Blog Smarter, Not Harder {FREE eBook & Blogging Quick Start Course}
Have you been thinking about starting a blog but aren’t sure if it’s the right platform for you, or how you will create a name for yourself in the highly competitive and saturated blogging market? Blogging is a excellent way to grow your brand online, but their are essential things you need to know if you want to ensure your effort yields influence!
After over 8 years of blogging, I’ve definitely learned a thing or two to help you start your blogging journey on successful footing! That’s why I have created this Blog Smarter, Not Harder FREE eBook and 10 Day Online Course. In Blog Smarter, Not Harder you will learn how and what you need to get a blog started, how to come up with interesting blog posts and digital content, and how to grow a readership and traffic to your blog!
They say if you control your habits, you control your life! So, I’ve been collecting and refining a list of actions or activities that I think are essential for us to master and turn into habits in our lives. They are broken down into ten major areas or categories of life that cover nearly every situation. I don’t expect anyone to turn all 100 into habits in life, certainly not every action applies to every person, but if you’re looking to improve your life in any of these ten areas, there will be a habit to master that I’m sure you don’t have down yet! I hope this inspires you to make little changes in your life that add up to big things!
Health
1. Drink half you weight in ounces of water (150lbs > 75oz)
2. Serve yourself slightly smaller portions at meal time
3. Take any opportunity to walk
4. Wash your hands after you finish in the bathroom
5. Meal Plan
6. Eat home cooked meals most of the week
7. Stretch in bed before you exit
8. Never skip your annual health exams
9. Brush your teeth everyday
10. Wear seasonally appropriate clothing
Relationships
11. Say please and thank you
12. Hold the door for strangers
13. Talk to members of your immediate family weekly and extended family regularly
14. Interact with your friends on social media
15. Send loved ones birthday cards in the mail
16. Send thank you cards for the gifts you receive
17. Set a regular date night with your significant other
18. Be the first to apologize and the first to forgive
19. Accept the fact that not everyone is going to like you
20. Kill ‘em with kindness
Personal Development
21. Create a simple morning routine
22. Create a simple evening routine
23. Spent time visualizing your goals while you are in the shower
24. Create your own personal empowerment Mantra
25. Spend at least one evening a week on self care
26. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier
27. Never go to bed before removing your makeup
28. Never go to bed before removing your jewelry
29. Say YES to experiences that scare you
30. Say NO to experiences that do not serve you
Spirituality
31. Spend time in quiet reflection daily
32. Accept your limitations
33. Surrender your sense of control
34. Have integrity in all that you do
35. Have grace with yourself and others
36. Seek to find the activities and people that light you up
37. Be generous with others
38. Let go of your ego
39. Ask for forgiveness
40. Always believe in the impossible
Productivity
41. Use a planner
42. Batch your work
43. Set your top 3 priorities each day
44. Silence your phone and notifications while you work
45. Write everything down
46. Get down to inbox zero on a weekly basis
47. Block out time for important tasks
48. Be clear on your priorities
49. Accept that you won’t always get everything done
50. Never be afraid to ask for help
Career
51. Find a mentor
52. Find someone to mentor
53. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have
54. Accept responsibility for your mistakes immediately
55. Take criticism with grace
56. Work hard even when your boss isn’t watching
57. Turn off from work when you get home
58. Volunteer for new opportunities and challenges
59. Make your voice heard in meetings
60. Always ask for what you’re worth
Hobbies
61. Read one book a month
62. Keep a journal
63. Cook for pleasure
64. Find a physical hobby
65. Plan one no-tech evening a week
66. Limit your screen time
67. Spend time outside in nature often
68. Keep a list of things you’d like to try in your free time
69. Explore your city
70. Spend more time creating than consuming
Organization
71. Make your bed as soon as you wake
72. Never let a wet towel touch the floor
73. Never let dishes sit in the sink
74. Keep money organized in your wallet
75. Clean out your bag at the end of the day
76. Establish a home care routine
77. Discard damaged clothing
78. Keep your contacts up to date
79. Discard and replace expired products
80. Don’t treat your vehicle like a storage unit
Community & Charity
81. Find a charity to contribute to regularly
82. Donate your old clothing
83. Pay for the coffee of a person behind you in line
84. Follow local news
85. Be friendly towards your neighbors
86. Practice safe driving
87. Support local small businesses
88. Greet your mail carriers by name
89. Bring reusable shopping bags to the grocery store
90. Be kind to everyone you meet
Money & Finance
91. Carry cash and change with you
92. Pay off your credit card balance each month
93. Spend less than you earn
94. Save at least 10% of everything you make
95. Start a retirement account and contribute to it monthly
96. Pay your bills on time
97. Don’t open credit accounts at every store you visit
98. Set up dedicated savings accounts for major purchases
99. Put extra money towards paying down debt
100. Check your bank balances and card statements weekly
What actions on this list do you plan to work on for your own personal development? I’d love to hear about your plan in the comments!
