Life, Planned
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If you follow me on Instagram, you know how obsessed I am with my InkWell Press planner. I always love buying new planners for new years, but I'm definitely guilty of buying them and then not using them to their fullest potential. This time it has been a totally different experience! I use my InkWell Press planner every single day.
What I love about it is that it comes with 6 set up videos that include out-of-the-box ideas and helpful printouts that guide you through maximizing each and every page. For example, that bird's-eye view of the year page (shown above)? I used to skip it, but in one of the videos Tonya from InkWell Press suggests color coding it so you know at-a-glance what's happening each month. For me, that means documenting birthdays, vacations, work holidays, appointments, and more.
I love the goal-planning pages that come standard with all of their LiveWell planners. It makes it easy to plan goals from a yearly, quarterly, and monthly view, and helps you keep track of your progress. The monthly goal pages act as prompts that help you reassess where you're at and reroute goals or steps to achieve your goals as needed.
See all the small pentagon shapes on the bottom right-hand corner of the planner above? It's one of the smaller details that helps hold me accountable. I track 3 daily/weekly goals there - for me it's going to barre3 three times per week, drinking 8 8oz cups of water every day, and straightening up every night before bed (cleaning the dishes and putting my clothes away). As the month has gone on, it's actually given me more confidence in my ability to stick to them. Granted, some of the pentagons are only colored in half way depending on how I felt I did that day, but most of them are colored in. It provides me with a quick, visual way to know if I need to get back on track.
I love the monthly mission board pages, too. Sitting down to look at the month ahead and what I want to accomplish helps give my days and weeks more purpose. I love goal setting, but never found the right way to keep track of everything I wanted to accomplish. This layout is perfect for my needs and provides inspiration and discipline for the month ahead.
Probably my favorite point of advice from the set up videos is "take the thinking out of it." I've automated everything I can, from weekly to monthly tasks, chores, and to-dos. I've made a commitment to complete them each week/month on the same day so it doesn't get to a point where cleaning the kitchen or straightening up the apartment becomes an all-day task. It's helped me balance work, life, and my blog, break up larger undertakings into smaller, manageable tasks, and get more done throughout the week so Tim and I can spend quality time together when we're both free. I used to let my life rule me, and would definitely suffer from paralysis by analysis, but now I feel like I'm in control of my time and spend it exactly how I want and need to spend it.
I've always struggled with living in the present moment - I'm usually thinking about the past or worrying about the future, so my mission statement for this year is: "You create a good future by creating a good present." - Eckhart Tolle. This quote lends itself well to multiple areas in my life: learning how to live more fully in the present and also dedicating time and energy to the things that fulfill me now in order to make mine and my family's future even brighter.
What's your 2017 mission statement? It can be a word, phrase, quote... share below! I'd love to hear it.
Want to get your own InkWell Press planner? I clearly can't say enough wonderful things about this planner and highly recommend investing in one! If you'd like a $10 discount on your $50 InkWell Press purchase, use my referral link! You won't regret it.
