Tag: Goals

Posted in Planning

Managing Mondays-Busy Days with Lofty Goals Await

Posted on by shesipscoffee

This week is full of fun and I have a lot to do around all of it.

  • Live Music
  • Movie
  • Mother’s Day
  • Work
  • Appointments
  • Writing
  • Home Organization and Cleaning

Will I get it all done? I have a plan. And I decided to color code my days with Work in pink and Home in Green.

This is a new idea. With so much going on I thought the segregation would help my mind focus and fight the clutter. Let’s see how it works.

If nothing else I love the symmetry it lends to the design. This layout is using 100% Happy Planner brand products. Well, and a pen.

I love busy weeks yet when I start laying out the week I get a bit anxious. The events are non-negotiable. Time with friends at movies or live music shows are Aces to me. I live for moments that make memories. And I am well rested and camera ready. By the time Sunday comes around I will definitely love the fact that Mother’s Day means I get to take the day off. No chores from this Mom! And my son gave me a ticket to the live show on Sunday which will make the day the best ever. Ending a week eating at my favorite restaurant, enjoying live music that I love all on Mother’s Day means my blessings are truly overflowing.

With a week ending in so much joy I already feel motivated to rock this week at home and at work. I know I can get it all done and more.

Back to sipping my coffee before I tackle it all!

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Posted in Family, Goals, Planning, Reflection

Managing Mondays-Mom Priorities

Posted on by shesipscoffee

It is coffee time! Quiet time is so very precious to me. And this time at the beginning of every week as I sip coffee feels paramount to how the week can go. I take time to think on all that I need to do plus what I would like to do. It is my way of getting out of the bed on the right side.

The past few weeks have been a struggle in changing priorities and I have had to shift even more to remembering what matters most. This focus adds a perspective like no other. I want to ensure I balance Mom priorities over work priorities because the family needs that right now. It isn’t just about my schedule. It is more about being “present” in mind and heart more.

I spent most of my time sipping my first cup in a retrospective state and looked back on what did and did not go well over the past couple of weeks. I asked myself what I could do differently because I felt like I was being too hard on myself and others around me. I realized that my expectations were perhaps set too high or not communicated effectively which can cause conflict on the home front.

Setting my plan for this week I designed a motivational and functional week spread in my planner. I wanted to see reminders of what is really important at work so that I can keep the negative noise and nonsense from others in perspective. And in doing that I can avoid the negativity from seeping over into other aspects of life. Most importantly self care needs to be at the front of the train and not in the caboose as a back burner.

My spread is full of motivation and focus areas. It gives me permission to delegate nonsense to the back burner. I am reminding myself to be the servant leader by focusing on my team’s needs and being a positive in the storm. Recently I have had an opportunity to observe leaders who are in the trenches with their teams and leaders who stay back in the tent barking out orders and then hiding in the shelter waiting and watching. The latter leader style sometimes seeps negativity out beyond the team and affects the bigger goal. And it is simply not my style. So while I am in the trenches I want to remember to be positive and guide my crew to the best outcomes with encouragement, gratitude, and course corrections that take us along the journey to the finish line celebrating together.

This week I want to make sure that I am focusing on the behind the scenes planning that sets the stage for every act in the play my team is cast in so they can be stars. I want to ensure the setting is right, the props are in place, and that they know their lines.

At home, I want to keep the work from seeping in. I want to protect our time so that it is of such quality that we all feel accomplished and grateful.

These may seem lofty goals for the week but I don’t think so.

In any moment of negativity I plan to step outside of it and ask myself:

  • Am I the engineer on this train right now?
  • Is this helping any of my three focus areas?
  • Should this be back burner?
  • Will this seep beyond work?

Knowing the answers to these questions should guide me to the right energy level in the moment and maintain perspective.

At the end of the week I aim to have positive energy to tackle that garage with my family: A project that we never seem to get to with our conflicting schedules and energy levels.

Share your spreads for the week and share the why. I always want to understand others why.

Posted in Family, Goals, lists, Planning, Planning, self-care, Vision, Writing

Managing Monday-Let’s Talk About Lists, Baby!

Posted on by shesipscoffee

As I near the end of March, I start thinking about April. Planning does that to me. I see the next month coming as the pages turn. Ugh! My mind goes into overdrive. To control the chaos, I start thinking about monthly goals, important events and I make lists. Lists help me focus and allow me to be distracted by things in the process. My kids send me texts or come to the door of my room and interrupt. My dogs don’t care that I am in planning mode. If they want affection they get right in my face or sit on my foot. Whatever it takes. So lists are helpful because if I have written it down I won’t forget it. Well, that and it eases my mind.

What on earth do I need lists for? And why do I obsess over them? How many times have you gone to the store and forgotten something? Me? More than I care to admit. And hey, the lists on the phone work for some people but I love what I call a hybrid version of this.

