5 FREE Resources to Help You Plan a Joyful and Low Stress Holiday
With a little over a week until Thanksgiving Day in the US, I thought now was as good a time as any to share some of my best seasonal Holiday productivity tips and tricks to help you get organized over this busy and often stressful period of the year. Yes, the holidays are wonderfully magical as they remind us of the love, family and gratitude we have in our lives, but holiday celebrations don’t come without their own brand of challenges. Coordinating people, meal plans, multiple events and holiday wish lists can be a struggle for many of us, but hopefully, I can help make it a little more productive and enjoyable for you with these 5 FREE Resources to Help You Plan a Joyful and Low Stress Holiday!
First things first, if you have not snagged yourself my FREE printable 30 Days of Thankfulness list for you planner, do so now! You will want to frame everything you do during this season in a sense of gratitude, and this planner insert is a great way to keep that idea fresh in your mind.
If you are someone who struggles with stress and anxiety during the holidays, my video The 5 Steps to a Stress Free Holiday, is going to be a resource for you. Definitely watch it and take some notes to keep with you on the strategies I share to help you prevent and overcome stressors as they arise during the next few weeks.
This next resource is an AMAZING planning tip that I learned about right before last Thanksgiving and it really helped me keep my Thanksgiving planning and prep very streamlined. If you are hosting any dinners or family get togethers during this time check out this video on How to Plan for Thanksgiving! I promise, the strategy shared applies to more than just Thanksgiving!
After you have watched the video from resource #3, if you are still looking for some great tried and true recipes that I rely on for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, here is a blog post filled with my favorite recipes! Most, if not all, will be served as part of my holiday dinners this year!
Finally, we can’t forget about holiday shopping. It can be stressful, expensive, and time consuming, but with in this video, I share some of my Must Have Holiday Shopping Apps to make the process a little easier and even a little bit enjoyable!
I sincerely hope you found these resources valuable as you begin to get into the thick of your holiday planning! If you have any other resources or tips you would like to share, please feel free to add them below in the comments so we can all benefit. One last thing I thought I should mention, is that I have started a Holiday Themed Board on Pinterest called Christmas is Coming! I’ll be sharing more resources and recipe ideas there if you’d like to follow along- and don’t be surprised if you see a resource you suggest pop up as a pin as well!
Hello My Charmed Ones! Welcome to The Strange & Charmed 2016 Holiday Gift Guide!
The Most Wonderful Time of Year is Almost Upon Us! So, I thought this would be the perfect time to do a short series of gift guides before Black Friday and the holiday rush begins. Of course, since this is a Strange & Charmed Gift Guide, my choices for 2016 will be themed into categories that pertain to my readers. The first Gift Guide is themed for the Planner Addict in your life. Whether that be you or a friend! The second Gift Guide is themed for your Business Bestie. This may be a fellow #LadyBoss or co-worker that you want to spoil this year! The third and final Gift Guide is themed for the Homebody. This could be someone who loves home decor and entertaining, or a book lover who prefers to stay in on a cold winter’s night to relax and enjoy the comforts of home. Of course, with all three of these gift guides for 2016, I will include links at the bottom of the post where you can check out these items, start making your 2016 holiday gift list and get to shopping. So, I hope you’re excited for this series!
I hope this Holiday Gift Guide gives you some great inspiration for the Homebody in your life! Feel free to leave your gift suggestions for decorista’s down below to add to the holiday gift giving goodness!
Hello My Charmed Ones! Welcome to The Strange & Charmed 2016 Holiday Gift Guide!
