Archives for September 2012
Using My Simplified Planner™
Hooray! I finally had a few minutes to take a few snapshots of my own Simplified Planner™! It’s funny, I take this thing with me everywhere and have gotten these wide-eyed looks from moms balancing babies on their hips, cell phones between their cheeks and shoulders all while trying to wrangle a few shopping bags on their arms. The other day, one stopped everything and said, “What is that… exactly.”
Blushing and excited, I told her… it’s a life manager. Period. I designed this as a day planner, but am quickly finding so many uses for it. Many of you have asked exactly how I use my Simplified Planner™, so here goes!
EVERYTHING goes in. Everything. It’s designed so that you can punch holes in whatever you need to keep together and pop it right in. No more loose papers. No more receipts I can’t find. No more ideas for Brady’s second birthday party floating around in random drawers, underneath my keyboard and folded at the bottom of my purse/diaper bag (oh yes, we’re already planning). No more Bed Bath and Beyond coupons on the refrigerator. No more lost LOFT coupons that I kick myself for forgetting when I’m at the mall and NEED those mint green pants. Inside my Simplified Planner™ you’ll find my sales tax submission papers (because I ALWAYS lose them). You’ll find postage stamps and envelopes for quick note writing. You’ll find reminders for Brady’s check-ups, bills to pay and recipes to try.
In my Simplified Planner™, I use:
- Weekly Calendar Pages: I love that they’re Mon – Sun so that I get a glimpse of my weeks and weekends all together. The days are segmented into AM, Lunch, PM and Dinner (perfect for meal planning and exactly how I think about my day).
- Dividers: I used clear label tape and my DYMO LetraTag label maker to name the six things I’d be keeping track of in my Simplified Planner™: Calendar, To-Do, Brady, Home, Work and Blog. More on these sections later.
- Journal Pages: I split these pages among the sections for note taking, list making and general brain-dumping.
- Pocket Pages: I keep these at the back of my planner and use them as a catch all for all kinds of things.
- Zipper Pocket: Coming soon! These hold my paper clips, washi tape and Le Pens <— best pen ever for the Simplified Planner™! Coming to the shop soon!
- Gold Paper Clips: My friend Amy of Lily and Bliss had a genius idea. She clips coupons to the weeks they’ll be expiring within her planner. Easy to find – hard to forget. AWESOME IDEA!
- Binder Bands: Also coming soon!
- Heart & Star Date Stickers: Coming next week to our shop! I love using these to mark important dates, birthdays, date nights (!!) and events. They’re 3/4″ x 3/4″ and perfectly sized for our day spaces. You can even write on them! The gold hearts are my favorite. Naturally. : )
For my sections, like I mentioned, I use the dividers for the following:
- Calendar: This section holds my Weekly Calendar pages. That’s it. I keep it at the front because I use it the most.
- To-Do: This section holds a few Journal Pages. I keep a running to-do list here. I cross things off as a get them done but it’s SO GREAT and easy to have just ONE to-do list in ONE place. No more lists floating around everywhere (on my phone, on my computer, in my planner)… they’re all right here. I dump all my ideas here too so that my brain isn’t constantly running with thoughts and I can focus on what matters.
- Brady: This section mostly holds second birthday party ideas right now. I also keep ideas for fun activities to do with him and cool events coming up in Tampa he might enjoy.
- Home: When we remodeled our kitchen, I kept all of our contracts, ideas, sources, etc here.
- Work: Whew. This is a big section. It’s a good thing this binder is 1″ and can hold all my work AND personal stuff (because let’s be honest, they’re all one in the same). My work section holds sources, ideas, notes, etc mainly regarding the Shop. When researching manufacturers, printers, etc — I keep their contact info and details here for easy access. I also have a page with ideas for NEXT YEAR’S Simplified Planner™ release! By the way, have you guys seen the 2013 Pantone Color Predictions? Check it out if you want a sneak peek into next year’s Simplified Planner™ binder colors! I can’t tell you which one(s)! : )
- Blog: I use our free printables for Blog Ideas and Blog Calendar here. All my blog topic ideas get dumped into this idea sheet, then moved to the Weekly Calendar pages so that I don’t forget!
