About two weeks ago I launched the 2020 update to the Charmed Life Master Planner! Thank you to all those who have supported the planner over the years and have already purchased your 2020 editions, I’m thrilled to have you as part of my #MasterPlanFam! But, for those of you who have not yet purchased, or aren’t sure about whether the Charmed Life Master Planner is right for you, today I wanted to give you some insight into what I believe makes the planner special and why you should seriously consider purchasing your copy for the sake of your productivity, organization and time management in 2020!
So many options or same old same old?
I realize that when it comes to choosing a planner for yourself for the New Year, the options are seemingly endless. Now more than ever we have so much choice for how to plan, what our planners look like and the price point that works for our needs. You can buy a planner in nearly every paper size you can imagine. You can buy a planner with every binding option technology allows. You can buy a planner in your favorite color, pattern, personalized with your name, refillable or disposable, you are drowning in a sea of options. Or so it seems on the surface. If you take some time to break open most of the options out there you come to find that although many planners seem different because they look different on the outside, once you get inside everything is the same but in different packaging!
This is the illusion of choice brought to you by the genius of marketing; selling you the same old planner in a pretty new package! I can remember a few years back before the boom of planning when planners came in two options, a professional gender neutral black cover and a pink cover for the ladies because all we were to planner marketers at the time were a default color. There were never major differences between the black and pink planners, but marketers at the time knew that women were interested more in style so they made a version of their planner just for us to meet our needs; pink was apparently the need of women.
If you think things have gotten much better for women in the planner world, look again. Yea, now we have more options than pink or black, we now have identical planners updated with more feminine font selections (less business formal, more fun and script fonts) and instead of just a pink cover, we now have many many stylized cover options intended to speak directly to the personal identity of all the different types of women. Such styles of women include; The Boss, Girly, Cat Lady, Fashion Icon, Boho, Unicorn, Brainy, Goal Digger, Tom-boy, Foodie, Kawaii, Sleepy, llama and Mom! If you think I’m being overdramatic about this, I’m not- take a trip over to Michael’s Arts & Crafts and you can view on one shelf planner covers that speak to each of these caricatures of women and more- they discover and add new styles of women everyday!
Again, when you open these different planner “options” you quickly find that everything is the same, or variations on the same few styles of planners. Month on two pages, week on two pages, contacts and notes. Month on two pages, day on one page, and less notes. The options across many different planners and across many different brands boil down to styles that result in one of two major planning and productivity issues. Either they are too basic in terms of what they give you, so if you aren’t a seasoned planner or naturally highly organized your plans become a mess that lack focus (monthly, weekly). Or they are too focused on the daily planning aspect which reinforces the trope of busy = productive and prevents the user from getting a big picture view of their lives and results (monthly, daily). So, essentially, the vast majority of planners out on the market are glorified overpriced calendars! Dated or undated, all these “planners” give you are spaces to write in what you are doing on which day. No true space to make your plan, just enough space to write down the tasks, appointments and meals that fill your days. No wonder so many within the planner community switch from planner to planner looking for a system that works for them- they are simply switching from one version of the same to another!
The Charmed Life Master Planner Breaks the Mold
The Master Planner isn’t like any other planner on the market because it’s not just a calendar. The Master Planner is intentionally designed to be a Functional Planning System and incorporates scientifically researched productivity principles to ensure you are keeping organized, getting that big picture view to track the direction of your efforts, but also giving you the flexibility to drill down to your day to find focus on the task at hand. The Master Planner isn’t just a planner, it’s a productivity tool that when you commit to using it, will help you learn to plan better, manage your time more efficiently and achieve more of what truly matters to you.
Within the planner you actually have three productivity tools in one as the planner is broken into three distinct planning sections. The first section is the calendar, which is ostensibly what you are purchasing when you buy most of the other planner options on the market, but with the inclusion of dedicated space for monthly task lists and tracking in line with well researched best practices for productivity!
Next, you have a dedicated yearly project planning section which is the second tool within the Master Planner. Within this section you have the space to truly map out your objectives and goals for the year and to track them so you always know where you and can actually see the results of your progress at a glance inside your planner.
The third and final section and planning tool is the Brilliant Ideas spreads. In this section of the planner you have the dedicated space to clear you mind of ideas, thoughts and plans to organize and act on them, and you have the ability to brainstorm new plans and ideas before you schedule them into your calendar. Imagine that, a planner that gives you the space to plan what you are going to do and capture all your ideas so that you are doing your best work before you schedule those individual tasks into your calendar! Truly, in soo many ways the Charmed Life Master Planner is head and shoulders above other planners and is unrivaled in it’s ability to help you focus on and improve your productivity!
I created the Master Planner because other “planners” on the market were not only failing to improve people’s productivity but they were also sending women the wrong message about their productivity. The message sent to women by most planners is that busy = productive and that the measure of your value as a woman, wife, mother, student, daughter and friend boils down to how many things you can check off a to do list in a day. I’m continuously alarmed by the number of women within my community who come to me asking me which of my products, classes or courses will help them complete a full days worth of work in just an hour or a weeks worth of tasks in a day. Of course the answer to this question is none of them will. Instead what my products, classes and courses strive to do is to give you strategy, intention and clarity to get into alignment so that you know what tasks are truly going to move the needle in your life towards the goals you want to achieve. No one can accomplish 40 hours worth of tasks in just 8 hours, but through strategy and focus you can certainly achieve the most impactful results of 40 hours of work within a single work day. But this idea that we need to check off all the tasks, do all the things and be all the things to everyone in our life as women is a detrimental state encouraged by society and perpetuated by the planner market that leaves women with a blank calendar spread and no direction or indication that she should not strive to fill up each empty space. If the point of a planner is so I don’t forget another mundane and uninspiring task that truly won’t impact my life one way or another, then I need a planner like I need a hole in my head. No, thank you!