The Most Wonderful Time of Year is Almost Upon Us! So, I thought this would be the perfect time to do a short series of gift guides before Black Friday and the holiday rush begins. Of course, since this is a Strange & Charmed Gift Guide, my choices for 2016 will be themed into categories that pertain to my readers. The first Gift Guide is themed for the Planner Addict in your life. Whether that be you or a friend! The second Gift Guide is themed for your Business Bestie. This may be a fellow #LadyBoss or co-worker that you want to spoil this year! The third and final Gift Guide is themed for the Homebody. This could be someone who loves home decor and entertaining, or a book lover who prefers to stay in on a cold winter’s night to relax and enjoy the comforts of home. Of course, with all three of these gift guides for 2016, I will include links at the bottom of the post where you can check out these items, start making your 2016 holiday gift list and get to shopping. So, I hope you’re excited for this series!
I hope this Holiday Gift Guide gives you some great inspiration for the Business Bestie in your life! Feel free to leave your gift suggestions for #LadyBosses down below to add to the holiday gift giving goodness!
Hello My Charmed Ones! Welcome to The Strange & Charmed 2016 Holiday Gift Guide!
The Most Wonderful Time of Year is Almost Upon Us! So, I thought this would be the perfect time to do a short series of gift guides before Black Friday and the holiday rush begins. Of course, since this is a Strange & Charmed Gift Guide, my choices for 2016 will be themed into categories that pertain to my readers. The first Gift Guide is themed for the Planner Addict in your life. Whether that be you or a friend! The second Gift Guide is themed for your Business Bestie. This may be a fellow #LadyBoss or co-worker that you want to spoil this year! The third and final Gift Guide is themed for the Homebody. This could be someone who loves home decor and entertaining, or a book lover who prefers to stay in on a cold winter’s night to relax and enjoy the comforts of home. Of course, with all three of these gift guides for 2016, I will include links at the bottom of the post where you can check out these items, start making your 2016 holiday gift list and get to shopping. So, I hope you’re excited for this series!
I hope this Holiday Gift Guide gives you some great inspiration for the Planner Addict in your life! Feel free to leave your gift suggestions for planner lovers down below to add to the holiday gift giving goodness!
How to Create a Profitable Online Business in 2017
This time of year is always very special for me and my business because it was two years ago this month that I finally cracked the code on my online business and replaced the monthly salary I had left behind six months prior. You may have heard the story before of How I Left My Job, Built My Online Business & Replaced My Income in Six Months. Of course it’s a very compelling story for what is possible and how you don’t necessarily need a very large following or email list to start making a full time income online. Don’t get me wrong, having a large following or list is amazing and it’s definitely important to continue to grow your following online in order to grow your business, but the truth is, you only need a few very specific things in order to start a business online, and most importantly, to start a profitable business. Whether you are someone who aspires to start a business of their own, is desperate to turn their passion from #sidehustle to 9-5, or is already running a business that isn’t bringing in enough money, you need to understand what really moves the needle in terms of money and sales!
If building an online business in 2017 is a goal of yours or if you already have a business that just isn’t working, I want to invite you to a FREE Online Workshop I am hosting in just a few weeks called How to Create a Profitable Online Business in 2017! In this Live Workshop I am going to share with you The 6 Elements of a Profitable Online Business, what they are, why you need them and how to get started incorporating them into your current or future business for more sales and greater profitability!
They say it’s taboo to talk about money, but if you want a profitable business, you need to get comfortable and knowledgable about what you actually need to make your idea work. So I’m breaking the rules and talking about what’s holding your business back from profits, so you can make your goals a reality in 2017!
Click here to sign up to join me LIVE on Wednesday November 16th, 2016 at 3pm eastern/ 12pm pacific! My plan is to keep this workshop short and sweet, at about an hour before the open Q&A because I know we are getting into a very busy time of year and the last thing any of us need is a long, drawn out lecture! I want this event to be informative and engaging, so I am setting up a private watch page with an enhanced chat feature so that we can all connect, and I’ll be distributing a helpful workbook for you to use to follow along and get some extra value from the event! Of course, you will also get access to the replay of this event for a limited time, so if you can’t make it live on the 16th, don’t stress, I’ve got you covered!
I can’t wait to connect with you live on the 16th! It’s been quite some time since I did a live event and I’m looking forward to providing some great insight and answering all your questions about online business!
