3 Things You Need In You Planner

Simply owning and even using a planner doesn’t automatically make you more organized and productive.

It would be awesome if it did, but how you use a planner and what you put in it are even more important.

Now, exactly what that is, is going to look different for each person because we are not all the same obviously.

But there are some basics that every person should include in some way or another that will turn their planner into the powerful tool it can be.

1-Master, monthly, weekly and daily todo lists

You use your planner to plan your days so it only makes sense that the todo lists you choose your tasks from, be inside. Its a lot easier to track, manage and refer to your various todo lists when they are only the flip of a page away from where you are planning your day.

2-Goal planning and scheduled tasks

Want to know a secret to achieving your goals? Keep your goal planning inside your planner! This was game changer for me because it kept me super focused on my goals. Before I would often set and forget but now the goal plan and the tasks I have identified are right at my fingertips and in front of my eyes on a daily basis, with no extra effort from me.

I know what you are going to say, where the heck do you find a planner that has space for this?!

I get it, I never was able so I created my own! The Life Book planner is a complete goal planner and day planner in one, with built in features for all your todo lists, habit tracking, meal and exercise planning and of course goal planning and more! Learn more about it here.

Or take it for a free test drive here with the free one month printable version.

3-A clear daily plan (not just a to-do list!)

A todo list is not a complete plan. You planner needs more then your appointments, meetings or to do list. A plan is a layout of all the things you have going on in your day, from school drop offs, to meals you are cooking, to business meetings, to tasks you are doing.

Now, I strongly feel that you don’t need to create a plan that MUST be followed to the letter or that doesn’t allow for freedom and flexibility. But in order to be able to accomplish what you desire, you need a clear idea of all the things going on in your world.

I also DO NOT recommend planning your day down to the minute; buffer time for transitions, rest and interruptions is very important.

But do create a plan with all the things happening and the things you would like to accomplish so you have order and direction as your day going on.

There are other things that are super useful to have inside your planner, of course, but I think these 3 are some of the most important, if less obvious ones.

Don’t be afraid to personalize or modify your planner to suit your specific needs, personality and life!

Jennifer

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

The Planning Mistakes That Are Making Your Life Harder.

planning mistakes. save time and energy. — Photo by Jess Bailey Designs on Pexels.com

The more you plan, the more time you save in execution.

And yet a lot of us still avoid planning because it feels too restrictive or because we think we can do it well inside our heads.

Except both of those are simply not true.

The time I have spent planning in advance has saved me so much time, so many headaches and energy that I can’t even convey it into words.

With 3 kids, a full time job (shift work!), a business, a role in my husbands business, a hobby farm and a home, I would be a serious HOT MESS if I didn’t take time to plan out my days, months and year inside my planner.

(I use the Life Book; a planner I created myself because I just couldn’t find one that worked for the ambitious, heart centred mom with a full life. Go here to learn more. Or here to take it for a free test drive.)

So the first mistake people make is not planning at all. If you don’t take time to plan out your time, projects or goals I can guarantee you, sh*t will often not go well.

Read on for 3 more common planning mistakes.

1- You are all over the place

Something I often see people do is use separate planners for work and personal life. I’ve even heard of people using 4 or 5 different planners to organize and manage their lives. Holy heck….I can only imagine how much time they have to spend flipping back and forth from one planner to the other before they can plan anything, or how often they double book or forget things.

Get ONE planner and organize your schedule for ALL THE THINGS in it. Of course you might have separate calendar where you plan content or business projects in detail but your time should be managed in one place. The only way to really have clarity on how much time you have and what you have going on, is to be able to see it clearly all in once space.

(The Life Book is a great planner to be able to do this as I literally designed it to be able to organize and manage all areas of my life. I call it my personal assistant, because its almost as good as one. You can learn more here. Or you can test it for free here)

2- Buffer time

You are not a machine and even the best made plans don’t always go according to plan. You need to make sure your day is not scheduled down to the minute. Its a sure fire way to burnout and get super frustrated that things never go according to plan.