Stop using a planner that makes you a slave to your schedule or endless to do list. Start using a planner that works with you towards the goals and dreams you want to achieve, because to me, that’s the point of having a planner and a worthy reason for prioritizing it’s use everyday! People often ask me how I remember to stick to using my planner, and honestly, if your planner was filled with the goals and objectives that light you up with passion and excitement for your life, you wouldn’t be able to forget about it!
If you’re ready for a better way of planning, get your Charmed Life Master Planner now and start seeing the difference in your days, weeks, month and year because I have seen the impact in my life and the lives of many within my community and I know you will too!
Wishing you the best for a Productive Week & Life!
While I was creating the content for the CharmedGTD Productivity Bootcamp last month, I stumbled upon a question about productivity that seemed to really resonate with those participating in the challenge. How do we know when done is better than perfect? It was something I discussed as part of one of the prompts, to Choose 5 Projects to Focus on for the Week. The premise of the prompt was that sometimes, overachievers such as myself who like to be super productive, will say they limit their focus on projects to just five, but then ultimately schedule more than that into their week. Thus, creating a situation where we don’t have focus, our attention is everywhere, and even though someone like myself who may do this sort of thing regularly might be able to complete all the work, it raises the question of if we are doing our best work?
Those of you who have been following me for a while know I am all about the line “done is better than perfect.” You could say it happens to be my personal productivity motto. For me, it addresses the essential truth that perfect as a standard doesn’t exist and those who keep striving for this standard are often allowing fear to rule their actions by putting off finishing a project or handing in work or releasing a creating into the world because it doesn’t meet the standard of perfect. The connection between fear and perfectionism often holds people back from moving on to the next thing and enjoying the fruits of their labor, which is why my general opinion of perfectionism is that it’s a lie that fear tells us to prevent us from success. It’s a way of self-sabotaging our work and productivity so we never have to face the criticism that ultimately comes when people are doing any sort of work really. Truth is, even the most beloved and celebrated work throughout history has received heavy criticism, you can’t please everyone, so why try?
But, I also have come to an equally problematic realization about the concept of done is better than perfect, that hits close to home for me. What if we use this concept to continue to move on to the next thing and the next thing as a means of never having to go too deep or put in too much effort into our work? It’s almost like the flip side of perfectionism, a defense mechanism against criticism that keeps some people, myself included, putting in as little effort as possible so that we can create a higher output, but at a lesser quality than we would achieve if we slowed down and created a little less but created it a little better. I definitely recall situations when I used my done is better than perfect mentality as an excuse to move on from a project without having to put extra effort into it, perhaps now I can see it was a defense mechanism I created to shield me from criticism. After all, I know criticism is inevitable, so if it comes, what better defense can I provide myself then “well, you may be right about what this is lacking, but I did all this in only a week/month, I’d like to see you do better!” It’s hard to argue with a statement like that. Yes, it’s not perfect, but how could you expect it to be in such a short time. I have to admit, I know I’ve used this anti-perfectionism stance as an excuse before, if not to others but mostly to myself, but why?
Well, again, I think this comes down to the vulnerability that comes from creating and putting out work over and over and over again that specifically goes out to the public eye, and wanting a defense mechanism to protect from criticism. For a very long time, I’ve operated under the personal belief that my lazy effort was better than most people’s “perfect.” This belief originated in college when I would very often write a paper in about two hours that received an A (I called this my two hour term paper) while my classmates would toil for days writing a paper that resulted in a C. I know that I’m a good writer/communicator/teacher so when it comes to any project that involves these strengths, I’ve essentially brainwashed myself into believing that I can get away with handing in my lazy effort because it’s worked for me for so long. Even this post I am writing right now, I am nearly 800 words into this and I started writing maybe 15 minutes ago. I have had to edit very little and so far I am very pleased with the flow of this so, guess what? Once I’m done writing, I am going to slap a photo on this and post it without thinking too much about it so I can go about my day and move on to the next thing I need to do! Maybe this sort of done is better than perfect attitude is acceptable for my free content, and maybe it works for some of my paid content too, but where do I draw the line? How do I know when done is better than perfect or if done a little better, or a little slower, or a little more is actually the standard to hit?
How to know when done is better than perfect?
Okay, so I hope we can all agree at this point that the standard of perfect doesn’t actually exist. Perfect is too vague, too non-specific, too immeasurable to base the vast majority of our work off of. That being said, I do think there are things in life that do deserve for us to reach towards an ideal of perfection, but since this isn’t a measurable objective, our standard of perfect will ultimately only be met once we have the feeling that our work is finally ready! Since there are truly no actionable tips I can share with you on how to reach that state of feeling like your work is ready, let me focus today on sharing some important questions you might want to ask yourself to double check your work to see if it’s ready for the world or if you should do a little more work on it.
How important is this work?