Oh October! In so many ways, you are my favorite month. You signal the true start of fall in my world, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that with the change in weather this month, you also brought a lot of change to my business. There is a quote I love that goes “It’s so strong that autumn is so beautiful; yet everything is dying,” and this almost perfectly sums up my month. It was a beautiful month in many ways that brought me clarity and even personal change, but in order to get here I had to watch certain things die. As they say, you win some, you lose some!
What I Didn’t Do
1. Spend enough time prioritizing myself: Maybe it was because last month, September, was so self-care focused, or maybe it was because once I got back from vacation I felt the time crunch to get work done, but this month I really dropped the ball on taking care of myself. For most of the month my meal schedule was out of wack, dinners were take out, and “me time” was minimal. Because of this, I was sick for most of the month (residual from a cold I caught on my trip), and then around the mid point, I struggled with anxiety and stress as I prepared for my 2017 insert launch. Luckily, the universe is always so kind as to keep challenging you when it knows you need to learn a lesson, so after a few sleep deprived days led me to the edge, I finally realized that what I had been missing was white space, rest, and lush baths!
2. Finish a project that was scheduled: New inserts were not the only product I was hoping to complete this month. I also had a second project on my list that had been there all year, researched and ready to be completed, but I ultimately decided to let it go until next year. I had even spent much of the month working on, trying to make it work and get it done by the due date, but after breaking down from stress and anxiety and lack of self care, I decided that it needed to be shelved. It was a very scary decision to make because my heart wanted to complete it but my head and timing said no. Once I made the decision I felt like a massive weight had been listed and began to see a path out of the overworked mess I was in.
3. Get out of my comfort zone: I know this may sound a bit odd to be on a business recap, but there were things I did and didn’t do this month out of fear and I don’t really advocate living your life or running your business this way. Now that we are at the end of the month I can see that there are some tough or uncomfortable choices ahead of me that if I am able to break out of my comfort zone and reach for them, it could be a major boost for my business. Or I could let myself be controlled by fear and doubt and keep doing what I’m already doing. I’m not doing bad right now, in fact, I think I’m doing pretty well! But I need to face myself going forward and decide if I want pretty well or if I want great and how far I am willing to reach outside my comfort zone to achieve it.
What I Did Do
1. Launched a new product: I was very excited to launch my 2017 inserts because with them came a new addition to my existing lineup. A Full Size US Letter/A4 planner design that had been highly requested by my audience for a while now. It actually took me a long time to really understand and decide what I wanted to do with this design to make it unique, but one day the vision hit me and I was off executing immediately!
2. Ran a promotion: With my 2017 insert launch, I also ran a promotion for my email/newsletter subscribers. Promotions are great, but I had been struggling with how I could give more value to those within my community who are the most invested in me and my business. Ultimately, I decided to give my email subscribers a special discount code in addition to some bundle deals that were made public. It was simple but effective and my insert launch was very successful this year outside of a major tech issue that occurred on launch day.
3. Invested in necessary upgrades: Overall, my insert launch and promotion went great this month in terms of engagement and sales, which I am always grateful for, but when high volumes of traffic came to my shop that morning, it ended up crashing my site! This had happened to me once before with a promotion so I knew what was going on, so I spent the morning on the phone with tech support and ended up investing in some upgrades to my site hosting that would allow for more traffic and resources to be allocated to my site during peak times. It wasn’t necessarily money I was expecting to spend, but I had it and knew it was going to be a good investment for the future of my site.
What I Learned
1. I need to always prioritize myself first: I know this, this isn’t anything new to me and if you look back over the year of these posts, self-care is something I have been working on all year. I wouldn’t say that this month was a self care fail because it’s not a topic that one can fail at if they are constantly trying and learning. You really only fail when you refuse to try or give up completely.