My Business Planning Process for a Successful New Year
If you run an business online or offline, or intend to start one in 2017, now is the time to start business planning for the new year. I realize that for most people, the idea of business planning can be pretty daunting, and I have to admit, when it comes to my personal planning philosophy, I never like to make planning a stressful or complicated task. So today I want to outline for you my streamlined process for business planning with 5 steps you can take to get your plans mapped out and get a strong start to 2017!
Step 1: Analyze your current/prior year results.
So, if you are staring this process before the new year hits, you want to make sure to capture important information for how your business did this year in order to understand what steps need to be taken in the new year for success. Although you may not have complete full year data at this point, you can begin to collect key information to start the analysis and then fill in the blanks after the year ends. Key information you want to collect and review would be sales data, revenue information, content/traffic numbers, and follower growth. If you are not already tracking your social media statistics to get an understanding of your follower growth, make sure to start asap! I have a video on the topic you can check out here, that will teach you a simple process for tracking your statistics and analyzing them to help you grow your following.
Step 2: Set goals for the new year.
Based on the information and analysis in step 1, you will want to set goals for where you want your business to be in the new year using the same key factors. Set goals for your sales, revenue, content/traffic, and list growth, as well as any new products or offerings you plan to work on in the year to come. If you need additional guidance to help you analyze your current year data and set the right goals for the new year, here is a business planning video I made last year that walks you through my exact process. Block out about an hour and a half for this video, and even more time to collect and process the data! Although this process is streamlined, it’s not necessarily quick, so give yourself a nice block of time to complete this essential business task and I guarantee you will see better results in the new year just from taking this time to focus!
Step 3: Set up your planner and start working out plans before the new year begins.
When it comes to choosing a planner to keep your life and business organized, I think you need to go with what works for you! I use my Charmed Life Planner, and you can see how it is currently set up here, but whatever you choose, I think it’s important that your planner include some key items:
A monthly view
A weekly OR daily view
Master task lists for each month
Expense sheets for each month
Project planning pages and trackers
A notes section or dedicated notebook
Year at a glance calendar for forward planning (get mine here for free)!
Step 4: Get your systems in place.
Systems are just a fancy way of saying a codified process for how you operate and accomplish specific business tasks. Systems are important because they save you time when you have your process worked out and don’t have to make it up as you go each time you complete a business task AND they come in handy if you bring on help for your business because you can easily hand off the system to your worker and they know exactly what needs to be done with little oversight from you. Here are some common business areas that you should have a system in place for, and I suggest downloading my free Online Business Incompletions Trigger List to help you think about where you can implement systems throughout your business:
Emails
Order Processing
Finances
Tracking
Savings/Taxes
Accounts Payable
Inventory
Manufacturing
Marketing/Promotion
Administrative
Step 5: Do some personal development to understand your personality type as a leader.