Interruptions happen.

Your brain needs breaks.

Its takes time to transition from one task to the other.

Schedule in buffer time to account for these things. It really depends on a lot of variables but roughly, allow for 10-20% of your time to be buffer time.

3- A plan you can stick to

A day scheduled down to the minute is one example, but there are a lot of ways we create plans that if we are being honest, are simply not going to happen.

Personally, I know not to schedule pretty much anything after 5pm. Once the kids are home, its supper, bath and bedtime and by 8pm, my brain is toast. I am simply not a night or even an evening person so I can plan to do all sorts of things after the kids go to bed all I want, but I know from experience its not happening.

So consider your personality, responsibilities, constraints, like and dislikes before creating a plan so you make sure its one you will actually stick with.

Do you do any of these?

Whether you do one or all of them, thats actually good news because it means there are some pretty simple things you can do to save some time and make life easier!

And who doesn’t want that?!

Jennifer

Organized Owl

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

Should You Rest or Push Through

There is a difference between just not feeling like it, and not feeling like it because you need to rest.

I think knowing the difference can get easier over time but if you’ve always done one or the other, the answer might not be so obvious.

So here are 5 questions to ask yourself to help you figure out if what you need is a kick in the butt, or a break.

Is my health suffering?

Physical, mental, emotional; If any of these areas have been suffering lately because of the amount of work or things you are doing, its a big red flag that you need to rest.

Feeling overly emotional, super impatient, easily triggered, or struggling with mental clarity, fatigue or low energy are signs you might need a rest.

Conversely, is your health suffering because you haven’t been pushing through? Maybe its the workout, healthy meal or therapy session you need to follow through on because otherwise, your state of health isn’t going to get any better.

Have I already done a lot?

Have you already done an extra full days work or is it 9:30am and you just have what my husband calls the f*ck-its?

(Its important to note that if you are someone who typically prioritizes work and productivity and struggles to slow down, simply not feeling like it may be your brains way of saying its needs a rest from work.)

Have I been denying myself rest or self care?

My type A, Generators, Enneagram 1s, Upholders….I am talking to you. (and yes, to myself). Hustle culture is actually making us less productive! If you don’t prioritize rest or self care on a daily basis, what you need is a break!

What is the consequence of not doing this task now?

Its possible that you really do need a break. But this is the real world and its also possible that you just have to get this thing done. So weight out the consequences of both options and see which one you can live with.

Are we talking burning out in order to post for the 3rd time on IG? Or getting an hour less sleep to finish an important project?

Is it possible to reschedule these things without any major problems?

I said major problems. There might be some inconveniences but when you truly need a break, its your health thats on the line so make sure that you are not putting everyone else need above your own.

And yes, I am talking to myself there again.

The easiest was to be able to have the flexibility to reschedule when necessary is to make sure you are managing your life and time in a planner. The Life Book planner was created for the busy entrepreneur with a full life and lots go goals. Complete day planner and goal planner in one it will keep you organized, on track and productive. Go here to learn more!

You can also test it out for free here!

Ultimately, people often struggle with one or the other. If you find yourself rarely taking a break, then not feeling like it is probably a sign to do so. On the flip side, if you often find yourself making excuses to quit, stop or give up, some extra accountability might be good for you.

We usually know which one we are.

That being said, both situations can arise and its helpful to have some questions to ask ourselves to help figure out the best course of action!

Jennifer

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

How To Have Killer Focus

The key to getting things done quickly and efficiently so you have more time for whatever you please, is being able to prioritize the right tasks and having strong focus while you do them.

The problem is that a lot of us struggle to focus well.

A lot of things can get in the way of great focus however, so here are my top recommendations on how to dial in killer focus:

Deal with distractions.