Shopping lists

I have Google Home and I have my household conditioned to tell Google to add items to the shopping list. Best. Thing. Ever. Except for the fact that they cannot see the list so I end up with some items repeated three or four times. That annoys me when shopping from it. Since I meal plan before shopping, I tend to start that list on paper because that is my meal planning method. Pulling up the Home app and looking at the list created through the week to add the needed items is all part of the procesd. Honestly do I need four bottles of ranch dressing? My kids might think so but my budget would argue differently if it could speak. I consolidate to my paper list and chuckle every time I look at that Google list. My kids have jokes. They come up with crazy items. This last time the mystery item was “a stick.” My daughter confessed to this little gem. I mean go in the yard for that one. Obvious right?

Fun Wish lists

All through my planner, you will see wish lists and this is one of my favorites. Concerts and Festivals. Last night after dinner I was enjoying a glass of wine with the family (the legal age drinkers had wine too) and we were all playing music from our Spotify lists and talking about shows. I grabbed my handy wish list and asked which, if any, they would be interested in. What a great time we had looking at other events and finding common artists we all knew and liked.

Why do these go on a wishlist and not right to my calendar? Well, I have to admit that I am budget conscious and won’t put it on the calendar until I bought the tickets. I just don’t like disappointing myself in the reality on that monthly spread by marking something out. I like wishlists better. How about you?

Cleaning Lists

This is a re-try at an old method. My family is ignoring the list posted on the fridge. I suspect that is partly due to everyone’s crazy schedule. When I would like to see things get done seems more like a wishlist of disappointment. The dishes get done and the trash and recycle are taken out but everything else just gets ignored until I make a fuss. So, I am putting this back in my planner and not on the fridge. And when people are home, I will ask nicely and then track who complied. Then i will settle on doing it myself if it is really bugging me. Yesterday was a day where everyone asked what I would like done. So I guess the flow is changing and I will ride the ride.

I picked this format from my stash. I got it from Natalie Rebecca Design several months ago. I think I bought this from her Amazon Store. I am excited to switch it up and see how we get along with it.

Spring Cleaning

I love fellow bloggers who share great tips and tools on cleaning. In preparing for April, I decided this would be a great checklist as I plan my spring clean. De-Clutter Challenge. I actually started some of this last weekend on my own and was frustrated because I was in perfectionist mindset and spent far too long on each task. I went in search of a new method and ran across this saved in my favorites.

Master To Do List

I use a running to do list that follows me from day to day and sometimes week to week. It isn’t always the same format or paper style. This list sits in the middle of my weekly spread where I can note items while I am on conference calls, in meetings, and in those moments of meditation when there is a lot on my mind. The only way to give my mind rest at times is simply to stop and write it down.

Reading…I make lists for this too

I love this planner that Brenda Novak sent in her January Reader’s Box. My reading Vision in 2018 has been to read more. And I set a realistic goal of 2 books per month. Now, what has actually happened is that I have gotten to about 2 per week. Rediscovering this joy makes my heart sing. If you looked all over my house, there are books and my Kindle has a vast virtual library. So I don’t have to go far to make a pile like this.

Every month I have managed to build a pile of self-directed learning and pure enjoyable fiction. Did you notice Erma Bombeck in the pile? My mother always picked up those books. They were her version of the Reader’s Digest for the bathroom quiet time. Sometimes as a mother that is the only room where you tend to spend any amount of time with no interruptions. Well…let me have this moment of fantasy. I have been thinking about these books so I picked a couple up to revisit her wit and wisdom. She was always inspirational.

Oh and plots. Those Works in Progress are eating at me. I have an itch to write chapters after chapters. I am a seat of my pants writer and know I need to find a balance with some structure so this April, I am going to study on story plotting.

Managing Mondays and every day is built on the foundation of lists. What kind of lists do you make? Daily? Weekly? Wishes? Share in the comments. I would love to see pictures and read what you put on your lists.

Have a great week!

Posted in Goals, Planning, Vision

Vision Board 2018

Posted on by shesipscoffee

Planning is more than goal setting. I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. They seem restrictive in the traditional sense. They make me feel like I am setting up myself for failure instead of setting myself up for success. And planning is more than making to do lists. At least for me. When I looked back at what I visualized in 2016 and all the great things that manifested in my life over the past two years I can link every accomplishment back to that board.

Setting a Vision

At the end of 2017, I prayerfully and meditatively sipped coffee as I chose my focus for 2018. I shared in my previous post how Strength and Dignity came to be my focus.

So with this particular scripture and those two words I began to dig deeper into their synonyms, definitions and images that seemed representative and applicable to key areas of life that I want to empower, improve, and manifest more good. I gathered these ideas to make a new Vision Board.