When thinking about whether you’re ready to finish a project and move on to the next thing or to release said project to its audience, think first about how important the project is to you and to your audience. Let’s take this post for example, I’ve already explained that this wasn’t much work at all for me to write and that I know I won’t be putting very much time and effort into this after I’m done writing, and that is because this one single post isn’t incredibly important to me. I didn’t have to write it, it was an idea I had that I wanted to share but I don’t have anything specifically important I am trying to achieve with this other than simply sharing an idea and hopefully inspiring my audience to think about this and apply it in their lives. Now, if this post were part of some content marketing I was doing, meaning it’s part of a marketing campaign for my business, well then I would probably take a little more time with it making sure it was as well thought out as I could make it. And if this post were not a post and where instead a sales page for a product, well then, you’d bet more planning and strategy would go into the time I was spending working on it. So, when it comes to whatever you are working on, before marking it complete and handing it in, determine how important the work is to you and to the audience you are creating it for. If your working on a report you send out on a weekly basis with updated sales figures for your team, yea that’s probably important to the people who get it, but you do it every week so it’s probably more important that the numbers in the report be right as opposed to you getting fancy with graphics and extra language or analysis since the life of the work is only about 7 days. If the report is meant to be shared at an annual operating meeting for your entire company, well then by all means spend some extra time on the quality of your analysis and graphics because this is a one time event you are preparing for.
When is this work due and how flexible is the due date?
The next thing to think about when it comes to whether done is better than perfect in your work is the due date for the project. If you are done a project today that is due next month, well then you have some time to think about it and adjust. If your project is due tomorrow, there is only so much you can do in that time. If you have flexibility with your due date, meaning you can ask for more time because perhaps you feel like you really want to do the extra work, then ask for it. I don’t think there is anything wrong with pushing out a due date in order to get a better product if you just aren’t happy with it!
Who is going to see this and what investment was required?
I’ve mentioned a few times already the concept of the audience for your work, this is essentially the person or people who will see it and I’d say one of the most difficult things to determine when we are doing our work is guessing at the expectations of that audience so you can please them. In some cases, you can actually talk to your audience and find out what they expect so you can tailor your work to those expectations, but if you can’t, it’s up to you to use what you know about them to determine the standards. Another thing to keep in mind about your audience is the investment they have made into the work you’re producing. So, again using the example of this blog post, no one had to pay to read this, it’s freely available. If this were an article or content in one of my products however, then I need to evaluate my work in terms of pleasing my paying customers who’s expectations I want to meet and exceed with this content so that they find value in it and are willing to purchase again in the future. If you are doing a project for work, clearly you are being paid for your work, so there is a level of professionalism and standards your workplace may have, and if you are working on a project that might go out to a client or customer of your job, again, consider their investment or their potential investment in your company if their expectations are met or exceeded with your project.
Can you beta-test this with your audience before releasing it?
Something I try to do as often as possible is to beta-test my products with my audience, meaning that I will get volunteers from my community to try out a class or course before I release it publicly. That way I can make important changes before it is seen my a wider audience and I am actually able to consult with individuals who belong to the audience I am trying to please. Even if you are not running a business as I am and creating products for sale, this is still a concept you can likely use in your own life. When I was in college, something I neglected to explain to you about those two hour term papers was that I would very often write those papers a week or so before the due date and then hand them in as a first draft to my professor to review. They would gladly accept my paper early, would read through it in a day or so and return it to me with their corrections and input to make the paper better according to their expectations. So, once I had those corrections all I needed to do was spend a little time making the changes they gave me and then hand the paper back in on time for that A! Seriously, this process gave new meaning to the term easy A! It’s not just with business and school that this can be applied, you can likely also do this with certain work at your job- in fact, I bet for important projects your boss may even already schedule in time to meet with you to review your work which might seem daunting except for the fact that this actually makes your job easier because you can put less effort into the first draft than you might think, and then put in more effort once the project has been reviewed. This isn’t about getting out of doing work, but this is about knowing when to put in the most work, and for me, I have found that once you have your audience’ input, then you can do the bulk of the important work instead of doing a lot of work ahead of time before you know what they want and how they will react to what you’ve produced.
Could this work be changed or upgraded in the future?
The final question I always ask myself when I am working on a project is how permanent the results of this work really are, if I put out a post with a spelling error in it, is this permanent or can I change it? If I release a planner insert with a spread I’m not 100% thrilled with, can it be changed and released later? For much of my work the answer does tend to be yes, and I do spend a good amount of time taking feedback from my audience and upgrading or updating products in a stream of new iterations in order to bring the end result as close to perfect as possible over time. A great example of this from my business would be my Charmed Life Master Planner inserts. When I first released that insert pack back in the summer of 2015 I was pleased with it, I knew it worked and had value as it was, but I still wasn’t sure about a few pieces in the design. Year over year I have been taking the feedback from my community and those who purchase the planner to tweak the design. Again, because perfect isn’t a measurable objective, some people may have seen my first iteration of inserts and thought it was amazing, even if I felt like there was more potential. But, if I had no released those inserts as is back in 2015 and then every year since, I would likely not have refined the design to the place it is today, which I am so very pleased with! So think about your projects and what you are working on and if you can release it now with the intention in your mind to learn, adjust and refine as you go along!
So, I’m looking at the clock, it’s been an hour and ten minutes since I started writing this post and I have just hit the 2,600 word mark, so I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say on this topic. I hope this internal commentary on this post hasn’t turned you off, you know I don’t usually add these sorts of details, but for the topic of this post I thought it would be helpful for you to see in real time (sort of) what my unedited process for writing an article is like. If you have thoughts you’d like to share on this, please do leave me a comment below so we can discuss and I’d love for you to share more personal insight into how you determine whether your work is done and perfect or not! Thanks for stopping by and spending a piece of your day with me, I do hope it was inspiring and enlightening for you!
This past Saturday I hosted the most AMAZING live planning class called THE PRODUCTIVITY EDIT! I really believe this may have been one of my absolute best live classes! Not only did I share some really great information to put your planning into perspective, but I also heard from so many of you that the content and energy of the class was very inspirational in helping you to step into the role of Editor-in-chief of your life, energy and time!