This one seems pretty obvious, however most of us don’t actually deal with our distractions and simply try to ignore them…which would have worked already if it was ever going to. Be honest with yourself about what yours truly are and remove yourself or the distraction.

Get it down on paper.

Tasks, reminders, things that are stressing you, etc. Get everything swirling around in your mind, down onto paper. It’s practically impossible to truly focus when you are trying to manage things in your mind.

Stop multitasking.

You can’t actually multitask. Trying to do 2 things that require focus takes longer than doing them one after the other because your brain is wasting precious time and energy re-focusing on one task then the other.

Get clarity.

The more clear it is exactly what you have to do, the easier it is to focus on it. Make a plan with clear actions steps or do some research so you know exactly what to do in order to complete tasks that feel vague.

Also, make sure to plan out your days. Wondering what you need to do next is another distraction. Use a planner, paper ultimately works best for your brain but if you prefer digital, do that. I use my own planner that I created precisely to keep me organized and focused on my goals. Complete day planner and goal planner in one, The Life Book planner has had the biggest impact on making progress on my goals the past few years. You can learn more about it here.

Or, you can give it a test drive with the free 1 month printable version here. Just keep in mind the mini version doesn’t have all the features the full size Life Book does.

Prioritize your health.

You can’t focus well if you are tired, stressed or unhealthy. Laser sharp focus starts with a healthy body and mind. In fact, this should probably be number 1 because if you are unhealthy the other points are going to have very limited effect.

Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t try to fix all of these things as once. Bonus tip: Spreading yourself too thin makes it hard to really focus on any one thing. The more things you’ve got going on, the smaller the progress on each one.

This goes for goals, problems you are trying to solve, new habits or things you’ve got going on in your life.

Jennifer

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

How To Have More Flexibility and Freedom In Your Life

Most of us want more freedom in our lives.

To be able to schedule out days the way we want, to able to do things the way we want, when we want.

Heck, if you’re an entrepreneur its probably one of the main reasons you decided to open your business.

Because of this desire for freedom and flexibility we often shy away from things that we think are only going to force us to be more rigid and structured.

This tends to include anything that has to do with organization and productivity because the belief is that any system designed to make us more organized and productive dictates how we spend all our time and must be followed precisely everyday to work, thereby taking away the freedom and flexibility we desire.

But its actually the opposite.

Its these very things that allow us to have the freedom and flexibility we want.

Imagine 2 people who have the exact same work load. One is super organized and knows how to work efficiently.

The other is a hot mess who struggles to manage their time and rarely gets things done quickly.

The first, using the organizational systems they have, gets to work and is done by noon. They decide to tackle a bit of tomorrows work and then quit for the day at 2pm.

The other has to work into the evening and still doesn’t finish everything that needed to get done. Which means that tomorrow before even starting whats scheduled to be done, they will have to finish today’s work first.

Which one of those people has more freedom do you think?

Its not hard to see that its the first one.

Lets continue the hypothetical situation:

The next day, person number 1 gets a call from a friend who invites them to go shopping and out for lunch. Since they already got some of their work done the day before and because they have a great morning routine that lets them get started on their day early, by the time they get the call, they already have their work for the day done. Woo hoo, impromptu friend date!

Person number 2 gets this call but the lets it go to voice mail because they are frantically trying to figure out how they are going to play catch up. They struggle through a few hours of work and finally listen to their messages. Even if they wanted to ditch work and go, its already 1 pm and lunch is over, not to mention the friend found someone else to go with.

I think we all aspire to be person number 1.

Of course, in the real world, there will still be days you have a too much to do to play hooky and moments when your mind and body just won’t allow you to be all that productive. We are humans after all.

But imagine the life you could be leading if you would embrace organization, systems and great time management skills? The best systems are ones that are personalized to suit your unique life and personality so this won’t look the same for every person.

Some people will benefit greatly from an early morning routine and some won’t, some will be super productive with time blocking and others won’t.