Did you ever wonder why so many important business figures and successful people are often associated with different productivity or personal development habits? It’s because they know that the secret to success doesn’t necessarily lie in your business plan- it’s all about managing your own personal development so you can operate at a higher level! Personal development as a category is a huge topic, so I won’t overwhelm you with a vast number of resources, but instead I want to leave you with two easy personality tests that I think every online business owner should take in order to better understand their strengths and weaknesses. The first is the Myers Briggs Type Test. This test helps you understand your dominant predispositions and from understanding these and your Myers Briggs Personality Type you can understand yourself at a higher level and take action to work on issues or challenges that your personality type faces to make you a more successful individual. In case you are curious, my Myers Briggs Type is ENFJ which means I am an extrovert, that uses my intuition and feelings to judge situations. I wrote a blog post all about the Myers Briggs Test that you can read here to get a link to a great free resource to take the test and get additional information to understand your personality type. The second test I recommend is the Fascination Personality Test developed by Sally Hogshead. This test is geared towards business owners and anyone developing a brand online. It essentially pinpoints different dominant communication styles that people use to attract others to them and their brands. My Fascination Personality Archetype is called the Victor, which means I communicate primarily with prestige and use power as my secondary advantage. Now with both these tests, It’s important to take your time answering the questions, don’t overthink things, but make sure your answers are as accurate to reality as possible because its not about what you “wish” you were like, it’s about understanding your true nature, personality wise, so you can find a clear path to develop yourself to where you want to be.
I hope this process has given you some ideas for steps you can take right now to set your business up for success in the new year. Of course, these are not the only ways you can prep your business, so if you have other suggestions, let me know about them in the comments below. Also, feel free to check out my YouTube video on this topic if you are interested. I’ll leave it linked above.
I’m often asked about the secret to my success. Why I’m so productive, how I get so much done, why I was able to make myself successful when the odds are stacked against me (and you, the odds are unfortunately stacked against all of us)? It’s hard to pinpoint what I do that makes me different, but after talking to so many of the members in my community, I’ve learned that I have some systems in place in my life that I stick to and use as tools to guide me towards the success I seek. One of those systems is Goal Setting!
Every year come December I begin the process of goal setting for the year ahead. It’s a pretty simple process really, that has evolved over the years for me. I started by just keeping a list of “New Years Resolutions” as many of us do! Then, after realizing that I rarely completed many of the tasks on the list, I switched up my methodology and created action steps that would help me achieve the goal. My processed has refined over the years and turned into a complete goal setting/project planning process where I literally map out everything I’d like to achieve for the year on a timeline and keep project plans handy to ensure I’m making progress. I know this may sound like I have the contents of my days prescheduled for a year in advance, but that’s really not my style. I use a framework for deciding, breaking down and managing my goals that is simple, logical, and fits directly into my planner, which is the best part, really!
Eventually, I codified my process. First, for my own memory since this is an annual undertaking, and second, to share my process in an easily digestible form with the rest of my community. What resulted is known as YOU GOT THIS: A Strategic Goal Setting and Planning Guide to Help You Achieve Your Goals and Organize Your Life! It’s a PDF Workbook you can purchase from my shop RIGHT NOW and work through over the next few days and weeks to prepare yourself for a successful year ahead. It’s a streamlined 31 pages in length with 9 worksheets/checklists to apply the lessons in the book to your goals and life, PLUS I include a very handy Resource Guide with extra links to additional educational tools and planning supplies that I recommend for anyone who is truly looking to go deep to ensure a successful year!
So, if you haven’t picked up your digital copy of the workbook yet, click here to get started and feel free to check out this video I made introducing the workbook! If you already own YOU GOT THIS, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it in the comments. I’ve heard nothing buy good things so far from this best selling productivity tool, and I’d love to hear how it worked out for you!
I know I have mentioned more than a few times that when it comes to writing my blog posts, I tend to batch the work and write my content at least a week ahead of time, but when it comes to this blog post, my monthly entrepreneurial journal entry, I try to hold off on writing this until the end of the month. So, I’m writing this the day before the post goes live- this is as close to living on the edge that I like to come with my blog, but let me tell you, living on the edge is something I did ALOT in November! In so many ways, this month felt like a metamorphosis for me. I actually don’t understand how the person sitting here at the computer right now typing this post is the same person who woke up on November 1st thinking this was going to be the same old same old type of month for me. If I had to select a theme song for November, it would be Let It Go from Frozen, because like the beloved snow queen Elsa, I let a lot of sh*t go this month!