Check back next week in the shop for some of our new accessories! I’ve LOVED seeing how all of you are using your Simplified Planner™ to keep your lives together. I can’t wait to hear more! Go to hashtag #SimplifiedPlanner on Instagram to see all kinds of photos of how our customers are simplifying their lives to focus on what matters most.
xo,
Emily
PS: Don’t forget, the 10% off Simplified Planner™ sale ends TOMORROW! Use code GETSIMPLE10.
PPS: Have you entered to win one of our TWO Making Things Happen Scholarships? We leave in 9 days for Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta!!
PPPS: Thank you so much to Val Woerner of Val Marie Paper for her sweet interview / feature with yours truly on her blog today!!
The Making Things Happen Scholarship
In ten days, Lara, Gina and I will be leaving our respective homes and meeting in Austin, Texas to begin our very last Making Things Happen tour. We are so EXCITED to do this one last time. Making Things Happen has changed our lives and the lives of over 550 alumni in the past few years. As part of the very first class (in Watercolor in 2009), Gina and I can attest to the fact that this movement changes people. It changes lives. It gives people a STARTING place. And THAT is exciting.
Nothing magic happens in that room. We don’t have fancy decorations or an event planner or even tons of fun swag to give away. Instead, we bring notebooks, encouragement and TIME. By attending Making Things Happen, you give yourself the gift of time to focus on what MATTERS for a full day, to reconnect with the WHY behind all the THINGS you’re doing and to reprioritize. It’s invigorating. Just typing about it makes me so excited (yes, even to leave my sweet family behind) to do this one more time. Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta… get ready. We chose these cities because they’re all very easy to travel to. We’ll be hosting the intensives very close to the airports as well. Easy peasy.
Over the years, I’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of emails asking me about Making Things Happen. Those questions you’re thinking right now… those doubts and wonders and FEARS that are holding you back… we know. We’ve heard them all. 550 others have thought / felt them all. The biggest question we get is this: “I’m not a ______________ (insert pronoun –> photographer, business owner, type-A person, etc) so can I still come?”
Absolutely.
Making Things Happen is for people who are ready to do just that. It’s for people who are ready to take control of their lives and make them lives that mean something. They’re ready to listen to that little voice in their head that’s saying there’s something more. Maybe they know what that is, maybe they don’t. They want to love more, give more, serve more, create more, LIVE more.
The alumni who have come before you have made enormous things happen. They’ve gone home to love on their families more. They’ve refocused their time and energies to give more to people around them. They’ve connected with PURPOSE and put ACTIONS in place to CREATE the life they dream of – whatever that may be.
I would love to see you at Making Things Happen in October. Lara, Gina and I are so excited to meet so many new friends, to hug your necks, to ask you hard questions and to dig deep. We’re so excited for what this last group of alumni are going to make happen. It’s bittersweet, getting ready for our LAST tour ever. It’s been the experience of a lifetime and such an honor to be part of MTH. Next year, we’ll only be hosting one Making Things Happen intensive in Raleigh, NC – details to come early next year.
And now… HOORAY! We are offering TWO scholarships for this last tour! There are two ways to enter:
The Alum Scholarship: Leave a comment here an tell us what you want to make happen. Also, please tell us the city you would like to attend. Anyone who applies for a scholarship will be given the ability to register at 50% OFF if they are not chosen. So, you have nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain by entering.
The MTH Match Scholarship: Leave a comment here telling us what you want to make happen AND spread the word! Tell your friends about Making Things Happen, too! Tweet, Facebook, Blog, Pin this, send smoke signals… whatever you want to do to tell people about Making Things Happen and just link to this post. Leave a separate comment here telling us you did so. We will pick a random winner for this second scholarship, so the more entries you submit, the better!
Deadline: We’ll be announcing our winner on October 3! Again, if you enter to win a scholarship, you’ll still be given the chance to register at 50% OFF the regular rate if you aren’t chosen. We want you to be able to make this happen no matter what!
xo,
Emily
Beautiful images by Nancy Ray Photography
UPDATED:
The scholarship entries are all so amazing and so inspiring! Just reading your words makes our hearts so excited and SO HAPPY to imagine the big things down the road for each of you. If you aren’t one of our main scholarship winners, keep an eye on your inbox : ) You may be getting a little email from us in the next day or so.