One thing that most people will benefit from however, is a planner. Personally I believe a paper planner to be more effective but if digital is your thing, then do it. If you don’t have a planner, The Life Book is a great option for ambitious woman with a full life and big dreams. You can learn more about it here.

You can also test it out for free here.

So I hope, if you have resisted organization and productivity systems so far, that I have at least convinced you to do more research. Test out some things and see what impact they have on your life.

Freedom is right around the next well planned out day.

Jennifer

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

5 Habits That No One Talks About That Make You More Productive

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

You probably have heard about a lot of productivity habits that help you to get more done. Ways to manage your time and be organized that help you to work smarter so that you can be productive without burning yourself out.

But there are also some seemingly unrelated habits that have a big impact on your productivity and they don’t have anything to do with time management.

Self centering habits like meditating or journaling

Anything that calms your nervous system, reduces anxiety and helps you to process your thoughts, will aid you to be more productive on a daily basis.

Exercise

Energy begets energy. Daily movement will boost your energy and ability to concentrate.

Cooking

This one may seem weird but hear me out; Cooking is actually the most common habit you see among people who are the healthiest. Not exercise, but cooking. When you cook your own meals you have control over the quality of your food which means you are likely to be healthier and have more energy. That translates into increased cognition and that means you get more done in less time.

Reading

Again, this one may seem strange but reading is like exercise for the brain so it helps with cognition on a long term basis. Plus, all the information you take in is inevitably going to help you along the way to make smarter decisions and work more efficiently.

Socializing (with the right people)

This one probably even seems counter productive, but we are social creatures (yes, even us introverts) and being around people who lift us up, hold us accountable, encourage us to be better people and provide us with strong emotional connection, has a direct impact on our happiness and fulfillment. And if you have ever tried to get stuff done in a time in your life when you felt depressed or unfulfilled, you know how this impacts your productivity.

As you might have noticed, there’s a common theme with these habits: They make you a healthier, happier person.

And healthier and happier people tend to get more done.

So if you are struggling with getting things done or have found that all the time management and productivity tips in the world are not really working, its likely because one or more of these things are off for you.

Focus on being a overall healthier, happier person and your ability to be productive is going to improve for sure.

Of course, things like using a planner daily are also important and if you are not currently using one, I recommend you check out the Life Book Planner. This planner is like no other and with its unique features and layouts, its bound to get your more organized and productive so you can get things done without burning yourself out and still have time for rest, fun and family!

Want to give it a test run first? Try the free one month version here.

Jennifer

What Is Business Automation And Why It Is the Biggest Time Saver

What exactly is automation when it comes to your business?

You might have heard this term before and wonder what the heck people are talking about.

Are you supposed to buy a robot or something?

Thankfully, no.

Automation is setting up systems that do things automatically for you so you don’t have to.

It frees you up to concentrate on what only YOU can do and reduces the amount of time and energy you need to spend on our business.

If you don’t currently have anything automated in your business, you could save HOURS of work each week getting certain things automated.

There is a reason there are so many programs and platform functions that automation features; Its key to running a business that actually gives you the freedom you desire.

So where should you start?

Regardless if you have been in business a long time, or are just starting out, the following are the most helpful things to automate:

Email automation( freebies) and funnels.

Imagine if the only thing you needed to do in order to have someone join your email list for a freebie and have them actually get the freebie, is to send them or share a link?

Creating a simple, short landing page with a optin that is linked to your email management program (CRM), that then sends out the freebie for you once they sign up AND adds their email to your list is waaaayyy simpler then it sounds and will save you loads of time.

The first thing you need is a CRM, if you don’t already. This is a program that stores your list and from which you send them emails. Depending on your CRM, you can also create webpages where people will go to sign up for your freebie. Personally, I use Kartra because its a one stop shop for almost EVERYTHING and is reasonably priced. However, if you are new and don’t have the budget, there are plenty of free ones like Mail Chimp and Constant Contact. You will need to link a Landing page program, like Lead Pages however (also free) in order to create sign up pages.