Those of you who have followed me for some time may remember that I am a great lover of magazines and each September I go out and get the “September Issues” of fashion magazines as an annual tradition to help feed my creativity. September is considered the New Year’s of the fashion world and so the very best and most up-and-coming content, design, photography and style is integrated into these key issues. It was with this inspiration in mind that I walk you through the very creative and original content of the class to help you think outside the box at how you can approach your planning and productivity this season!
So, the content of the nearly 3 hour class was definitely on point! And to add some extra icing on the cake, we also walked through some POWERFUL activities for getting focused on curating the next season of our year intentionally!
Those activities came in the form of guided worksheets from the workbook that accompanies the class, called THE PRODUCTIVITY EDITWorkbook. This valuable workbook is a must for anyone who wants to get the most out of the activities and planning strategies we walked through in the class.
THE PRODUCTIVITY EDITWorkbook is a 46 page PDF workbook that you can get in my shop, print out and use to creatively curate and plan the next quarter or season of your life!
• Do you struggle with traditional planning because you consider yourself more visual or creatively focused?
• Do you have goals or a vision for the direction of your life that you struggle to prioritize alongside life’s more urgent tasks?
• Do you find that you have different priorities or objectivess to manage through different seasons of your year?
• Could you benefit from a streamlined process for planning on a seasonal basis that can then be used in conjunction with any planner or time management system?
THE PRODUCTIVITY EDITWorkbook is a Seasonal Planning Guide for Curating & Editing Your Life that walks you through the 5 activities we performed within the class that follow along with the concept of stepping into the role of Editor-In-Chief of your life.
THE PRODUCTIVITY EDITWorkbook will help you:
✔︎ Learn to approach each new season of your year with a fresh vision and inspiration for the life you are intentionally curating!
✔︎ Align they key people in your life with your objectives and expectations to get the support you need to bring your goals to fruition.
✔︎ Set clear intentions for what you will achieve each season and use passive manifestation techniques to help you find the solutions, people, and resources you need along the way.
✔︎ Edit down your objectives into manageable plans that you can easily track and accomplish.
✔︎ Turn the everyday tasks and expectations of daily life into a streamlined plan with clear responsibilities and defined schedules.
So, what are you waiting for?
Check out the FREE class and get your copy of THE PRODUCTIVITY EDITWorkbook because this new approach to planning might be exactly what you need to blend inspiration with action for a successful season ahead!
I can’t wait to see what you accomplish with the help of the workbook, so please do keep in touch and share the progress you make designing your personal magazine for the season!
The Charmed Life Master Planner is a 12 month planner designed by Productivity Guru Alexis Giostra to help you Manifest Success with Less Stress! Plan your month, organize your tasks for the week, manage your projects for the year and work out all your brilliant ideas with this unique all-in-one planning solution!
What’s Inside | The 12 Spacious and Intentionally Designed Planning Spreads Backed by Research and Time Management Science to help you Plan, Organize & Execute:
DESIGNED FOR FUNCTIONAL PLANNING: This planner is designed to be a powerful analog tool to help you identify your priorities, manage your time and complete your tasks with three divided sections for your calendar, projects and ideas!
MORE THAN JUST A TO DO LIST: The purpose of planning and productivity is NOT to fill your days with endless tasks and meetings getting done more work in the same amount of time. Instead it’s about breaking down your thoughts and ideas into manageable plans that you can focus on to create the life you want to live. The Charmed Life Master Planner gives you ample space to explore your ideas, create your plan of action and then FOCUS on the tasks that will truly impact your life and bring value to your day.
ONE LIFE. ONE YEAR. ONE MASTER PLAN: Alexis firmly believes that you don’t need multiple planners, schedulers and notebooks to organize your life- just one single book dedicated to creating your master plan for your year! The Charmed Life Master Planner has been designed to be a single book solution for all of your planning needs.
JOIN & LEARN WITH OUR COMMUNITY: Your productivity and planning journey doesn’t need to end with the purchase of The Charmed Life Master Planner. Join Alexis on her blog Strange & Charmed, her YouTube Channel, and on Instagram to learn more about how to use your planner and different productivity philosophies! Alexis has also designed other great productivity and planning resources to educate and enhance your daily experience that you can purchase on TheCharmedShop.com!
Let’s take a look into the planner and all of the Functional Planning Spreads!
The Charmed Life Master Planner begins with a series of 5 Functional Planning worksheets for you to learn the basics of the Functional Planning Philosophy and then the planner moves into a series of 12 unique functional spreads to help you find clarity, organize your ideas and take action on your plans.
Plan out blocks of time for work, vacations, holidays and travel, or track reoccurring events with the yearlyTRACKER.
Create a more in depth planning overview for your year including school, work, or family schedules with the help of the four page yearlyOVERVIEW.
Map out your monthly schedule and 3 priorities for each week on the monthlyPLAN.
List out your master monthlyTASKS and create a personalized tracker perfect for expenses, habits, or additional task tracking with the monthlyTRACKER.
Create your daily plans, block of time and your top 3 tasks in the weeklyPLAN. (A5/Half Letter weeklyPLAN spread shown here, see alternate digital layouts below).
Map out your goals and projects for the year on the Yearly Project Tracker!
Codify your projectPLANs and Project Notes so everything is in one place for you to get organized and take action!
Get your ideas and plans out of your head and on to paper so you can prioritize them with the brainDUMP spread!
Generate your brilliant ideas and the rouge outlines of projects with the brainSTORM spread.
Keep additional information and notes stored in your planner in these lined takeNOTE pages.
Keep track of the contents of your planner thanks to the numbered pages and these Index sheets.
Next, choose the Master Planner format that is right for you!
The Charmed Life Master Planner comes in two formats, book bound and printable PDF.