What I Didn’t Do
1. Let myself get distracted: November was a very transformative month for me and as soon as I realized that I had a lot of work to do to reach the other side in one piece, I turned on hermit mode and kept myself lazer focused on the tasks in front of me. I definitely didn’t lock myself in a room all month to avoid distractions, but I gave myself permission to delete or silence the apps, alerts, and even people that often take up too much of my mental energy. Truthfully, it felt like one of the most selfish things I have ever done, but it was too freeing to let other things slip away and just focus on myself. I seriously need to do this more often!
2. Let Fear hold me back: I tend to be the type of person who hates disappointing others and fears letting people down, but I overcame a lot of fear this month to do the things I knew had to be done. I almost feel a little ruthless with some of the decisions I made this month, some of the people I blocked and some of the projects I dropped, but I just mentally blocked out the fear.
3. Give a F*ck: I apologize for being so crass with this one, but vulgarity seems to be the best way for me to sum this up! I still can’t believe some of the things I did this month to make it to the finish line. It wasn’t that I did anything bad, I just did things and made choices I have never experienced before and it was completely liberating to me and my business. Looking back at the month, I almost feel like I was a little too reckless at times, but even now, seeing how things turned out, I feel like I needed to be a little reckless and I’m curious about how things could have turned out if I had been even more reckless! It really was a major change for me when you keep in mind that I’m normally so deliberate and buttoned up.
What I Did Do
1. Ran two promotions (simultaneously): This idea was a little nuts, required a lot of work and preparation on my part, but it completely paid off. So, I ran two promotions that overlapped; one for my Online Business Bundle as part of that Free Workshop I hosted mid-month, and one for my Annual Holiday Sale in my shop that ended yesterday. Because of this decision, I had my best month EVER in the shop… and that was BEFORE the second promotion even started! Financially speaking, I exceeded all kinds of goals I had set for my business, not just in November, but also for 2016 as a whole! After a period of months where I felt like my business had stagnated after my summer off and my move, it was like my business was in full acceleration and forgot to hit the brakes. Of course, I’m now curious to see how I parlay this success into December, but any way I cut it, this year is a major win for me no matter what happens next month!
2. Closed a Facebook Group: Remember how I said this month’s theme song would be Let it go? Well, my #CharmedBiz Collective Facebook Group was one of the things that I let go this month. For a long time I felt like this group didn’t shape up the way I had intended it, and it was completely my own fault. But after spending months trying to keep it alive in one way or another, I finally decided to cut off the dead weight so I could move on with a lighter load. I’m so thankful for this opportunity because now I don’t need to spend mental energy and precious time worrying about the future of the group- it wasn’t working, so I let it go, and now I can pour my energy into bigger and better things.
3. Celebrated my success: Because of the great success I had in the shop this month, I gave myself permission to celebrate my milestone with a big purchase. Something I have been wanting for a while, but was always a little concerned about buying because of the expense and the lack of necessity. This was one of those reckless moments, but I said F it, did what I wanted and I’m really happy I did. Life is short, we should ALL get in the habit of celebrating our success and milestones while we have the chance!
What I Learned
1. Let it go (and set boundaries!): I definitely have a hard time letting go, but I managed to conquer this fear and let go of nearly everything that wasn’t serving me this month. I feel like I have emotionally, spiritually and physically cleaned house, and it’s one of those amazing feelings where I don’t regret a single thing, and in fact, want to find more things to let go of! By letting go of that which did not serve me in the past, I was able to clear out space for wonderful new things to come into my life. It’s funny how that works! I let go of a lot of random stuff holding me back and I was bestowed a wonderful gift. The universe strives for balance, if you are carrying around too much, it doesn’t want to give you more than you can handle. You need to unpack what you don’t need before you can get all the shiny new stuff the universe wants you to have instead. And in order to keep myself from picking back up anything I let go of this month, I also needed to make sure to erect some boundaries for myself. Boundaries are a new concept for me as well this month- I tend not to use them, but going forward, much of the work I know I need to complete for myself and my own personal development revolves around setting boundaries so I do not let myself acquire too much baggage that doesn’t serve me in the future.