2. Sometimes all signs can be pointing to yes, but the answer is still no: I consider myself a pretty reasonable and logically person, so I run my business with common sense and strategies I see working for me or others in a similar situation. When it comes to my products especially, I love to create, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who follows me on different platforms, and when I feel like a product or offer is right, I usually get so excited and worked up about it that I am able to make a plan and execute quickly. But, I’m also an intuitive person, and even when everything seems to be right, right product, right time, right plan, I can always sense when something is off and I need to take a step back. This is basically what happened to me this month with that second project. I loved it, it was the right time, I had a plan that seemed flawless. Logic and reason would tell me, move forward right now with this, work hard, get it done but the more I worked on it, the more I felt like this wasn’t the right time for me to do this project. I have nothing logical to point to, except that I don’t feel like I am able to execute my best on it right now. So for quality sake and for mental clarity’s sake, I put it away and hopefully, I can come back to it in 2017 and knock it out of the park.
3. How important it is to stay on brand: This is another concept that is by no means a new idea to me, but you’d be surprised at how distracting social media and the online business world can be even for someone who is pretty crystal clear on their branding and goals. I’m not sure if this month was a success or a flop for me and my business. On one hand I had a great launch, brought in a respectable income and brought some quality content and products to life. But on the other hand, I had to let go of a project I was passionate about for a very vague reason, and I also felt like I got caught in a trap set by social media that ended up distracting me. That’s why the title of this post is “You Win Some, You Lose Some.” With tools like Instagram and Snapchat its easy to share and consume so much different content. To be honest, most of the content I consume online, is actually not related to the content I create. That may seem odd, but I find that it’s easier for me to create great content when I have kept my eyes on my own paper, and because of that, I like to use different platforms to enjoy content that is more passion or interest driven for me than it is business related. But watching different content means I start wanting to share different content because social media makes you want to share. Then before you know it, you’ve been knocked off course and off brand, and I think this is actually what causes a lot of online businesses and blogs/youtube channels specifically to fail because they had a good thing going that was them, but then they let the world influence them to the point that it changed them. I saw myself falling into this trap this month and made a hard and fast decision to break out of it. I deleted Snapchat off my phone, made some decisions about how I will be using a few other platforms as well, and have basically sworn to myself that I will stick to my content, my brand and my main platforms to give them and my existing following there more time and attention.
Looking back at my month now that I’ve reached the end is a funny thing. There was a lot of struggle this month, but from where I am standing right now, I feel more empowered and prepared than ever for the future. Most of all, I feel very clear on where I am going, a feeling I don’t often get in my business, and one I am sure I will soon lose as I begin working on new plans and projects. So, for now, I am going to do what I can to capture my ideas and goals for how I want to move forward for the end of the year and what I want to achieve moving into 2017!
It’s time for another link roundup! Here are my picks for this month’s best reads around the web to help you with your Personal Development, Productivity and Business! Enjoy!
As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed these articles and I’d love to read anything you found informative this month, so please feel free to leave links in the comments below!
October is rapidly coming to a close so it is time for our November Free Planner Printables and Tech Wallpapers! Novembers task list is called 30 Days of Thankfulness, and it contains a list of 30 easy to accomplish, feel good actions that you can take throughout the month of November to express your thankfulness to yourself, your friends, family and the world around you! I know I am a major proponent of making gratitude lists (which I do recommend in this printable!) however, I feel like there is so much more we can be doing on a day to day basis to show how thankful we are, and to really create memories through experiences that bring us to a greater understanding of the big picture of life. Obviously, since November happens to be the month of thankfulness in terms of the Thanksgiving Holiday (in the US), this is an appropriate time of year to cover the topic of thankfulness, however, you could technically use this printable over and over throughout the year, whenever you feel like you could use an extra jolt of positivity for your life!
Along with the November Thankfulness Task List, you will also get your November Dashboard, both of which come in A5 and Personal Filofax equivalents. Click here to download yours now!
And don’t forget your November Tech Wallpapers while you are in the shop! Click here to access those free designs as well and make sure your favorite gadgets are decked out for a month of productivity and gratefulness!
