
What was I doing poorly out of expectation that I may just need to let go of?
Reviewing my Funnels: Finally, I’ve been reviewing my funnels to see what content, calls to actions and products have been most successful.
What content was I producing at the height of my growth?
What content had the best reception, which did not?
Which products have been most successful?
Where are my sales coming from?
So, those are some steps I’ve been taking to revive my stagnant business and create some solid plans to help me push through that imaginary ceiling blocking me from my next level of success. Realistically, I know I also need to do some mindset work to bring down the blocks alongside doing the work of identifying and executing on my next set of business plans. For now, I would just like to cultivate the vision for where my business is going in 2020 as a first step and get those essential plans laid out. I’m also committing to thinking and researching less, and sticking to the plans I make moving forward. Hopefully, I have some positive updates for you in next months installment of this series!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this first new installment of Entrepreneurial and that it gave you some food for thought if you too are a business woman like me! I’d love to hear more about the things you have been working on or struggling with in your business so that I can create some content geared towards providing you solutions based on my experience.
