Instagram is definitely one of my favorite social media apps, probably of all time. I love nothing more than to take a break from my workday and pop on over to Instagram and scroll through my feed to get inspiration, relax and just enjoy the beauty and simplicity of photography! Not to toot my own horn too much, but I am actually very proud of my Instagram account as it is nearing in on 5,000 followers! I think the reason my account has been doing so well lately has to do with the extra effort I put into it and of course, a few helpful tips I have picked up since first starting out!
1. Don’t be afraid to use a DSLR or Compact Camera!
When Instagram first launched, the novelty of the app was wrapped up in the fact that you could capture images on your iPhone and then add these cool filters to your images to give them a cool vintage or film camera vibe! I think the novelty of that soon wore off when people began to see that the best way to get a lot of likes on your photos was to use a DSLR or compact camera to shoot, edit your photos in Photoshop and then post them to Instagram! Now, iPhone purists would say Instagram is meant for iPhone/Smartphone photos, but the truth is, you can take any image and post it, and it is becoming increasingly popular for people to use a higher end camera to take their pictures. If you are trying to grow your account or have a business you want to promote through Instagram, using a higher end camera is really a must! Not 100% of the time, but definitely using a better camera to shoot most of your images is a good idea for marketing sake! Now, I know it can seem like a pain to pull out another camera and then have to upload your images to a computer to edit before uploading to Instagram, but don’t worry, I have a solution for that! At the end of 2014, I actually purchased a wifi SD card, the Toshiba Flash Air, that goes into my camera and pairs with my iPhone so that I can quickly and easily upload my photos from my DSLR to my iPhone, no computer needed! Then I use some of my favorite iPhone editing apps to tweak the photo before I post to IG, it’s super simple and the SD card was very reasonably priced and a great quality- I would highly recommend it!
2. Lighting is VERY important.
Few things can ruin a great photo like bad lighting! I think that is probably the biggest issue I ever see on Instagram is an image that is underlit and/or has the wrong color balance, usually because the photographer has tried to up the brightness artificially within an app! Although I do tend to up my brightness a tad with applications, I always try my hardest to start with an image that is properly lit. Make sure you are using the best natural lighting you can find, or go ahead and use a lamp or studio lights to make sure your image is bright straight from the SD card! If you are in a bind and out and about, try using your iPhone’s built in flashlight feature (or a real flashlight) to help add lighting to a scene by bouncing the light off a reflective or light-colored surface onto your subject. If that isn’t a possibility, or you’re shooting a dark scene on purpose, try to use settings on your camera (like ISO or pre-programmed night scenes) to help properly balance the lighting and color in the image!
3. Use color saturation to help your image pop.
Now, let me preface this by saying that I try to be as conservative as possible when it comes to adding any effects to an image, but I find that something simple like bumping up the saturation a little bit can really help an image pop. In terms of built-in Instagram filters that help boost saturation, Lo-Fi, Hefe and X-Pro II are probably my favorite for this within the app, or else I use Afterlight which is one of my favorite photo editing apps!
4. Go easy on the filters.
Like I mentioned in the previous point, I try to be as conservative as possible when it comes to filters and added effects. Although that “authentic film camera” look was a popular feature for Instagram that lead to it’s rise, I think now, for the most part, people are over the lomography look. Don’t feel compelled to always use a filter if your image doesn’t require it and only use a filter if you think it enhances an image, as opposed to using a filter to mask the fact that your image wasn’t the great to begin with. This is especially true of HDR filters. HDR was hot in like the early 2000s, but now it just looks incredibly dated. If you aren’t familiar with HDR images, here are a few cringe-worthy examples to help bring you up to speed. I’m sure once you see the examples, you will know what I’m talking about!
5. Consider composition before shooting.
The final tip I have for making the most of your Instagram photos is to consider the composition of the image you are trying to capture. Instagram provides a “rule of thirds” on-screen guide to help you manage your composition, and I think not enough people pay attention to that feature! Unless absolutely necessary, try not to center your subject in the middle of your image, play around with it’s location in the shot and work with different and exciting angles that may add interest to the photo! I won’t go into how to do this too much in this post, but I will refer you to my Photography Tips post where I discuss this more in-depth and give examples to illustrate how to properly compose an image!
Okay, that is it! Just a few simple tips to help you make the most of your Instagram photos! Make sure to go ahead and leave your Instagram handle down in the comments so I can check our your accounts, and also be sure to follow me on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat if you aren’t already and help me get to 5,000!
With so many of you that tell me on a day-to-day basis how much my work has inspired you to live a more productive and organized life, I got to thinking that I should perhaps share with you all the people, specifically, the women, that inspire me. I definitely go through phases where I become very interested in and inspired by the work of certain notable women, but for the most part, I find that I keep coming back to the same ladies and their work over and over again. So, here is a collection of 10 awesome females that I believe all millennial women should know!