I hope you enjoy your monthly freebies and I truly hope they add to your holiday spirit and brings some extra light into your life!
No matter how much I write about productivity, I still receive numerous messages each week by loyal members of my community who are swamped with too much to do and too little time to do it! They feel overwhelmed, they want to focus more on the things they love and they want to know the secret to my productivity. I can completely relate to feeling like you are cagged in by your work and a slave to your schedule, but the truth is their is only one productivity tip that will help you, me or anyone else tame our workloads. This tip isn’t much of a secret, unless of course, no one has ever told you about it, so today, let’s unpack this #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity!
What is the #1 Secret No One Told You About Productivity?
The biggest secret about productivity that you may not know is that You Can’t Do It All! I know, I know, this goes against everything we have been taught to believe about human ability and persistence, not to mention every girl power message I’ve heard for my last 30 years on this Earth, but it’s true. No one single person can do everything. Yes, I do believe you can achieve all the things you want to achieve in life, but you certainly won’t be doing it alone and if you’re clever, you’ll find ways to hack your daily life and to do list so that you are focusing on the key tasks, routines and decisions that will support your quickest route to success. Now, I want to come back to this point on hacking your life to optimize your success in just a moment, but first, I want to give you some practical strategies for taking this productivity secret and using it to your advantage!
If I Can’t Do It All, How Does Everything Get Done?
You’re probably asking yourself, if I can’t do it all, how does everything get done? You do important work, you have lots of important priorities, and much of what you handle must be done, right? Absolutely! Much of what you handle probably does need to get done, but not necessarily by you. So, if you find that you have too much on your plate, you put in the work and still find that everything isn’t getting done, you really need to start doing two things.
You Need To Delegate And Delete!
First, you need to take a look at everything you do, all your priorities, projects, work, and personal obligations. You need to have a complete understanding of all the elements that take up your time because you will need to Delegate some and Delete others. To delegate, you need to understand what tasks on your list can be completed by someone else. I know many of us, especially the type A’s out there, have a hard time giving over control of tasks to others because we want to know something has been done right, but if something does not require your hand to complete it, you need to assign it to someone else. This could mean an assistant at work, a spouse or child, or even hiring help like a cleaning service or handyman. Not every option is going to be available for every one of us, but wherever we can, we should try to delegate important tasks to someone who is capable of completing the task, even if it means we have to train them how to do it and then reap the time benefits in the future.
Once you do that complete evaluation of your obligations, you will certainly find that you have some things you are doing that can be deleted from your to do list altogether. Like I said earlier, most of what you do probably needs to get done, which means some of what you do can be let go of completely to help you lessen your load. Think about all your extras first, like voluntary obligations outside of work or home. It’s great to be a team player and responsible member of your community, but if you are overwhelmed by everything you need to do and frequently find that you are missing important tasks, you really need to delete any priorities that you signed up for. This doesn’t mean you can never add them back in, but be honest with yourself about what is truly important and be ruthless with anything that takes up your time. Of course, it won’t just be voluntary tasks that you need to delete. Ask yourself what tasks are repeatedly missed or forgotten. Sometimes when we frequently push a task off it means its not actually required to be done. Any extras like this should be deleted from your list until you have reached equilibrium with your time and tasks.
Optimizing Success By Hacking Your Productivity!
Like I mentioned earlier, all of us can improve our productivity and succeed in achieving more of what we want if we optimize our lives with a few hacks here and there. If this sounds interesting to you and you’d like to learn these tips for working smarter, not harder, I’m very pleased to announce that my Planning for Success Master Class is now available! This Master Class and Q&A replay are four information-rich hours of actionable strategies designed to solve your most pressing productivity issues. Included with the class are numerous downloads and worksheets to help you put the strategies taught in place for your specific situation. This class is a tremendous value filled with the precise information you need to optimize your daily life for productivity, but don’t take my word for it! Here is what students from the class are saying:
“The Planning for Success Master Class was so timely for me! I am in constant struggle (more now than ever) with time management and project/tasks all being priority that this class gave me major amounts of tools and guidance that will allow me to gain some sanity again. As a business owner, wife, mother and a person who wants to be all things to most people, this class gave me perspective to what is manageable and plan-able! It has been what is missing in my many years as a professional. I am so glad that I can watch the master class and q & a as much as I want in order to help me build better planning habits. I loved this class and it was time and money well spent! Thank you Alexis!”