2. Trust the process: I’ve said this before, but trusting the process is a lesson I am constantly learning. We can’t see the future, so making decisions, taking risks, acting recklessly, it all feels uncomfortable. But I have seen time and time again that when I show up and do the work, it all pays off. Even if I do the work and it doesn’t result in success, I always get something important from it. I need to stop playing it safe all the time, and trust the process more, because I know what works for my life and my business, and the more I can focus on doing the work that matters, the more I’ll be rewarded in the end.
3. Luck results when preparation meets opportunity: To sum up this whole month and the big picture lessons I’ve learned, I am reminded of this quote. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” If you are looking at my life and my business and thinking “she’s just lucky” you seriously misunderstand what it takes to create success in your own life and business. Although this blog post and those like it are my attempt to pull back the curtain so others can get a glimpse at what it takes to be successful in online business, make no mistake that you do not see it all, especially the hours of hard work that go into making my successes a reality. Tweeting, vlogging, and sharing on Instagram are the things I do when I am not heads down with my eyes glued to my work. There is no such thing as luck, we all get exactly what we work for in one form or another.
I hope this rather irreverent installment of my monthly entrepreneurial journal has inspired you to let some things go in your own life and business, and to create a plan to move forward and collect all the rewards that are waiting for you on the other side of that sacrifice! For me, this month has been so transformative and absolutely freeing. So, I’m sure I can expect some challenges to come next month as I adjust and strive to enforce the changes I’ve made this month. I’d love to hear how your month went and what lessons you picked up along the way, so please make sure to share those in the comments below or let me know how my experience this month has inspired you to act!
If you haven’t been over to The Charmed Shop lately, things have gotten a bit of a frosty makeover for the holidays to celebrate the BIGGEST Annual Sale in the Shop! Today is Cyber Monday, which means it’s the last day of the sale and the last chance to take advantage of some of my awesome sale specials and extra discount codes!
Of course, up until now, the discount codes have only been shared with my subscribers, but I don’t want to leave my loyal blog readers out in the cold either, so if you are interested in purchasing something to help you work smarter, not harder in the new year, here are the codes for some extra discounts to the already discounted prices in the shop!
Thanks to EVERYONE who has already purchased during this year’s Holiday Sale! This has been by far the most successful sale in The Charmed Shop to date, and thanks to your generous love and support, I have even more resources to invest into my business for 2017! So you can look forward to bigger and better things for your productivity in the New Year with the help of yours truly. Keep your eyes peeled for a very special project I am working on in December to get YOU more involved with the future of my channel and business- I’ll be sending an email out very soon about that!
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of Year! Holiday Season! And I have a few Tech and Planner Freebies to share with you to help kick December and the last leg of 2016 off right! Click here to get your Planner Freebies, the 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer Monthly Task List as well as your December 2016 Dashboard. Both are available in A5 and Personal Filofax equivalents from The Charmed Shop!
Don’t forget your Tech Wallpapers as well! I have a nice seasonal design for you that is a little bit different than the other designs this year, but I just love it, don’t you? Download yours here on The Charmed Shop!
I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving if you are in the US and you knowI love when I see your photos on Instagram sharing how you are using and loving your monthly freebies, so make sure to use #CharmedGTD if you post a picture on Instagram or Twitter, and feel free to tag me @MissTrenchcoat as well so I can see you photos and give them a big heart ♥
With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I thought it would be timely of me to share a Holiday Hits Playlist with you to get you into the Holiday Spirit! You’re going to be Fa, la, la, la, la-ing all week through your turkey-coma and LOVING every minute of it. So, without further ado, here is my Spotify Playlist for you to enjoy!
I hope this playlist helps you get into the Holiday Spirit! Let me know what other tunes you think I’m missing, down in the comments and I just might have to add them to my playlist so we can ALL enjoy!
The week is here! Thanksgiving Day is just 3 SLEEPS AWAY and the Charmed Shop’s BIGGEST ANNUAL SALE is about to begin.