You really have to be living under a rock to not know about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, her controversial book, Lean In, and her work promoting and supporting the roles of women in executive positions through her foundation Lean In.org. Sheryl Sandberg has been everywhere since her book released in 2013 and she has become something of the unofficial face of women in leadership, opening up an important dialogue within the U.S.
Marie Forleo is a very awesome lady whose work I just recently discovered early in 2014. Known predominantly for her eponymous website and business coaching practice, Marie is definitely a mover and a shaker, rubbing elbows with Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins and Sir Richard Branson to name a few. Through her weekly web series, Marie helps inspire her audience of entrepreneurial women with refreshing candor and a hit of sass! Oh, and did I mention she’s from Jersey? What can I say, she’s my type of lady!
3. Malala Yousafzai
Seventeen year old Malala Yousafzai has been making major waves on the international scene for years through her human rights advocacy and especially her support for the education and advancement of women in her native country of Pakistan. In 2014 Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Prize, making her the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious honor. This brave young woman already has accomplishments galore under her belt, and the world can only expect more great things to come from her in the future!
So when you think of Felicia Day you probably think, geek girl, gamer, actress, writer, but what you should be thinking is web media innovator. In case you didn’t realize it, back in 2012 Felicia launched Geek & Sundry, a Youtube Channel featuring a laundry list of popular web series’ and has basically carved out a nice piece of the new media pie for herself, but then she turned around and sold that pie two years later after turning one single YouTube channel into a media entity in and of itself! She is one savvy multi-talented business woman who is building her media empire, brick by brick!
Do you ever find yourself pining for a younger, more tech savvy version of Martha Stewart that would be accessible to the modern millennial women? Well, clearly you haven’t been acquainted with Brit Morin! As an entrepreneur and modern business woman, Brit has built up a lifestyle brand akin to Martha but with a twist. She is something of a digital homemaker with not only her own popular website and shop, but also her subscription based DIY box service that gives millennial women a creative outlet in their busy, often stressful lives! I’ve been following Brit for years back since the days where she was blogging under her maiden name and working for Apple & Google, and I have to say that it has been very exciting watching the progression of her brand into what it has become today, and I know there will be so much more in store for her in the future.
As the daughter of international businessman Carlos Ghosn, Caroline Ghosn clearly comes from a background of wealth and privilege, but instead of using her families money and connections to get herself into parties, play dress up and live in lala land like some other privileged socialites might, she graduated from college and started her own business in her early twenties; Levo League. You have probably seen me talk about Levo before, I’ve written articles for their site and really love the work they do helping young women connect and network with resources and mentors that will help them advance personally and professionally. Although Levo is a new company and still rather small, I have seen them take on massive projects and make such an impact already that it is exciting to see what will come next!
Carly Zakin & Danielle Weisberg are two names on this list that I expect you are most likely unfamiliar with. In fact, I myself am still not familiar with their names although I enjoy their work and product on a daily basis. Carly and Danielle are the founders of one of my favorite email subscriptions, Skimm.com, a daily email that catches you up on the important news of the day. As someone who doesn’t really read the news (I know, it’s not something I’m proud of) their service has really helped me keep an eye on important events around the globe by providing a skimmed down summary of the important facts, key players and possibly impacts. Oh, and did I mention this is a free service? Well, it is, so you really have no excuse not to become an informed and educated citizen, thanks to Carly & Danielle!
Gabby Bernstein is one of my personal favorite modern spiritualists. By day, she is a motivational speaker, author and life coach, but really, the thing that makes her stand out to me is that she is a spiritual thinker, yogi, and all around kick-ass lady! You may have seen me talk about her latest book Miracles Now, which I love, it’s basically a how-to guide to solve life’s little (and not so little) problems in the moment by changing your mindset and using your body’s natural energy to help you live a better life. I always love thinkers that really seem to practice what they preach, and to me, Gabby is one of those authentic, do gooder types who works to empower people through spiritual methods rather than through gimicky or commercial means. She is just one of those people who really inspires you to live a better life by embracing love and light in your own life and letting go of all those insignificant things that often times trip us up. She’s definitely one to watch if you are into spirituality, meditation, yoga, and self-help!
I really thought that this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning an inspiration woman who is part of the U.S. political system. Wendy Davis is a former Texas State Senator who came to national popularity when she took a stand on women’s rights and stood for an eleven hour-long filibuster to block a Senate Bill that would place harsh regulations on women’s reproductive rights in Texas. Now, no matter your political affiliation and no matter your stance on abortion and reproductive rights, you have to admit that one single woman standing up against the political system in one of the largest states in America and facing huge amounts of opposition for her actions is really, honestly, amazing! You really need a plethora of courage and strength to do what she did, and although her actions weren’t successful in preventing the legislation from passing, she did manage to bring national attention to the issue and help open a dialogue in support of the right’s of all women, and for that I think she is pretty awesome!
I hope this article helped introduce you to an awesome and inspirational woman who you may not have been familiar with before and if it did, please let me know in the comments below. If you have other great women that you draw inspiration from I would love to hear about them as well. Perhaps you can introduce me to someone great as well!