The Bound Master Planner
If you are looking for a compact all-in-one planner, the bound format of The Charmed Life Master Planner is for you. You can choose between the Matte Black Undated Bound version of the planner, or the 2020 Dated Bound version with a color blocked Matte Marble cover.
Both of these bound versions are half letter dimensions (5.5″ x 8.5”) and only 1” thick making them very compact and lightweight options you can carry with you in most bags. The paper is approximately 26lb or 90gsm in weight and 98 bright white in color, which makes it excellent to use with a variety of pens, inks and highlighters with minimum bleed and ghosting.
This binding and size was specifically chosen for a number of reasons to make The Charmed Life Master Planner as functional and flexible a tool as possible. The soft cover book binding makes the planner a discreet and portable tool that you can confidently carry along with you in even the most professional of settings to keep all your plans and ideas organized together. The planner is sized to fit comfortably into a variety of everyday handbags or briefcases. The universal half letter size also accommodates a variety of notebook or compendium style covers available on the market for added protection and functionality as desired.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The minimalistic matte cover was designed specifically to make this planner timeless and elegant. You will find no external branding of the creator on the cover because this is your planner not a billboard for a personal brand. In order to minimize the look of fingerprints a matte cover was chosen over glossy, however oils from your hands will still accumulate on the cover and to clean these, all you need is a simple wet wipe. Keep in mind, this is a paper planner, so you don’t want to use anything too wet that might damage pages, but the careful and controlled use of a wipe or moist towelette followed by a dry microfiber cloth is sufficient to remove any visible oil spots without damaging the cover.
The Bound Charmed Life Master Planner is proudly printed and shipped from the United States.
Why a book bound format?
When I first began the project of creating this planner I had three non-negotiable values that I committed myself to.
Price, Aesthetic and Accessibility.
I had a specific price point that I wanted to stick to for the retail of this planner. I know there are many planners on the market that retail from as low as $1 to as high as $100+ but I had an idea in my mind for where I wanted my planner to be priced in the mix.
I also had a specific aesthetic I wanted to stick to. I knew I wanted the planner to be as streamlined and universal as possible, something that anyone could carry into any meeting discreetly, could pull out of a bag and take notes in comfortably without feeling out of place or self-conscious and was inconspicuous enough to just sit out on a desk without feeling like it was drawing unnecessary attention.
Finally, I wanted this planner to be as accessible as possible for my community, just as easy to access as my print on demand planners and tools sold within my digital shop. I personally hate to wait for things, I know patience is a virtue but when it comes to planners, I don’t want to wait for a pre-order of a product, and then wait for that period to be over and then wait some more for my product to be manufactured before it even ships out to me. Let’s not even get into how annoying it can be to want to order something and this it’s out of stock! I have been down that road before with products I wanted and it is not an experience I want to give my community. I want people to be able to see my planner, be able to order it as soon as they decide they want it, and then receive it within a reasonable period of time.
So, as I was evaluating options for binding and design for this planner with those three key values in my head, it became clear to me that the best way to achieve what I set out to do was with a book bound planner. But this wasn’t a situation where I was settling on the binding either, I am very thrilled that my planner is a bound book. I know in recent years you have seen me with ring or discbound planners, but before I formally joined the planner community, I used a softcover moleskine as my planner and I loved it. There is a part of my sentimental heart that romanticizes books on a level like none other and so for me personally, I am in love with the concept of a soft cover book bound planner. It comes with so many positives to me that it outweighs those few negatives that I know you all want me to address, so let’s talk about it!
Let’s start with the few negatives of a book binding as I see it!
1st NO SPIRAL. Yep, this is the one major negative of a book, it doesn’t spiral BUT let me remind you that a soft cover book CAN flip pages over on themselves and with no coil, spiral or rings or discs to content with, it’s actually a very comfortable experience writing in this planner whether you are left or right handed on either side of the spread!
2nd This actually leads in perfectly to the next drawback of a book bound planner, which is that it doesn’t lay flat on your desk. That’s true, this isn’t like a binder or spiral style planner that lays flat, however, again, you can keep a book bound planner open by flipping pages back and as any avid reader knows, you CAN train a book to lay open by breaking in the spine which is doable with this planner. Another easy solution for this would be to use a paper weight to keep your planner open OR to put it in a book stand. So there are some easy solutions to this problem as well!
3rd and final obstacle of a book bound planner is no reordering or personalization of pages. This is an issue any bound planner would face of course but we have found hacks around that in spiral bound planners haven’t we? Well, we don’t have many clever hacks for book bound planners yet but, remember, you can always add to a book bound planner with sticky notes, paper clips and loose sheets of paper, but there is one thing you still can’t do with a book bound planner: reorganize pages!! This is why The Charmed Life Master Planner comes with an index in the back and numbered pages. For those who are familiar with the bullet journal method you will be familiar with the concept of using an index to help you organize your book and quickly find and reference information.
So those are the three obstacles I see with a book binding, but we all know its not just book bound planners that have obstacles, no planner binding is a perfect solution, it’s just about finding the planner and binding that has the issues you are willing to deal with and the benefits you are looking for!
So, let’s talk about some of the benefits of a book bound planner and why I am so thrilled about The Charmed Life Master Planner.
1st It’s securely bound with your entire year and all your plans, projects and ideas in one place! Yes, I LOVE planners that you can customize and add and remove pages, but that’s only because in most customizable systems you need to constantly adjust and allocate space because they can’t hold everything you need. Well, The Charmed Life Master Planner is everything I will need in a year for managing my time, planning my projects and coming up with ideas! So there is nothing I need to add to this because, I have everything in one place!