The notebook above will be highlighted in part 2 of I Have a Planner for That.

Ready to Make

Two areas I want to foster are my crafting/creative side and my relationships with family and friends. So when I planned time to do my vision board, I suggested that others join me in my crafting time. Instead of vision boarding alone, I opened my home, my heart, my supplies, and a bottle of wine to anyone free to join.

Some friends joined me last night (I will have a second session next week for a few more friends) and we made this beautiful mess together.

Creating a vision can and should get messy. And for me nothing is more fun than mess making with others. What I enjoyed the most was how we looked out for each other and suggested words and images we ran across in magazines, in sticker books, stamps, and paper. I saw a friend who didn’t feel she was very creative take on stamps and ink pads and make herself smile at that accomplishment. I loved what she created and wished I had thought of it.

Three hours of quality time with my daughter, future daughter-in-law and a couple of friends brought us to conclude that our boards were well underway with room to evolve as we consider the remaining whitespace and what else we might look for to complete them. Visions take time and don’t need to be rushed.

Here is my work in progress so far…

I will update this post in the next couple of days with the finished product. This will include smaller complementary one(s) to use for travel. I want to empower continuous focus on what I want to achieve to be a better me in health, home, relationships, faith, work, and creativity/learning. Having the big board at home is key. I want to embrace it and take it on the go too.

What about you?

Do you want to make a vision board too? There are many videos, how-to blogs, books, and articles at your disposal. My most recent inspiration for choosing a word (or two) came from The Reset Girl who is one of my crafty and faith influencers. She hosts a monthly late night crafty class online and last weekend I joined live and it really helped me to be more focused and prepared. It made it easy to open my home and let others in on the journey. Although the online party was live, Cori from The Reset Girl posted a video from last year that I wanted to share here. It is engaging and spot on with what and why a Vision board can help. Here is the link:

Https://youtu.be/4pAU5VpsXz0

As I finish sipping my coffee this morning, I encourage you to create and share your vision boards and 2018 words with me. Relationships include being a strength to one another and I want to be an encourager to everyone.

What is your vision? What area of life are you wanting to focus on? What is your word?

Link credit: Cori @ The Reset Girl

Posted in Planning

I Have A Planner For That, Part One

Posted on by shesipscoffee

I have used planners in some fashion for the past 20 years. I started when I became a corporate trainer and the company gave me a planner and sent me to a class at Franklin Quest. All you needed was a pen, the binder, and all the green pages within. Hey, this was before my company had a system-wide windows based calendar or email platform. Am I showing my 40-something age, or what?

Even with the evolution of technology, I still love the feel of paper in making to do lists, taking notes, brainstorming ideas, and planning. And I know that I am not alone. Until 2017 I used my Franklin/Covey planning tools. I evolved from the standard green to the pretty colors and designs because I love pretty things. Over time, the digital revolution limited the pretty options. Disheartened in selections and the changes the company has made in their planner styles, I tried new ones, and for a time simplified to my digital tools and used plain spiral notebooks and pens. I loved the traditional format of the two pages per day Covey layouts but realized I wasn’t using them daily. So why spend the money? Frankly, I like pretty things and working now in the technology space for my employer, I have adopted most of the digital tools for my work place needs….except where brainstorming, note-taking and list making comes in.

My life is way bigger than my job. And I have a creative heart that desires fun and joy. Working 60+ work weeks while being a mother, a daughter, a boss, and a friend, my personal time and self-care was sitting in a back seat. I was a passenger on the personal train, not the conductor.

As my grandmother’s health began the steady and rather rapid decline the latter half of 2016, I started crocheting again and teaching my daughter the art. It was my way to connect across the miles when she was not up to our weekly phone chats. I crocheted or made dishes from her recipes and spent time in traditions. In these moments where I stepped away from the rat race and social media, I revisited The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. That book was transformational for me in my mid-20s. At 40-something, the currency and relevancy is poignant. I dove back in. I tracked my habits and began recognizing life is more than to do lists and time management. I reintroduced me time, sipping coffee.

In my me time I started the search for something new and different for fun planning. From Google Searches and YouTube binging, I found out about a whole world of planners. I researched EricCondran, Happy Planners, and many, many more. 2017 was the year of tossing bulky binders, notebooks, and sticky notes. I bought a Happy Planner and took it for a year long test,drive. I learned I can make my own pretty layouts and customize weekly and monthly to meet my lifestyle and feed my creative spirit. And I found a whole community of amazing people who I could learn from online and locally.

Look for part two, later this week to find out more about planning and planners. I will review 2017 and share what my 2017 planner plans will be.

Do you use only digital planning? If so, what apps do you like? Do you use paper? What are your successful methods?