Since we are now in the very beginning of January and I know many of you are probably pondering resolutions for the year as well as any projects and other goals you want to accomplish throughout 2015, I thought now would be the perfect time to share with you all my project planning and goal tracking process. As you may already know, I do use my personal sized Filofax planner to house and organize all my projects and goals for the year. You may even be familiar already with my printable project planning bundle that I sell in my shop and designed specifically to help myself (and others!) outline and monitor their projects in a productive way. If you haven’t seen my project planning bundle yet, feel free to check it out for yourself.
Now, when it comes to projects and goals, I think people tend to approach each of these items differently because they do tend to be different in nature. When it comes to projects, I view them as a collection or series of tasks necessary to complete in order to come to a desired outcome. In my opinion, projects usually arise as a result of external factors in our lives that prompt us to undertake these tasks. For example, you may find that the majority of your projects come from places like work, your household or even community needs. Since projects are often externally driven, I believe that we often feel a lot of pressure or stress to complete these tasks because usually someone other than ourselves is counting on the completion of the project. Goals on the other hand are things we as individuals work towards with the hopes of accomplishing. I find that goals are usually internally driven and very personal in nature and because of this, I believe we often put our own goals aside or on the back burner to other projects because the completion of our goals only affect us on a personal level. Therefore, I find that goals are usually the first thing to fall to the wayside when life gets busy because they can sometimes feel like something of a selfish pursuit. The truth of the matter is, that both projects and goals should be approached with the same system of organization in order to identify, plan and execute them to completion. No matter whether you are working on a project for work or trying to reach the goal of running a marathon, the same basic planning structure applies and neither a project nor a goal is any less valid no matter the factors surrounding it’s existence!
Okay, so let’s move on to the nuts & bolts of my project planning system. This isn’t any sort of revolutionary system by any means, and I certainly can’t take credit for doing anything other than developing it to fit my own needs, but it does work very well for me, and I thought if it works for me, it could work for you!
Step 1: Brainstorming
The first part of my project planning system is brainstorming. This shouldn’t be confused with brain dumping, because in a brain dump you are simply moving information stored in your mind onto paper (or another trusted input system) in order to store the information, reflect and review later. Brainstorming is like the opposite of a brain dump, because with a brainstorm you start with an empty mind and actively populate ideas. In order to do so, it can often help to first complete a brain dump so that your mind isn’t focused on holding on to any other ideas or plans already stored there, and you can focus simply on the act of creating ideas.
Tip 1: Define your problem
When you begin a brainstorm it is important to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve or what problem you are trying to solve. You need to be specific here and think about the who, what, where, when, why and how of your problem so that you can approach it from every direction.
Tip 2: Envision the ideal outcome
When brainstorming, it is important to know what the ideal outcome is for your problem. We are talking best case scenarios only! Don’t negotiate your ideal down to something diluted, but focus on exactly what it is that you want to happen. Don’t be afraid to dream big. As one of my favorite quotes says “Reach for the Stars, for even if you fail, you’ll land amongst the Heavens.” When you are brainstorming it’s a great idea to think like an overachiever! I follow this rule of thumb myself and I never fail to produce great things even if I don’t quite make it as far as I dared.
Tip 3: Track all thoughts
Start writing down any idea that comes to mind, no matter how small, how right or how wrong it sounds. I suggest doing this with sticky notes or index cards, because these will help you to organize all your thoughts later.
Tip 4: Brainstorm early & often
It’s never too early to brainstorm solutions to a problem that may have just arisen or even to brainstorm solutions to problems that you are anticipating. The more time you spend brainstorming and the more sessions you undertake, the better your ideas will get and the more prepared you will be to undertake the project!
Step 2: Organizing plans and ideas
Once you have spent a sufficient time brainstorming, it’s time to organize your ideas! If you used sticky notes or note cards as I suggested, this process will be easier for you, but make sure to keep a few extra supplies around because you may still have some more though processing to do!
Tip 1: Lay it all out in front of you
Literally, lay all your cards with ideas and plans and information in front of you and take a good hard look at everything.
Tip 2: Discover the Hierarchy of Ideas
Once you have spent time reviewing your ideas, you will start to notice a natural hierarchy of ideas emerge from your notes. You will see ideas you like, ideas you don’t like and you can begin the organization process by grouping these items into a logical order. Ask yourself as you do this if you see any gaps in information, if so, pull out another sticky note or index card and fill in the blank!
Tip 3: Do not discard any ideas
It is very important that during this process you do not discard any ideas, no matter how bad they may seem. Why? Sometimes good ideas can spring forth from bad ideas. Often time I find that by looking at the wrong answer, your mind naturally comes to understand what the right answer is, almost like a process of elimination. When you know what doesn’t work, you have eliminated a possibility and can therefore focus on what does work! Another reason to keep around those seemingly bad ideas is because although an idea may be bad for one project, it may actually work for another or give you a great idea for a totally different project. While you’re brainstorming, you seriously have no clue what is going to pop up but your brain gave you the idea for a reason, so give it some time before you decide that it’s not worth pursuing.