Once that is set up, you will create your landing page (most sites have pre made templates that you can use and seriously makes it super simple), set up the optin with an automatic email that goes out with your freebie once someone signs up.

You can also use an optin page for things without a freebie, like Newsletters, however, not a lot of people sign up for a Newsletter unless they are OBSSESSED with your content. Offering something of value for free typically works better.

On boarding customer and clients

The good news here, is once you have the previous one done, this is pretty much the same idea. You simply set up another opt in page where people can buy your offer and set up another automation where all the necessary information is sent to the new client or customer automatically. This works for digital products memberships and coaching, and even partly for physical products (you’ll have to ship the product yourself obviously…)

Funnels

This may be another term you are not familiar with but its simply a serious a emails that leads your subscribers to your paid offers. Take minute to imagine what it would be like if once someone signs up for a freebie or buys a low priced product, they then receive a series of emails (with real value!) from you over the course of a few weeks that leads them to buy something else…and it all happened automatically! Not only is this a time saver but its going to make you more money too!

There are plenty of other things you can automate as you go, but these are a great place to start and as a smaller business, likely the only ones you will need for a while. Eventually, you can automate things like email campaigns to sell products.

There are also many sites that do just automations of all kinds, like ifttt.com (if this then that) that allows you to sync your various programs and create automations for them. For example: IF someone opts in to THIS freebie, THEN send them THAT document.

Now, I can imagine that if you are new to all of this, you might be seriously overwhelmed! I was too when I first started out but none of these things are all that complicated, most programs are super beginner friendly and there are a ton of people who can help you with this process.

Myself being one of them! I help my clients get their businesses (and life) super organized and set up with systems like the ones I mentioned above so that they can be optimally productive, spend less time working and get back to enjoying life.

If you would like to learn more about how I can help you can go here or send me at jennifer@organizedowl.com. I would love to hear from you and help you achieve your business goals without the 24/7 hustle!

Jennifer

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

How To Prioritize Your To Do List So You Can Get The Important Things Done

Has this ever happened to you?

You make a to do list but at the end of the day you realize you still didn’t get done the things that really needed to get done, so you end up working until midnight?

It makes life feel like an endless hamster wheel doesn’t it? Like you just can’t get ahead and are always working 5 minutes before deadlines.

The good news is its fixable and the even better news is, its not that hard.

What you need to do is prioritize your tasks. As you create a monthly to-do list, weekly to-do list and daily to-do list, you are going to add items in based on urgency and importance.

The following 3 questions will help you decide which items should be on whichever list you are crafting.

The first 2 evaluate urgency, the 3rd importance:

Will there be an negative consequence if I don’t do it today/this week/this month?
If I don’t do this today/this week/this month, will there be time to do it before the deadline?
How important is this compared to the other tasks on my list?

Its comes down to this:

If it’s urgent and important, it comes first.

If it’s urgent but not important, you might want to let it go.

If it’s important but not urgent, it comes second if you have time.

If it’s not important and not urgent…well I think you know what to do.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: Once you have made your list, you need to tackle things in order of importance as much as possible. Life has a way of happening as the day goes on and if you wait to do the important things until close to the end of the day, you are far more likely to run out of time and not get them done.

Interruptions, distractions and unexpected things come up no matter how organized you are so if you accept this and act accordingly, you will be able to get far more done then if you keep trying to create the perfect day.

When you start with the most important things, what might not get done are the things that can be rescheduled another day with little to no consequences.

Prioritizing is en essential part of a productive day and now you know exactly how to do it so you can get the things done that move the needle the most.

Jennifer

p.s. If you enjoyed this post and would like access to daily free content on all things organization and productivity, you can find me on IG @organized_owl.

Unexpected Things That Make You More Productive

There are of course, the obvious things that make a person more productive, things like batching certain tasks, creating a schedule, getting rid of distractions, etc.