NOW IS THE TIME to start making your holiday shopping list for the special friends and family in your life that you will be gifting to this year AND don’t forget #1, YOURSELF! While you are out shopping this weekend and over the next few weeks generously thinking of others, you don’t want to forget about picking up a few essentials for yourself. The end of the year is always a stress-filled, action-packed season, and it’s so easy to loose track of time and your own priorities when you are feeling the weight of a never ending to-do list on your back. Commit to Working Smarter, Not Harder this season and give yourself the GIFT OF PRODUCTIVITY with some of these planning essentials!
Here is a Special Preview of what you can expect from The Charmed Shop’s Annual Holiday Sale that starts Thursday November 25th and ends Monday November 28th!
PLANNER & OFFICE ESSENTIALS
• Meal Planning Bundle: Available in both A5 and Personal Size, this bundle of printable inserts for your planner is everything you need to streamline your meal planning process for JUST $10!*
• Holiday Deco Artwork & Printable Stickers: Personalize your planner for the Holidays with a Printable Holiday Sticker Design AND the Most Wonderful Time of the Year Printable Artwork that makes a perfect cover, divider set or dashboard for your planner. Just $10!
• The Charmed Life Planners & Functional Planning Bundles are BY FAR some of the best selling planner supplies in The Charmed Shop! Get your complete Printable Charmed Life Planner or Bundle Now Available in Full US Letter/A4, A5/Half Letter & Personal Size Filofax Equivalents, just $25 for the Charmed Life Planner or $35 for the Whole Functional Planning Bundle with your Choice of Planner and Project and Task Tracking Inserts as well!*
PRODUCTIVITY MUST HAVES
• The Work Smarter, Not Harder Bundle: My Two Popular Video Master Classes bundled together for one great price JUST GOT EVEN BETTER! Get yours for just $50 and get your productivity and goals in order for 2017!
• The Charmed Life Master Class: My signature self-guided personal development master class that will teach you my 10 Charmed Life Secrets and how to apply them to your own life, is just $49 during the sale!
Best Sellers
• The YOU GOT THIS Strategic Goal Setting Workbook: If you DO NOT have this printable, action-oriented goal setting tool, you are seriously missing one of the ALL TIME BEST SELLING resources in The Charmed Shop. Get yours for just $19 before the New Year so you can map out your goals and FINALLY have a clear path to achieving them!
BUSINESS BOOSTERS
• Online Business Course Bundle: Looking to start an online business in 2017? Have a current online platform you would like to turn into a business? The Online Business Course Bundle includes EVERYTHING you need to build your brand, following and income streams online! Get the Bundle for just $277 or choose the upgraded Bundle that includes one-to-one consulting calls with me for just $547!
EXTRA DISCOUNT CODES
As I mentioned in my post last week, the Holiday Sale includes two options. A public sale option, that I’ve outlined above where anyone can go to the shop and purchase the special discounted products, and a private option for those on my email list. If you are subscribed to my list, as an insider you will ALSO get access to special COUPON CODES for up to 33% off your total purchase in The Charmed Shop! So, if you want ADDITIONAL SAVINGS on EVERYTHING you purchase during the Holiday Sale, get on my list ASAP by filling out the form before and don’t forget to confirm your subscription to my email list or you will miss the codes!
TO DO & FREE PRINTABLE BONUS
The Sale is still a few days away, but I don’t want you to miss out on these great discounts because they are seriously a once a year occurrence. So, to help you prepare for your busy week ahead, I have some helpful tips for getting yourself prepared, plus a FREE Printable Bonus for you.
I hope you have enjoyed this Holiday Sale Preview and that you have some ideas for what you don’t want to miss out on in The Charmed Shop this week! Remember, if you want to save even more this week, you need to be on my list, so don’t forget to sign up!