2nd NO bulky cover or binding! So this is something you are going to have to see to really understand how excited I am about this binding. When I compare The Charmed Life Master Planner with the discbound planning system I was using before, it’s clear which option I would prefer to tote around. The discbound system is much bulkier! I cannot fit my discbound planner in my everyday handbag, BUT I can fit The Charmed Life Master Planner comfortably! Now, it’s important to note that the pages within each planner are the exact same, half letter sized 26lb paper, and yet I can only fit half a year of inserts, and a smaller project planning and notes section in my discbound. Again, The Charmed Life Master Planner is the full year and enough project plans, brainstorm and notes sheets for a year of ideas. Even if I were to switch this leather cover with a thin plastic option, the discbound is still bulkier and contains only half a year of inserts at one time.
3rd It’s sophisticated yet discreet! Can you think of anything more discreet and unassuming than a book? You can literally take a book with you anywhere you go and it draws almost no attention to itself. It’s not a cell phone or tablet that might need to be turned off or handed over in delicate situations. It’s not a leather planner that might be mistaken for a wallet and stolen. It fits seamlessly into nearly any work situation or life scenario without screaming “look at me- there is private information in here!” I love that this planner is so versatile, portable, gender neutral and yet elegant and sophisticated all at the same time.
The Printable PDF Master Planner
The Charmed Life Master Planner is also available in a Printable PDF option as well, for those who prefer the flexibility and personalization of printing and organizing their own customized system.
The printable PDF option comes bundled with 3 sizes of the Master Planner optimized for the various sizes of popular planner binders on the market and includes a full year of dated inserts.
Those sizes are Personal, A5/Half Letter and A4/Letter.
Other than their size, each PDF version of the Master Planner is nearly identical, except that they each have a unique weeklyPLAN spread design in order to optimize daily and weekly planning across the various sizes.
Above is the weeklyPLAN spread found in the A5/Half Letter Size.
Above is the weeklyPLAN found in the Personal size.
And, finally, above is the weeklyPLAN found in the A4/Letter size.
So, those are all of the current options for The Charmed Life Master Planner! I think you can tell for yourself that this isn’t your run of the mill paper calendar, but truly a complete functional planning system with the dedicated space and spreads to ensure you are making, organizing and executing on plans productively!
While other planners might be known for their variety of cover designs or the use of specialty materials that can leave the end user paying premium prices for ink and paper, The Charmed Life Master Planner has been intentionally designed through years of research to reflect the latest understanding of productivity science. Your planner should be more than a pretty accessory! It’s a tool that when designed properly and used regularly has the power to help you reach your goals and manifest your dream life into reality.
Want to see the planner in action? Check out this video for a quick review on the planner spreads and how to use each as part of my Functional Planning System!
What people are saying about The Charmed Life Master Planner!
“I use the Master Planner every day, it seriously has been an essential tool to help me go from feeling completely overwhelmed to feeling in control of my life. The plan and prep section in particular, I am shocked to find, I love the most.
Initially when I got the planner, I had no idea what I would do with that section. About a week or so ago, I was feeling overwhelmed and decided I needed to dissect the various components of my life that was making me feel this way. I made each box a component (e.g. work, wellness, personal goals etc.). I was shocked to find that I had three boxes dedicated to my work, and my personal goals that I needed to achieve (e.g. getting into grad school) was far too low on my priority list, based on how I was living my day to day life. That exercise alone really helped me to see how I needed to change the way I organized my life on a daily basis.
I am happy to say only one box stands for work now, and I have a lot more boxes dedicated to my long-term goals. I now try to make sure my work stays within work hours and not weekends. I’m a recovering workaholic, is what I’m trying to say! I also have an hour carved out every day to work on things like grad school applications. And in this short time, I have completely re-vamped my CV, gathered all of the pieces I need for the application. The last step is to write the cover letter, and I’m done! All within about a 10 day span. Plus I had a glorious weekend where all I did was relax.” – Sam R
How would YOU like to transform from overwhelmed to in-control? Sounds amazing! Let’s hear from another Master Planner user…
“Good morning, Alexis—
I simply want to take a moment to thank you. I have noticed a significant change in my mental health and overall attitude towards productivity since following you and your advice the past few years. Since April, my CLMP has served me well– even through the birth of my first child! Undoubtedly, my time for prioritization has arrived. Accepting the fact that I can NOT get 100+ or even 6 things done in a day has brought me a certain peace. (Top 3: tasks, not projects!)
My “projects” range from apartment upgrades, to maintenance for the commercial building that I help manage, to hosting large familial celebrations… I could not have remained SO organized without your thoughtful outlines! While I often resort to post-its and random lists for my brain dumps, the CLMP has become a safe nest for all of my plans. I will soon apply for graduation (A.A.S.) and begin work for my Master’s. Required courses, advising appointments, assignments, even thank-you notes for my professors!.. ALL managed with my planner. ♡ Not to mention my newborn’s doctor visits, my work schedule, etc.
I almost can’t wait to repurchase the planner… but I still have pages to fill! 🙂 Please know that you are greatly appreciated, Miss Trenchcoat. So many of us find inspiration and empowerment with your tools and shared wisdom!” – Jenalysa from TX
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.
If you struggle with planning, time management or organization and want to finally get your life together for a productive and successful year, the 2020 Master Planner Bundle will help you reach your objectives!
This is NOT JUST A PLANNER! The Master Planner is a complete Functional Planning System intentionally designed to incorporate multiple scientifically proven planning, time management and personal organization strategies into one print on demand tool!
Do any of these questions feel familiar to you?
• Do you have a hard time sticking to using a planner, or find yourself switching from planner to planner looking for a system that works for you?
• Do you write things down in your planner but then still forget to execute on them?
