…But do you have the right planner?! (Quick Pep Talk)

I hope you enjoy the new, old format of my weekly Quick Pep Talks. To hear two words that will help you change your life this year, watch above.

But in case you’re curious, I do have a word for the year, which I’ll share later, and like I said in the video, a goal for each section of my life which I list as:

Faith, Marriage, Family, Health, Finances, Friends, Career, Home, and Fun. But the details of my word and my goals are for a different post.

Since the video talked about planners, I wanted to share that I’ve recovered from obsessive planner buying and I do in fact have an actual planning system now. This “system” has helped me produce literally hundreds of videos, hundreds of posts, and thousands of images in the past 2-3 years. Plus, regular live streams, trips around the country with my gear, facilitation of multiple crew members in different cities,  and you know, do laundry, make dinner, pick up toys, just living my best glam (and pretty productive) life.

1. The Notes App on my iPhone – Literally my whole life. If I lose my phone days since a back up, I’m effed. This is where I put every single passing idea.Like when that guy set off a sound sensor on one of those singing bass fish things in the quiet home decor section of the store and literally ran away because he couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. That’s funny, I can use that. Goes in my Random Ideas note.I have different notes for different things that I update sometimes hourly: To buy, funny things my kid says I don’t want to forget, passwords, Instagram posts and hashtags, books to read, it goes on and on.
2. Google Tasks – Projects that I need to get to sometime soon. I LOVE that they have a little checkmark and get crossed off, but don’t go away altogether, so I have the satisfaction of seeing how hard I’m crushing it. This is JUST projects, not sub items within a project.
3. Dump Notebook – This is where I mindmap ideas brainstorm the little one liners from my phone. I also make project-specific to do lists as I’m working, for example my tasks window will say “Jan 2 Quick Pep Talk” and my notebook will have a running list of all the subtasks.I get a new dump notebook for each year but I haven’t bought 2018’s yet. I prefer the Punctuate brand from Barnes & Noble (I can’t find a link but they’ve had this notebook in different cover designs for about three years in stores.) It’s big enough, lays flat without spirals, and has the elastic to hold my place or hold my crap together (because I usually have a pencil or pen and 20 or so crumpled post-it notes tucked in there.)
4. Boring Monthly Planner – I need a large monthly spread to look at a few weeks at a glance. When are videos dropping? Am I giving myself enough space in between videos? Which days am I traveling? and so on. I got this planner at Target. I can’t find a link to it?! Is Mercury in retrograde and what exactly does it mean if it is?!
5. Trello – When my assistant and intern get in on a project outside of our ongoing tasks, we use Trello to track it all. For example, redesigning this site and merging The Pursuit website with this one. We don’t have to have trello boards for interviews anymore. We have that down to an art now. We fancy. You can set up trello fo free!
6. Google Calendar Time Blocking But Just Barely – Most of the people I interview who run brands or create a lot of content use time blocking. I put a time block on my calendar with an alarms for one thing, every single day: 4pm – workout. I need to see it pop up on my phone.  It just helps me. I’m weak, y’all. I plan to add more of these into my schedule but I don’t know that I want my phone buzzing more than it already is, so I’m testing this.

Oh the things I do NOT do…

This seems like a lot because I’m long a winded and self-indulgent writer, but I promise it is not.

I don’t time block my days, I don’t have a first 5 minute thing, or a last five minute thing, or a Sunday night thing.

You know what I do have? A toddler.

I don’t use timer apps, I don’t have daily Asana or Trello boards, I don’t ever have inbox zero. Life is too short for that kind of pressure. I have inbox hot mess erryday and that’s fine. I don’t have a planner that tracks shopping lists and water intake, I need the freedom of a good ol’ notebook.

I hope this inspires you that you can become a productive, high-functioning member of society with a SIMPLE, somewhat messy “system.” Find what works for you so that you can stick with that you intend to do in each area of your life. If you’re interested in the planner I created called the LIVE Life Planner 2018 – watch the quick pep talk, above!

Love this? Leave a comment on the Facebook post and let me know.

REAL LIFE, in case you thought I had a perfect, pretty white desk and I’m not still a mess while crazy productive: