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Letter from the Editor: Welcome to 2015!

Welcome to 2015

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 1^st that wasn’t already there December 31^st— 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!

xoxo,

Filofax

A Resolution a Day {Free Printable}

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!

xoxo,

lifestyle

2014 Editor’s Faves {Filofax, Gadgets, Blogging & More}

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!

1. Paper Planners

I discovered and went through multiple paper planners in 2014. First, my Mint Kikki K Time Planner, then the Kate Spade Zip Wellesselly, an A5 Fluoro Pink, a Lavender Kikki K, and finally a Personal Filofax Fluoro Pink! I wrote a lot about planners this year, how to decorate them and make them your own, how wonderful the community for planners online is, various set up posts and videos. Of course, you can go back into my Filofax archives for a read down memory lane!

2. Macbook Air 11”

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!

3. Canon EOS Rebel T5i and 50mm 1.8 Lens

Another welcome addition to my gadget collection this year was my new DSLR, the Canon EOS Rebel T5i. I have written about this wonderful camera already, but it bears repeating that because of this awesome little tool, I have really been able to bump up the quality of my images, something I really have enjoyed and I know that you have too! Over 4.3k subscribers on Instagram can’t be wrong!

4. Phillip Lim 3.1 Pashli Satchel

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!

So, what do you say we make 2015 The Best Year of Our Lives? I do hope you’ll join me for the ride!

xoxo,

Filofax

31 Days of Merriment & Cheer {Free Printable}

Hello Friends & Happy Thanksgiving Eve! It’s Wednesday and I am here in a special mid-week extra blog post to share with you all my latest free Filofax printable insert! As I have been doing in previous months, I created a monthly to do list filled with seasonal and holiday driven items called 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer! This personal sized insert is now available over on my Shop as an instant download! I wanted to make sure I got it up before the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving started, so that you had the time to print and decorate yours before December begins!

Now, after creating my first two monthly printables, I received some good feedback from some of you that you preferred for me to leave off the seasonal icons and images I was including in these printables because for some of you the images didn’t pertain (i.e. Turkeys and Cornucopias on my 30 Days of Thankfulness Printable, since those of you outside the U.S. don’t celebrate Thanksgiving). Since December is a time of multiple holidays and many seasonal events, I thought it would be best for me to leave this insert blank of any decorations, as you had suggested, leaving room for you to break out your own washi tapes and stickers and add whatever special icons and images help you to express your love of the season in your own way! Now, I don’t plan to leave extra decorations off all of my future printables, but I am going to make sure I give more thought to my global audience for these inserts from now on! Again, thank you all so much for your feedback, because it really does help me to create things that are more useful for you!

So, go ahead and jump on over to my Shop and get your free printable now! And while you are there, make sure to take a look around at my other printable inserts because I am constantly adding new designs and you may find something new that you haven’t seen before! Enjoy the printable and for all of you celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

lifestyle organization Productivity Solutions

Filofax Organization Tips

It’s no secret that I have been totally obsessed with Filofax’s for the last few weeks ever since I ordered my Kikki K Planner! In case you haven’t noticed, I call any and all of these 6 ring binder systems “Filofax’s” even though the term Filofax is a specific brand. It just helps me mentally distinguish between these 6 ring binders and other types of bound and spiral planners and agendas available. On top of my large Kikki K binder that is the equivalent to the A5 Filofax size, I also have a personal sized Kate Spade planner as well that has taken on the bulk of my day to day organization. Since I now work out of two Filo’s, I have been amassing different tips and tricks that I have found helpful as a new user. Here are some of the tips I use on a day to day basis to help keep my system organized!

Use old gift cards to easily store lengths of washi tape in the card slots of your Filofax. Simply wrap the tape around the card a few times and you can have a sample of washi with you at all times.
Use A-Z tabs to organize notes by topic for easy access. I do this in my Kate Spade planner and it helps me when filing and referring back to important notes or lists.
Use colored printer paper as scrap paper that will easily stand out against the white and creme of your regular inserts. It’s more affordable than using up Filofax or any other branded note paper.
Use sticky notes or page flags to enter in tentative plans to your calendar before committing to them in ink. This has been a lifesaver for me because my plans change all the time and I hate having to scratch things out.
Mark frequent reoccurring events with color coding dots. I tend to use them in my month on two page view, but you can use them however you see fit!
Tabs and dividers do not have to be arranged down the right side of your binder. Top and even, bottom tabs are also helpful ways to break up your sections and different information.
If you want to keep your work and personal calendars separate, try using more than one calendar style, one for each so everything has a place.
Create your own divided files for any large pockets in your Filofax using notecards or card stock. This will help to keep stickers, coupons, cash and more safety organized and contained.
Using a full sip Filofax as a wallet/planner combo is a great way to minimize the bulk in your bag! My Kate Spade planner is a full zip and sometimes I will run to the store with just my planner and a few cards stashed inside along with any shopping lists or reminders!
Using a multicolor pen can help you color code without having to carry around multiple pens. The Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto Pens even have pencil inserts.
Use a magnetic paperclip or binder clip to hold together past calendar pages to keep them contained. This also makes it easy to flip to the first clear page.
Wrangle loose or small items in a clear zip lock pocket (usually sold separately).
If you don’t decorate on the go, leave stickers and excess supplies at home. Don’t feel the need to carry around excess stationary just because its pretty.
If you have handwritten notes that you refer back to often, type them up to save space and punch them into your Filofax (you can print smaller than you write).
Archive notes and calendar pages often if you don’t need them with you. You can use a secondary Filofax to store archived pages or even a box.

I hope you have learned something new from some of these tips. Which tips are your favorite and which other tips do you rely on to keep your Filofax planner system organized? Please feel free to share them in the comments below!