Tip 4: Give your ideas time to process
Project planning and organizing ideas isn’t something that should be rushed. I say to brainstorm early and often for a reason, because thoughts need time to process and stew in your mind. Even after your ideas have been organized into their proper hierarchy and gaps have been filled, you still never know what inspiration is going to pop up once you give your ideas time to grow. So, how do you know when you have given enough time to your ideas so you can begin to project plan? Well, I find that there are two things that happen to me when I am ready to move on to the next phase in this process. First off, I find that I begin to feel confidence in my ideas. It’s like a gut check with me, if I feel uneasy with my ideas, they need more time, but if I start feeling confident and excited, I know it’s time to move forward. Finally, when I begin to see that my ideas are following a very logical order, I know it’s time to move on because my ideas make sense, and that is really what you want from this process.
Step 3: Planning
Once your ideas are in order, you can proceed with the actually planning portion of the project planning system. Novel, ain’t it?
Tip 1: Process your ideas into actions
Once you have all your good ideas in front of you, you need to process them into actual actionable items. After all, a project plan is nothing if you don’t have actions associated with your ideas.
Tip 2: Fill out a project planning page
I like to keep track of my projects with a project planning page because it provides a nice overview of your project at a glance. The project planning pages I use come from a set on my shop that are sized for a Filofax, either personal or A5! The project planning page houses all the important information regarding the project.
Tip 3: Note deadlines and timeframes
On the action list of the project planning page, I make sure to note deadlines for tasks as well as provide a general time frame for their completion. This helps me when it comes time to undertake a task to understand the time commitment required.
Tip 4: Keep track of resources
When it comes to project planning, we often need outside resources or other materials to reference in order to complete tasks. The project planning pages I use have a special section for this so I can list out everything I need to reference or anyone I need to contact or work with to complete tasks.
Tip 5: Move projects to the Yearly tracker
My project planning bundle also includes a yearly tracker broken down by month of the year as well as spaces for short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. I consider a short-term goal to be something that can be completed in 1 month, a mid-term goal to be something I can complete in 1-3 months and a long-term goal to be something I need 6 months or more to complete. Once my projects are outlined in the project planning pages, I move them into my yearly tracker in their appropriate time frame so I can see everything I have going on in my life, project wise, throughout the course of the year.
Step 4: Implementation
Once your project or goal is planned out and organized, the most important part is still ahead of you and that is actually getting things done!
Tip 1: Schedule action steps into your calendar
I use a specific month at a glance insert to track my project tasks. This page (which is available alone in my shop or as part of the project planning bundle) is broken down into two parts. On one side of the page are the days of the month listed out one per line, and on the alternate side is a column of task boxes. I use the dated side to track tasks that have a specific due date or deadline and the side with the check boxes to list out all other tasks that belong to that month. That way when it is time for me to work on a project, I have a list of my next actions ready to go and I don’t have to spend any extra time looking up what I have to do! When an item is completed from this list, I check it off on the monthly page as well as on the project planning page.
Tip 2: Transfer tasks to a weekly or daily spread as needed
Sometimes tasks are very important and I need to make sure I don’t miss them, so I will move them onto my weekly pages to ensure completion. This is just an additional step I take that helps me to plan my workload for the week. Normally I will either add these items to a specific day that they need to be done on or leave them as a general task to be completed at some point during the week. Either way, having it front in center on my weekly view keeps it on the top of my list!
So that is my project planning and goal tracking system in a nutshell. This is quite a long post, so I won’t keep you any longer. If you didn’t happen to make it through the whole post, don’t worry, I did make a YouTube video on the subject as well to go along with this post in case you preferred to watch me in action instead of read a long form article!
Of course, if you did make it through the post, let me know what you thought of my process. Is this something that you may find helpful to you as you begin to plan your projects for the year? Do you use a similar method or another system all together? I would love to hear about how you plan out your projects especially if you use a Filofax based system as well!
Hello Everyone and Welcome to 2015! I have to admit, I have been anxious for 2015 to arrive for quite some time now, as I’ve been craving the fresh start that the New Year brings. For what feels like the first time in a long time, I feel like my internal clock is finally in time with the real world because we both hit the reset button at midnight! In reality of course, there is nothing new or special about January 1st that wasn’t already there December 31st— it’s just another day— but the new year gives us reason to pause and evaluate our situations and mental baggage and decide what is going with us into 2015 and what is staying behind in 2014. If you had a rough year for one reason or another and have been feeling weighed down by pressure, stress or negativity that resided in 2014, now is the time to let it go (queue the ice queen)! Get a piece of paper out and a pen and write down whatever it was that happened (or didn’t happen) in 2014, all the negative emotions you have associated with the year and describe them on paper. Spill your guts as they say onto the paper in whichever style you prefer (journal, bullet point, sonnet, etc) and as you write feel yourself unpacking those events and feelings onto the paper like a mental inventory. When you’re done fold up your piece of paper into a nice little square and write 2014 on the outside. Now, I want you to dispose of this paper square in whichever means you find most convenient or cathartic. Burn it (safety), flush it down the toilet, rip it up into little pieces, send it through the shredder, take it outside and step on it, roll over it with your car, whatever will make you feel like you are destroying that paper and disposing of it along with all the mental and emotion baggage that was unpacked onto it!