How to Turn a Filofax Binder into a Desktop Filing System
Let’s be honest, how many of us have an extra Filofax planner sitting around that we’d love to put to productive use? I know I do, and that’s why I am always thinking of new ways to use them. The great thing about Filofax planners is that they are more than just planners. They are high quality ring binders that can be used to store anything from your calendar and to do list, to your paperwork and mail. One of my favorite ways to use a spare binder, specifically a spare A5 (although you can also manage this with a personal size) is to create a desktop filing system. That’s right, a simple, easy to use file system that sits on your desk and is portable enough to keep your essential documents and reference information safe while on the go. Since I am a productivity junkie, I like to use the 43 Folders System to file papers, mail and information I know I need for later, but don’t want to go through the hassle of filing away in “deep storage”. We all have documents that relate to in-process projects, or emails we have printed out and stuffed into our calendars to keep for a project or event months down the road, and the rotating ticker file or 43 Folders System is a great way to manage those types of physical documents. So, let me walk you through what you will need to undertake this project and give you some simple steps to building your own 43 Folders Tickler File in a spare Filofax A5 Binder.
Step 1: Remove any old inserts or papers from your Filofax.
Step 2: Using a piece of 5 paper as a guide, take a file folder and using a piece of A5 paper as a guide, line up your paper with the top corner of your file folder where the edge and the fold meet and mark the dimensions of the paper onto the folder. Repeat this for all file folders.
Step 3: Using a paper trimmer or scissors, cut the excess file folder where you have marked the A5 dimensions so that you have an A5 sized folder. Repeat this for all file folders.
Step 4: On the front side of the file folder, make a diagonal cut from the top corner of the folder (where the edge and fold meet) down to about 2/3rd of the page. Also, remove any tab on the folder if applicable. Make sure to only cut through one side of the folder and leave the other side intact. Repeat this for all file folders.
Step 5: Using clear tape, tape the bottom opening and 1/3rd side opening of the folder shut, making a pocket that can hold papers. Repeat this for all file folders.
Step 6: Punch holes down the long edge of the file folder on the side of the original fold with the A5 punch. Repeat this for all file folders.
Step 7: Name 12 of your file tabs January-December, creating one tab for each month of the year.
Step 8: Add one monthly tab to each of the 12 folders. Distribute tabs as evenly as you can.
Step 9: Using your A5 paper guide, mark the dimensions onto your paper or card stock. Repeat this for all 31 pieces of paper or card stock.
Step 10: Using a paper trimmer or scissors, cut the paper or card stock along the A5 guide. Repeat this for all 31 pieces of paper or card stock.
Step 11: Punch each A5 piece of paper or card stock with your A5 punch.
Step 12: Number the remaining 31 file tabs 1-31 and apply one to each of the 31 pieces of paper or card stock cut into A5 dimensions. Distribute tabs as evenly as you can.
Step 13: Open the rings of your Filofax binder and put in the folder labeled with your current month.
Step 14: Behind your current month folder, put in the paper or card stock numbered 1-31 in numerical order.
Step 15: Behind the 31st page, put the remainder of the monthly folders, in calendar order.
How to Use Your Filofax 43 Folder Binder
Your Filofax tickler file has 12 folders, one for each month of the year and 31 individual pages, 1 for each of the maximum 31 days in a month. To use your binder, place notes, to do’s, documents or papers (fold A4 or US letter pages in half first) into the folder for the month they belong to. For your current month, place papers in front of the numbered of the specific day of the month you want to be reminded or will need a specific document. I like to use sticky notes with reminders on them as a placeholder for any large multipage documents that don’t fit comfortably inside the system, and I leave documents/lists in the current monthly file if they don’t pertain to a specific day but I want to work on them that month. This file is great for storing all those straggling papers sitting in piles on your desk and perfect for forward planning, even if you don’t have any documents related to a specific idea or event. Using list pads or sticky notes with a concept or idea and sticking it to a specific daily page or inside a specific month’s folder is a great way to job your memory for a project or idea you have now that you don’t want to act on until later. As the months progress, make sure that the current monthly folder is on top, followed by the 31 daily pages and then the rest of the monthly folders in order behind those. This keeps the folder up to date and because nothing is specifically dated you can use the system over a span a years without needing to change a thing!
If you would like to replicate this DIY for yourself, here is a video I made outlining the process and providing additional details that may interest you. If you do use this method, I would love to see it, so please make sure to take a picture, share it on Twitter or Instagram and tag me @MissTrenchcoat. Don’t forget to pick up my latest free planner printables over at http://www.TheCharmedShop.com!