• Do you take on so much at work and with your family that your personal tasks and goals constantly get pushed off to another day?
• Do you have a lot of different priorities and projects you are working on constantly and feel like it’s a struggle to make a solid plan that gives you peace of mind?
These are just a handful of the most common planning and productivity issues that the Master Planner was designed to solve.
Overcome overwhelm, streamline a scattered brain, and finally find focus to get out of your own way and get things done with the Master Planner!
The Master Planner Bundle comes with ALL 3 sizes of the Charmed Life Master Planner:
• Personal: Designed at 3.75″ x 6.75″.
• A5/Half Letter: Designed at 5.5″ x 8.5″ but can be printed properly onto A4 paper and cut in half to true A5 dimensions.
• A4/Letter: Designed at 8.5″ x 11″ but can be printed properly onto A4 paper as well.
Each Master Planner includes 12 unique planning spreads dated for 2020 (image gallery above)!
• Yearly Calendar
• Yearly Tracker
• Yearly Overview
• Monthly Plans
• Monthly Tasks & Tracker
• Weekly Plans
• Yearly Project Tracker
• Project Plans
• Brain Dump
• Brainstorm
• Notes
• Index
Please note that 11 out of the 12 spreads are the same across all three sizes of the printable PDF planner, but each size has their own unique layout for the Weekly Plan. All three are week on 2 pages, but optimized for each planner size, as you can see in the image gallery.
• The Personal Size Weekly Plan is a vertical week on two pages with 2 days sharing each column.
• The A5/Half Letter Size Weekly Plan is a vertical week on two pages with only the weekend sharing one column.
• The A4/ Letter Size Weekly Plan is a unique two page spread with one page dedicated to tasks and one page dedicated to a customizable scheduler, market list and meal planner!
With your purchase of the Master Planner Printable Bundle you will receive the following PDF files:
Refill pages have no pagination so you can add to your planner as needed!
These inserts are all print-on-demand PDF files for use at home or feel free to bring them to your favorite office supply store to have them professionally printed! Although these inserts will print on standard printer/copier paper, for best printing results, I highly recommend using 98 bright 28-32lb paper.
Refund Policy: Due to the nature of these items as digital downloads, no refunds will be accepted, so please make sure to check all images and read through descriptions carefully 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 within the year they are dated for and may not be copied, shared, distributed, resold or reused outside of the dated time frame.
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!
Today I want to share with you another of my most productive habits that saves me time, energy, money you name it!
Meal planning!
I’ve had many requests to do a dedicated video on this topic, so I am going to share with you all my thoughts and strategies for mastering this essential habit.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW!
In the video, I explain:
• What meal planning is!
• My process and strategy for meal planning & prep
• Answer FAQ’s about meal planning- Lots of tips & gems you might be curious about
• The EXACT tool I use to help me stay on track and create a regular habit of meal planning & prep- THE MASTER MEAL PLANNER!
Earlier today on Instagram (make sure you are following me @MissTrenchcoat!) I shared that on Friday I dedicate the day to what I like to call my C.E.O. Strategy Day. It stands for Creative Entrepreneur Optimization- and it’s a day where I perform tasks that align me to my highest self.
Although I consider this specific concept of my own design, it was inspired by the concept of the Artist’s Date from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. Essentially an Artist’s Date is when a creative takes themselves out for a date with their own creativity. They spend the day indulging their passions and refilling their creative energy and drive.
Now, although I absolutely consider myself a creative and something of an artist, I had a hard time executing the Artist’s Date the way Cameron described. I liked the idea of having a date with myself where I filled my own creative cup, but the activities she described just didn’t do it for me because they were very much focused on the outside world and I’m much more focused on cultivating my inner world. I’m definitely someone who believes that to expand, we must go inside ourselves and cultivate a specific mindset and energy for manifesting creativity and our dream life- so I adjusted her concept to align with my own priorities.
For me, a C.E.O Strategy Day can be spent on any activities I feel need dedicated time, but aren’t always prioritized during the week. I have three categories of activities I focus on- all of which are intended to help me manifest into the physical world my thoughts, desires and goals. The categories are physical, mental, and daily life, but because I have to give everything a really fun, high vibe name, we’re gonna call these categories Self Care, Gold Mind, and Life Style!
I think Self Care is probably the easiest category for everyone to understand. Tasks related to self care would literally be anything that helps me bring my physical body into alignment with my highest concept of myself. So tasks include essential hygiene, skincare, massage, exercise, and even daily fashion and beauty. Yes, even on my day off I wake up and do some level of hair, makeup and outfit because my highest self shows up for my life every single day!
Next, let’s talk about Gold Mind, I just love that phrase, don’t you? So this category is all about tasks that help me to expand my mind and consciousness so that I can increase my capacity and influence my neural net. If you want to change your life you literally need to change your mind through mental alchemy. I want my mind to transmute my thoughts and ideas into pure gold. So, I regularly attend to my mind by consistently feeding it new ideas and experiences. I may meditate, astral travel, practice remote viewing, read a book, chant a mantra, learn a skill, perform necessary research for my business, or even just listen to music to adjust my vibration. Anything that I know changes my mind will change what I manifest in my life.
Finally, we come to Life Style! Now, you might think that this category doesn’t seem to fit in the vibe of the C.E.O. Strategy Day but it is soo necessary. Life gets busy, little daily life tasks fall through the cracks all week long, and part of me embodying my best life is making sure all the details of my life are attended too. On top of that, I know there are little things we can do to organize our lives, homes, businesses, etc, to help things move smoothly in the future. So I make sure to constantly upgrade areas of my life that are falling behind and make sure every detail of my world is in line with my dream life. So, tasks that fall into this category might be shopping, returns, reviewing financials, sending cards or gifts, touching base with important contacts, cleaning and organizing. Whatever details of life that aren’t attended to during the course of a week, I take time to make sure nothing important in my life slips through the cracks.