Now, if you had a great year in 2014, or if you had some great moments and happy positive feelings, memories, etc that are associated with the year, I want you to perform the same example of writing it down, but this time in a more positive and permanent place. A page in your planner, a document on your phone, a notepad in your office, wherever you can write these good feelings down that is more permanent, do it! Why? Because I want you to be able to look at this list and reference it as you enter into 2015. Do you need to keep it all year? If you’d like, but really I just want you to have a record of all the good things from the previous year that you want to migrate with you into the new one. This list is going to be filled with all the emotions and memories you want to continue to manifest and live on in 2015! Okay, so what if you feel like you didn’t have any good moments in 2014 or any happy memories or positive feelings associated with the year? Well, if you feel that way, what I want you to do is write a wish list of events, emotions, positive moments you would love to achieve in 2015. Try to go into detail as much as possible and include a short brainstorm of things you can do or actions you can take in the new year that you believe will help you to achieve these happy thoughts. Use these as part of your resolutions or think of them as a blueprint for an action plan for 2015 and work them into your planner for the year. Like actually schedule out things to do on specific days to help you reach those happy feelings you want to manifest in 2015. If need be, get friends and family involved by sharing part of your wish list with them and explaining how they can help you achieve these goals by their support or cooperation. Remember, this is your list, so ultimately you are responsible for it, however, sharing with those close to you that can lend support and encouragement is a great way to help motivate and keep yourself in check!
I hope this little exercise is helpful for you as we move into 2015. Remember, I’m all about this year being the best year of your life (and mine!) and if you want to keep that message at the forefront of your mind as well, make sure to grab a set of my tech wallpapers for your gadgets! In case you were also unaware, I just recently added a new printable product to my Shop, a set of 2015 Monthly Journaling Cards. They are an elegant month at a glance design that you can keep in your planner to help with no-spend months, photo challenges, health or life tracking, etc, or use in a scrapbook or project life spread! Since they are printable, you can go ahead and print as many as you need each month for various projects! Of course, if you’re still in need of a new calendar system for your Filofax or equivalent planner system, make sure to also check out my offerings for Monthly, weekly, and daily planner pages, as well as my selection of task trackers and project planning inserts that will help make your life more organized and your goals more achievable in 2015! Oh and don’t forget to download my January free insert, a Resolution a Day to test out a variety of popular resolutions in January to narrow down your own!
Well, like I said earlier, I have been anxious for this year to begin and perhaps you have been too, so I will let us go now so we can go ahead and make out our lists and action plans and get to work making 2015 the best year yet!
I have been getting a ton of questions from you all lately asking me if I am going to do another Free Filofax Printable for the month of January, and the answer is OF COURSE! I have actually been incredibly excited for this printable for a while because it is totally New Year’s themed.
Since January is right around the corner, I thought this insert would be the perfect opportunity to give you guys the task of testing out a different resolution each day of the month! Whether you are trying to get healthy, manage stress, change your job or save some cash, this insert has you covered. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely someone who has a hard time sticking to a resolution, so consider this your opportunity to try before you buy! Accomplish one task per day and by the end of the month you should have a better idea of which resolutions you want to stick with and which may need to be saved for next year! So what are you waiting for? Hop on over to my shop and download your free copy of A Resolution a Day and get your year started off with a bang!
Of course, if you do download my printable I would LOVE to see a picture of it at home in your planners, so make sure to snap a pic, upload it to Instagram and tag me, @MissTrenchcoat so I can check it out and leave you a like! I hope you all enjoy the printable and that all your wishes and resolutions come true in 2015! Cheers!
With precious few days left in 2014, I thought that it would be most appropriate for me to change-up my monthly favorites post and instead of talking about the things I loved in December, look back over the year and pick out my favorite things of 2014! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, 2014 was a year of great positive change for me and I feel like I have so much to be proud of as I look back throughout the year. It’s not so much physical objects or items that I will remember from this year, but mostly experiences and life changes that will define this time. Of course, there are some physical representations associated with some of these memories, and I can use those to help outline this very special edition of Editor’s Faves for 2014!
At the very end of 2013, I purchased my new laptop, Apple’s 11” Macbook Air! It has been an amazing tool for me this year in helping me to achieve my goals and major life changes. It has been a life saver having such a small and portable computer that makes it easy for me to get my tasks complete, my writing in order, and my images edited! You can definitely thank my Macbook Air for awesome projects like my free printables, my tech wallpapers and of course, my Shop!