But there are some surprising things that can make a big impact on how much you get done and the great thing is how easy and simply they can be to implement.

So let’s get right to it, because after all, you’e got stuff to do!

Putting LESS on your to-do list. Overwhelm can seriously get in the way of getting things done.
Getting dressed. Doesn’t have to be office attire, but putting on an outfit that feels put together signals to your brain it’s time to be productive.
Your view. Looking at a sink of dirty dishes from your desk in the kitchen? Not helpful.
Lots of natural light. Unless you are a serious night owl, having natural light in your work space energizes you.
Tackling the big stuff first. Ok, so this may not be so surprising if you’ve been following me for a while but doing the bigger, often less desirable tasks first makes you so much more productive the rest of the day. It’s like a weight gets lifted off your shoulders and you get a shot of adrenaline. Seriously, try it, you will see.

Of course, none of these replace some of the classic producvity powerhouses, like using a planner, but they can give you a surprising boost.

Speaking of planners, you do have one, right?…

If not, thats the absolute first thing I recommend you doing. Head on over here to check out the one I use, the Life Book Planner. It has all the features you need (Master to do list, important dates page, budget page, complete goal planning section, meal and exercise planning, bullet journal tracking and more) and none of the fluff you don’t. Most importantly, the design allows you to personalize it to YOUR unique life and needs. Now thats a planner worth getting excited over! (Full transparency; I created this planner. Initially, for myself because I couldn’t find a planner that really worked. Then I realized there were probably a lot of people just like me and they NEEDED this planner in their hands)

Got some Q’s or just want more awesome tips and tricks on how to live more organized and productive? Find me on IG @organized_owl or FB @organizedowl.

Jennifer

4 BIG Time Savers You Need In Your Business

Business time savers. Organized, productive.

Feeling like your biz is taking up way too much of your time?

It doesn’t have to.

Besides the fact that we so often get caught up in a lot of busy work that is not even necessary in the first place, there are a lot of time savers you can put into place to make you way more efficient.

Leaving you with time to do whatever the heck your heart desires!

The following are 3 of my best tips to help you save time in your business:

1- Automations

This. Is. Key. This one thing is going to be what saves you the most time in the long run. Everything from automated e-mail opt-ins, e-mail welcome series, on boarding for new clients or team members, to scheduling programs and tools.

2- Batching

A certain amount of the time you take to do a task is actually getting set up for that task. So batching certain work together like writing content or creating graphics saves precious time.

3- Link Page

I’m not talking a link tree for your IG, but a easy to access place (from both your phone and computer) that has all the links to all of your sites, social media pages, landing pages, blog posts and anything else you link in inside your business. Adding a link to your FB post just got a lot quicker!

4- Planner

If you don’t use a planner for your business and personal life, you are wasting time and energy. That may sound extreme but organizing and planning things out in advance inside planner allows you to work efficiently and be ahead of the ball which means more time and energy saved for other things.

Personally I recommend a planner where you can manage your personal life and business in once place. It prevents a lot of double booking and confusion and you get a much clearer idea of what exactly you have going on. Of course, detailed business plans like content planning and such can be done in a separate place but your scheduling and to-do’s are best managed in the same place your manage the rest of your life.

I know from experience it can be hard to find a planner that has space enough for you to do this. In fact, I never found one so I created my own! Its a complete day planner and goal planner in one that has unique features that you won’t find in any other planner. You can check it out here.

As with a lot of organization and time management tips, these can also apply to your personal life outside of business as well so don’t be afraid to see what could be automated or batched at home either!

Feeling overwhelmed just thinking about applying these? Let me help! If you are struggling with organization, productivity, time management or accountability either in your biz or personal life, this is for you!

Head on over here to my IG account (or search for @organizedowl) where you will find daily tips on how to get yourself, your business and your life organized and working productively.

Jennifer