Okay, so now that I’ve explained my C.E.O. Strategy Day concept, I have a little gift for you to use if you want to execute on this concept as well! Because the tasks of my C.E.O. Strategy Day always vary, I do like to make a plan of attack for what I’ll be tackling that day. I always list the tasks out in my planner, but to simplify this process for you, I’ve designed a little smartphone enabled graphic that you can keep and refer to when you are planning for your C.E.O Strategy Day! Each category of tasks are listed out and you have a space to write down up to 3 tasks to complete for each. Don’t overwhelm yourself with the list- make sure you are tackling things that you can complete and that you know will help you align to your best life and highest self. This concept is all about helping you raise your vibration by seeing and feeling the results in your physical life! This isn’t just another task list- for me, this is like the greatest thing I plan for all week because it’s focused on me becoming the best version of me and making my dreams a reality!
I hope this concept helps you to bring your goal and dreams to fruition as well! Make sure to let me know how it goes!
In today’s video I am going to teach you how to use instagram to promote your business in 2019! This class will teach you how the set up an instagram business account, how to use the key instagram posting options, and how to use your unique branded content to attract and grow a following on Instagram that converts to customers no matter what products or services you sell or promote online.
I hope this video and the FREE IG Content Planner help you to create and grow an amazing following for your business! Let me know how things are going for you and make sure to follow me on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat so we can talk more about it there!
Today I want to talk to you about what you will need to sacrifice in order to find success. We all know there are certain things that you will need to sacrifice if you want to reach your goals but you’d be surprised to find out these aren’t always what you expect.
First, let’s talk about what you won’t need to sacrifice, and sometimes these are the things you expect will have to go for you to reach a goal.
#1. You will NOT have to sacrifice other dreams or goals
It’s a mistake to think if you get one thing in life, you can’t get another. There is a logical timing to how you may want to approach each goal, but no path set in stone, so if you keep an open mind, it’s possible to reach two seemingly opposed goals at one time because the universe just works like that sometimes.
#2. You will NOT have to sacrifice relationships
You’ll have to become more intentional about your relationships for sure, but those who love and support you will always be there for you, especially while you go chasing goals, you just need to fill them in and they will become your greatest cheerleaders I’m sure!
Now, don’t be surprised if during this process, lower energy or toxic people in your life fall to the wayside. You’ll know who these fools are because they will be the ones NOT supporting you, or tempting you off your path. Let them go! I know it might require you setting boundaries, and it might pull at your heart strings but truly these people don’t deserve your energy. You should feel just about as bad letting them go as flushing shit down the toilet- and we all know we don’t think twice about that- for real!
“The higher we soar, the smaller we look to those who cannot fly” and as you elevate to a new level, anyone who is not also flying high with you is going to see you differently. Honestly, I can understand how it could be annoying for them always having to look up to see you- so just wish them well and move on, you will find other people at your level. It’s a whole new world up here!
#3. You will NOT have to sacrifice your self care
Now, again, people something think this is the first thing that needs to go if you want to be successful, but thats a mistake- in fact, this should be the first thing you up level on your way to success because you are going to need yourself to be in the best possible shape energetically to follow your goal to fruition.
What YOU ACTUALLY have to sacrifice for success
#1. Excuses
To be a successful person, you need solutions not excuses- you’ll need to turn into a professional problem solver for your life
#2. Bad habits
As you start focusing on your goals, your life will start naturally feeling more full, so bad habits will just slow you down. So identify them and get rid of them one by one!
#3. Indecision
A successful person gets that way by learning to make decisions and sticking to them. Not every decision will work out, but if you don’t make decisions, you aren’t moving and you aren’t getting any closer to your goal. Even if you make a “mistake” at least you are moving and I don’t know about you, but no matter if I make a left out my door or a right or head straight, I can still navigate myself back to the path. But if I sit at the doorstep, I’ll never go anywhere.
#4. Short term pleasures for long term results
You need to sacrifice immediate gratification for long term results. This is really the most important.
“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” Now, this doesn’t just apply to entrepreneurship, but success in general. You need to get focused and intentional now, and it will pay off in the long run.
You’ll have to sacrifice fun late night plans, so you can wake up rested and refreshed, because exhaustion leads to poor health which will cripple your success.
You’ll have to sacrifice your bad habits, so you can form productive routines that help you keep all the areas of your life in balance. It’s not success if you win in one area of your life just for the rest to go up in flames.
You’ll have to sacrifice how you spend money on yourself. Instead of buying yourself something fun or frivolous, you’ll need to invest your money into your goal.
You’ll have to sacrifice fear and excuses, because success happens in the now, not in the later!
You’ll have to sacrifice indecisiveness, because success is a choice that you must continue to choose over and over. To be successful you can’t defer the tough decisions, you need to make them, act and move on.
So that is what you actually have to sacrifice for success, and if you can do that, you can achieve anything you imagine.
I have a special little treat for you- a midweek video! I am trying to get back into the swing of posting my 2 weekly videos again and I recorded a work day in the life for you focused around my tasks as a Passive Income Entrepreneur. I hope you enjoy this video and learn a thing or two about the systems I build to support my business.
Follow me around as I show you my routine, walk you thru how I create passive income opt-ins and discuss some new products with you! If you are interested in build online passive income systems for your business, I welcome you to check out the blog post and download the FREE PDF Guide we created in this video to help you get started: http://bit.ly/freepassiveincomeguide