This year I made a very large and very symbolic bag purchase to celebrate new success and opportunities to come for me in 2014! You may have seen this bag around, I did do a whole What’s in My Bag style post for it, dubbing it my Blogger’s Bag and I think it has been something of a lucky charm for me. Back in April when I first chose the bag, it was a large purchase, but one I needed to make in order to celebrate how far my blog and I had come and to really mark this time in my life as one where I was serious about my online entrepreneurship goals. A month later I went full-time with my blog, and now as I write this at the cusp of a new year and look back through my stats and my accomplishments for 2014, I know that bag was just a symbol of what was to come!
5. 2015 This Is Your Year Printable
You have probably already seen and downloaded your own free copy of my 2015 This Is Your Year Printable that I made for my personal sized Filofax. It was my new year rendition of a very inspirational 2014 version I had found on Pinterest and had tracked to a wonderful little Philadelphia based design blog called The Atelier. That 2014 image sat front in center in my planner for the majority of the year, acting as something of an inspiration board for my planner, filled with inspirational quotes and a powerful message and challenge that truly felt like it had been created for me! So, for 2015, I dreamed up my own version and bought it to life, and I hope that for 2015 it brings me the same motivation and drive as it’s predecessor! I truly believe that 2015 will be a year of great things, not just for myself but for you as well. So long as we keep a sensible head on our shoulders and our eyes fixed upon our goals, there is nothing we won’t achieve in 2015!
Not only is there a new month right around the corner, but in a few short days we come to the end of another year! What a fabulous year it has been for me! 2014 was filled with so many wonderful changes and exciting new adventures that I just cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store for me. Of course, it is also time for me to publish a new set of tech wallpapers for all your devices (laptop, tablet, smartphone etc)! So, I thought this time around I would design something meaningful to start the year off properly.
My Best Year of Your Life design is a refined black and bone pallet with a straight forward quote front and center. “This is going to be the best year of your life,” and you know what? It will be if you believe it! So, keep that thought at the front of your mind always with these high resolution wallpapers!
Desktop Background. Right click image to open in new page and save full resolution file.Smartphone Background. Right click image to open in new page and save full resolution file.Tablet Background. Right click image to open in new page and save full resolution file.
I hope you enjoy these free designs as much as I do and I truly hope they inspire you to make the most of your year from day one! If you do happen to enjoy these images, please make sure to send me a picture of your gadget all decked out and ready for 2015 via Instagram.
As the fall semester of most colleges and universities comes to a close, you may be taking a good hard look at your grades for the semester and wondering how you could have done better. If you are early in your college career, you may not yet have learned the best ways to maximize your time in class and in college as a whole, so I thought now would be the perfect time to share some tips about how to get more out of your college classes. Think about these tips as you head into winter break and get yourself a plan of action for the spring semester!
1. Show Up: Look, college isn’t like high school, you are actually paying to be there and believe it or not, the time spent in class can have a profound affect on your knowledge and understanding of the world. Make your best effort to show up to all your classes, and make sure to get there early to snag a great seat!
2. Sit in the front row or center aisle: Apparently, studies have shown that students that sit in either the front row or center aisle of a classroom score higher than their peers in other seats. Make this special T zone your permanent destination in every class.
3. Actively participate in class: Yep, classes can sometimes be boring and even though you are in college, there are still classes that you are required to take that may not interest you. But, you know what they say? Time flies when you’re having fun! So, actively engage in your classes, take copious amounts of notes and ask questions regularly to keep your brain working. This will result in more information retention for you and a much quicker and enjoyable experience all around.
4. Buddy up with your professors: Although some of your professors may seem big and scary, for the most part, they can be some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Now, I’m not saying that you need to hang out with your professor regularly, however, getting comfortable with them will drastically help you with your classes and workload, because you will feel more at ease asking them for help or advice. Plus, if you become friendly with professors in your major, they are more likely to write you great recommendation letters for grad school in the future or be a great reference for a resume!
5. Get your assignments done early: In most classes you will receive a syllabus on day one outlining all your assignments and their due dates for your class. If you stay on top of your work and get your papers and projects done early, you will be ahead of the curve. A week or two before that assignment is due, when your other classmates are just beginning their work, you can bring yours to your professor and ask them to review it for you before you hand in a final draft. This means you get feedback from your professor on your project or paper with enough time to make the necessary edits and hand in perfect A+ work!
With 2015 right around the corner, I thought it was about time that I shared with you all my planner setup for the upcoming year. Ever since the beginning of 2014 when I purchased my first filofax style planner, the large Mint Kikki K Time Planner, I have been searching for the ever elusive concept of Planner Peace. If you are not familiar, planner peace is essentially a state of organizational bliss where you have found the planner system that works best for you and are regularly using it to keep yourself organized! Well, it has been a long year, but I found peace at last with my pair of Fluoro Pink Originals; one in personal and the other A5. To go along with my two planners, I also have a supplementary third planner from Sugar Paper for Target, this lovely gold python number pictured above, that basically completes my planner needs for 2015! So, without further ado, let’s jump into my setup!
Let’s start smallest first, shall we? Although the Sugar Paper for Target pocket sized planner is the littlest member of the group, she certainly isn’t the least! This planner has a very specific purpose for me in 2015 as my only bound planner. This is going to be my food journal for the year!