– Beth, MO
“The Planning for Success Master Class was a truly great experience! As someone who has run workshops and training, I am in absolute awe at Alexis’ planning, delivery and thoroughness. It has been incredible value for money and I hope that many more will be able to experience this amazing product. I have been given so much information and feel so inspired! Alexis has managed to address most of the organizational, time management and motivational issues that have been plaguing me. I am in-between careers and had hit a dark and sticky rut. This workshop has not only showed me the way forward, it has also turned all the lights on! Many of the concepts were new to me so it has helped to go through the video more than once. It is invaluable that I am able to keep referring to it and I can see how it will all become second nature with some practice. The Q&A session is also extremely interesting. Alexis’ generosity with her time and information sharing are what make her such a great Mentor. I was a fan, now I am a convert! Thank you!!”
– Maria, Australia
“The Planning for Success Master Class was amazing! I have been feeling overwhelmed and almost paralyzed lately in regard to achieving my goals and completing projects. This Master Class provided me with a clear and manageable blueprint that I believe will help me to begin living my life fully again. The value I received from the Planning for Success Master Class was far greater than what I paid for it. Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge and your time. And, I think your online presence is both impressive and beautiful; how you manage to communicate with complete strangers you can’t even hear or see, with such a high level of compassion and grace, is beyond amazing!”
-Cynthia, NV
Don’t let your dreams and goals sit by the wayside any longer!Sign up for the Planning for Success Master Classand join the countless members of my community who’ve benefited from this informative and actionable class!
The 3 Quick Steps for Feeling Productive RIGHT NOW
Overwhelm can strike at any moment and turn a seemingly organized, well-planned day into a downward spiral of confusion and self-doubt. When this happens, it’s so important that you quickly recognize the pattern and take immediate action to halt and reverse it. You can take back your day no matter how deep a spiral you have fallen into, but you need to take these 3 quick steps to get you feeling productive right now!
Step 1: Turn off Distractions
When I get overwhelmed, even the slightest distraction can cause me to panic, so I need to make sure everything that makes noise or has an alert/alarm is silenced. Silence your phone, kill the music, and turn off your computer’s audio and display. If you can’t avoid all noise completely, put on a pair of headphones or put in some earplugs to give you peace and quiet for a few moments as you gather your thoughts.
Step 2: Do a Brain Dump
When your head is spinning out of control and can’t focus on a single task to work on, you need to make space in your mind by performing a brain dump. Take out a piece of paper and a pen and just start listing out everything you are thinking about that is causing you stress or overwhelm. The items don’t even need to be task related. Jot down those negative thoughts, what they are saying and how you are feeling inside. By writing it down, you are figuratively transferring that energy out of your brain and onto the paper. This works well with anything that comes to your mind that for one reason or another, your brain just won’t let go of. So write it, dump it out and get your brain clear to focus.
Step 3: Breathe
Hopefully by this point, you have significantly reduced any distracting noise or screens around you and have completed a brain dump to get everything out of your head and onto paper. Before you get back to work and process through your to dos, take a moment to sit and breath in the silence. Close your eyes, sit comfortably and inhale deeply through your nose, exhaling from your mouth. Breathe in for five seconds, hold your breath for 2, and breathe out for 7 seconds. Repeat this process for at least five minutes before getting back to your work.
I hope these tips help you to regain your control and sense of productivity when overwhelm strikes! Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips or suggestions that you use in this situation.