CONGRATULATIONS to Erin McLean (winner of our Alum Scholarship!), Kirbi Knopp and Sarah Tucker (TWO winners of our Scholarships!). Email Marissa@LaraCaseyReps.com to get registered!
There’s still time to get registered! All of the cities are nearing sold out, so checkout www.MakingThingsHappen.com to join us!
Love a little more, hustle a little less
This morning while Brady was eating breakfast, I scrolled through my Facebook newsfeed and saw this post from Sarah Jane Studios. I adore Sarah’s work and even have one of her prints hanging in Brady’s nursery. I admire her dedication to her family and her drive to build a business from her unbelievable talent as an artist. And this morning, I love her even more, for reminding me to stop and THINK about why on earth I’m doing what I’m doing anyway.
Whether you own a business or not, this concept is something that we as Mamas tend to let slip by us a lot. I know I do. We get caught up in the SUCCESS addiction, the SALES addiction, the ACCOLADES addiction and we forget about why we’re doing what we’re doing. Quite simply, we get caught up in the hustle and bussle of having it ALL and having it all together.
Woah. Guilty as charged.
photo by Gina Zeidler
I looked to my right, contemplating this crazy realization and saw a Martha Stewart Living magazine on my coffee table. On the cover is a caramel apple and parchment paper cone full of homemade caramel corn. Instinctively, I thought… I should make that for Brady to give to his buddies on Halloween. And just like someone punched me in the stomach, I thought… what does it all matter? Why am I scouring Facebook right now to see how many “claims” we had on last night’s test run of Facebook’s new “offer” system for business pages while my little guy is quietly enjoying his “blue blue awful” (waffle in Brady-speak) glancing at me and saying “Ma-maaaah” every few minutes just to give me his best cheeky grin and show off his new word “cheese.”
What on EARTH. Thanks, Sarah. And thanks, God. For punching me in the stomach and telling me to slow down and stop being so addicted to the hustle.
Sarah took a step backward down (but really UP!) the “ladder” by streamlining her online shop (read: eliminating all products except prints and downloads) so she can focus more on the art and less on the hustle of business. Why is it that when things pick up momentum, we instinctively just follow along like a horse chasing a carrot? When our shop launched and blew EVERY expectation we had for it out of the water, I automatically started thinking about adding new products, expanding the website, increasing customization options, blogging more, beginning to advertise… etc, etc, ETC
Something Sarah said in her post really stood out to me today and I hope it sticks with you too if you’re a business owner: there is a BIG difference between a small business and a big business.
A big gap. BIG.
I’ve been blessed beyond measure with the success of my two ventures (Making Brands Happen and Emily Ley). But with success comes enormous responsibility and many opportunities to follow your gut. Sometimes you have to take a step back (even if your’e not a business owner) to take a step forward in the right direction. (Read those italicized words again, they’re the most important of that sentence).
It’s about building the life you want for your family rather than adding 0s to your bank balance or seeing your name in lights. For me, I do this so that I can have the flexibility to be a mama and a job that fuels me to be a better version of me for my family.
Because what good am I doing if I’m making adorable caramel corn parchment paper cones if I’m a stressed out mess while I’m creating them? Make sense? I’m learning more and more that this is what it’s all about. Grace, not perfection, my friends. Love a little more, hustle a little less.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Oh so true. I can have the biggest, best, most successful shop ever but if I am not making a positive impact on people and creating the life we dream of for my family, what does it all matter. I can create the cutest treats for Brady and his friends but if I am not teaching Brady kindness and showing him my love by these action, what does it all matter. I can make all the money in the world and see my name in big magazines and sell a gazillion Simplified Planners™ but if I’m not able to take Brady to the park on a Monday or enjoy his new words at the breakfast table because I have a hundred other things on my mind then what does it matter.
I took Brady to the park this morning with my two friends McKay and Amy and their little ones. Fall is starting here (meaning, it’s no longer 100 degrees) and time with good friends + cooler air makes me want to jump up and down with excitement. I’m so grateful God punches me in the stomach exactly when I need it. I’m so grateful he puts things like this in my path so that I will slow down and SAVOR each and every moment. Brady is 19 months old. The best 19 months of my life. Happy Fall, y’all.
xo,
Emily