As someone who tries to make sure they are keeping a food journal, I have found that I tend to keep my food journal entries all over the place, but now I have one dedicated spot with space enough for the details of my meals that is bound together in one compact little planner!
Next, moving on into my personal Fluoro pink, which is my every day carry planner! As I have explained in previous setups, my personal sized is my main planner, housing all the information for my in progress projects as well as keeping track of my tasks and calendar schedule! If you are familiar with my previous setups, you will know that not much as changed, but I would like to point out a few new additions! First of all is this custom personal information page I made for myself! I think it’s much cuter than the run of the mill info page I was using before.
The next major change to my personal sized is my calendar pages! I am currently using a month on two pages of my own design that you can purchase in my shop, as well as my custom week on one page insert. These two calendars contain my daily schedules with important information I need to keep track of.
After my calendar section, comes my yearly overview. For 2015, I made this lovely little printable filled with quotes and reminders to keep me on track and focused on what is most important to me throughout the year. If you would like this printable, click here to download your copy now!
The next major element of my yearly overview section is this year at a glance calendar that I downloaded from Philofaxy.com! Philofaxy is a great resource for planner lovers and they keep a library of free inserts that I love to use whenever I am interested in trying out a new layout or style! This yearly page is something I use to keep track of health related items like my workouts and weight.
The final element in my yearly overview section is my project planning and tracking inserts. They start off with a month on one page insert of my own design (available on my shop alone or as part of my project planning bundle). This insert keeps track of date specific as well as month specific tasks that relate to projects I have on my plate!
The next insert which is also part of my project planning bundle is my yearly goal tracker. This insert is another trifold like the year at a glance page, and is a place for me to keep track of my short-term, mid-term and long-term goals for the year!
Once my yearly goals are tracked in my yearly page, I break them down into manageable action steps within my project planning pages which round out my project planning bundle of inserts! If you like these inserts, feel free to check them out in my shop, they are available in both personal and A5 sizes.
After my yearly overview section comes my work section. The main focus of this section is my Blog & YouTube tracker pages that help keep me organized and focused on content for my blog and youtube channel. These inserts are also my own design and available on my shop as well! Other than these trackers, I also keep pages with lists of blog post and youtube video ideas within this section, as well as other work related items such as inserts and designs I want to create for my shop.
The next section of my planner is filled with miscellaneous and personal information and inspiration! Not much as changed in this section in comparison to previous set ups, however, one notable addition is my Pen Scratch Testing sheet, which is essential a piece of personal sized paper that I use to test pens when they stop writing. I have that problem a lot with my pens for some reason, so it is good to have a dedicated page in my planner where I don’t feel guilty scribbling to get my pens to start again!
The final section of my planner is a lists section where I keep, you guessed it, lists! Anything I need to write a list for is here in this section, and so I keep this divider stocked with a variety of notepaper and inserts. This To Do list above comes from a Garance Dore for Rifle Paper Company notepad that I absolutely adore!
Now, at the very end of my planner, I also like to keep a custom file folder in case I have any loose items that I need to store quickly! I used to use a two-pocket folder that I have a DIY File Folder video on, however, when I moved into my personal original, I found that it took up too much space so I made a slimmer pocket instead.
Well, now we have made it to the final element in my 2015 Planner System, my A5 Original! If you have seen my video on How to GTD with a Filofax & 43 Folders, you already know that I use this planner as a storage and organization system using the 43 Folders method.
Of course, technically, this is a 45 folders system because, as you can see in the image above, I actually have added two more folders to the mix; one as an inbox, and one as an outbox! The inbox is just a place for me to quickly stash away papers that I will later file into my 43 folders system when I am in a rush, and the outbox is a place where I keep things that need delegating or mailing.
So, after those first two folders, I actually have 12 file folders that I made using standard paper files, one for each month of the year. These folders act as catch alls for any paperwork or items that need to be processed in the month before I schedule the tasks to be completed on a specific day.
Following each monthly folder is also a custom made month on one page calendar where I can keep track of important events and information. On the flip side of this calendar I also have a master monthly checklist that helps me to keep track of items I have processed like bills and items that I need to remember!
In addition to the 12 monthly folders, I also have 31 tabbed pages, one for each of the maximum number of days in a month. Although these would also be files in the 43 Folders system, to save space in my planner, I just use a single sheet of A5 sized paper to represent each day of the month. Here I will stick notes or insert important paperwork that may be date sensitive. I will also distribute any items from the monthly folder to days of the month in order to manage and organize my workload! As you may be able to tell, this planner is less about tracking, and more about storing and organizing information that is not yet actionable, or is simply too large to be kept in my personal sized planner.
The final little touch in my A5 is one of my favorite notepads, this iPad tablet style notepad that I purchased from Walmart! I use this as extra notepaper if I need it, its a great size for this planner as it is about A5 size!
Now, of course I made a complete setup video on all of my planners! Here is the video linked above, and if you are interested in seeing a page by page flip through of these planners, feel free to check it out! I go into much more detail about elements in the system within the video, so definitely give it a watch when you have the time! Just a warning, it is a longer video because I am covering three planners within my system, so keep that in mind!
Well, that is it for my 2015 Planner System! Like I said, this is the system that has brought me to Planner Nirvana and I am so excited that I have a great system set up for 2015! If you have found planner peace, please let me know down in the comments what your setup is like or feel free to tag me in Instagram photos and even send me the link to your own setup video! I can’t wait to see what your planners and setups look like!
Every once in a while, I get an itch. A feeling like I want to do something I have never done before, perhaps I have seen an upswing in a certain trend that I had always admired, or just feel like I want to change something in my life in a big way. I get an urge for spontaneity and adventure, and that stereotypical “you only live once” mentality comes on. Of course, when I sit down to give good thought to the idea of dying my hair turquoise or getting a foot tattoo, two of the more prominent urges I often feel, I end up realizing that for me, those choices would be a mistake. There are plenty of opportunities I have missed throughout the years, regrets scattered here and there that I try not to give thought to, but these are the five things I’m glad I’ve never done!
1. Smoked: I’ll admit that when I was 18 I bought a pack of cigarettes just because I could! They were those super small and skinny girly cigarettes and I would sit with my father at his favorite bar and pretend to smoke them. “You’re not inhaling,” he’d notice. “Of course not,” I’d respond. “That’s what get’s you addicted!” He would proceed to laugh at me with a gang of other regulars, eventually coming to the conclusion that I was too smart for my own good. Coming from a family of smokers, I’m often surprised that I never actually took up smoking seriously, but then again, I always hated the smell of cigarette smoke and growing up it was definitely hammered into my brain by one too many after school specials that smoking was bad, just say no! I’m often surprised at the number of people my own age that smoke. I firmly believe it’s a result of peer pressure and a need to just fit in, but geez, sometimes I feel like people should just know better!
2. Got a tattoo: My father always told me that if I got a tattoo he would cut it off me with a knife, but when my younger brother proceeded to cover his body with them, not much of an argument was raised beyond an opinion of their ridiculousness. In college I had a bunch of friends that had tattoos, little marks here and there that were easy to hide with clothing or in places that were not commonly exposed. I gave great thought to the idea of getting a tattoo, and I still sometimes think that if they ever come up with an ink that is able to be removed in a single laser removal appointment, that I just might. But, for now, I am glad I’ve never put a drop of ink into my skin!
3. Been promiscuous: Apparently one of the trademarks of my generation is that of promiscuity. It’s common for teenage girls to lose their virginity to a random high school boyfriend and then follow it up with a series of lovers through college and into formal adulthood. I, however, being the good little Catholic girl I was raised to be, abhorred the idea of casual sex. Not only do I find it to be gross, but I don’t understand nor do I believe that people, women really, can separate the act of physical love with the emotion side of it all. I believe that casual sex as a form of sexual freedom is a lie that promiscuous girls tell themselves and others to legitimize and rationalize their acts, and I believe men exploit this for their own ends. Now, I may not have been a virgin when I got married, but I’m proud that I was able to rise above the pressures most girls face and reserve that part of myself for the few true relationships I have had in my life.
4. Dramatically changed my hair: For the majority of my life, I have had long, dark brown hair. When I was younger, I hated it. It was too thick, extremely curly and impossible to manage in middle school. I desperately wanted to go blonde and made several attempts that resulted in a reddish/copper toned mane that was far from platinum blonde. Once my hair had returned to a more neutral hue later in my high school years, I made the discovery of a lifetime. The Chi! Yes, a hair straightener that acted like a magic wand, changing my hair from big and frizzy to sleek and soft gave my relationship with my hair a fresh start! After that, I began to enjoy my thick dark locks in a way I never had before, growing it out long and lovely. I am often told that I would look good with this or that certain shorter cut, but I wouldn’t dare change it dramatically, I just love it too much. Likewise I often see images of girls with lovely pastel and rainbow toned hair and think to myself “well, I work for myself now, I could dye my hair turquoise without fear,” but the end result is always that I refuse to change one single hair on my head!
5. Followed the crowd: From a young age I distinctly remember realizing that following the crowd was not the way to happiness. Yes, I always wanted to fit in and be accepted at school and such, but I never felt like I needed to do xy or z in order to be accepted. So, for the most part, I was always a little bit of an outsider. I had friends and I wanted them to like me, but not at the expense of my own internal compass. To be honest, there were times when going it my own way was a little tough, I still find it hard to fit in 100% in certain social situations and I go out of my way for people because I am a self-proclaimed people pleaser, but when I did something, I did it my way, and as far as I can tell, this was the best approach to take. It took me years to realize that going it my own way and being comfortable with myself and my beliefs actually made other people envious of my freedom. I may have been on the outside, but when your standing out on your own, its much easier for other people to see you!
I hope that at least some part of this post resonated with you. Let me know in the comments which things you agree or disagree with. I’d love to know your opinion!
