5 Productivity Tips to start the month off right

From Pintest

Not many people I know are like me in that they feel the start of a new week (ahem Monday!) or even the 1st day of the month is like the 1st day of school.  It’s the feeling of fresh starts, dreaming big and new routines.  I also love reading about people’s organization methods and goal setting – so I thought I’d share to abundance of resources on Google and share tips for a productive month!

  1. Set up your monthly calendar:  Appointments, Celebrations, Get togethers, Extra Curriculars, Fitness classes, Classes etc.  Getting it out of your head and getting all down in your calendar just makes sense.  I use a combination of Goggle Calendar and my paper planner monthly view
  2. Set up goals for the month: whether it’s finishing a book, getting out 3 fitness classes/running x km or maybe it’s doing something you’ve never done before – working towards something helps get you out of your comfort zone and develop character.
  3. Set up a monthly to-do list:  I definitely think some of the activities on this list will be created from the monthly goals, but it may also include routine items (ie: run the washer clean cycle, sign up for swimming lessons) and bonus items (ie: artistic projects, going to the art gallery).  I personally love the bonus activities – it makes my soul smile
  4. Set a budget: Something is to be said about being mindful about spending.  Not just because mindless shopping and over spending is a waste of time and money.  But because it’s not good for our environment.  So whether it’s a “no spend month” or a cap on eating out, it’s definitely worth a try.
  5. Deep clean something!  I think it’s a good habit that I’m starting to implement whereby I clean something that has piled up.  Whether it’s a junk drawer, a basement closet or the baseboards.  Schedule it in and get it done!
From Pinterst
From Pinterest

Activities to build mindfulness into my day

As a working mom, blogger, etsy shop owner, wife, home owner – I’ve become really aware of how mindfulness plays into my day.  My ability to focus, being intentional, doing this without rushing and not multi-tasking.  I know mindfulness is important to me because it’s helped me have a greater enthusiasm for life and higher self esteem.  Read on to learn some activities I’ve started incorporating mindfulness to help me observe my thoughts & practice the art of leisure

Mindful art / art therapy

I’m still guilty of multi tasking. But I’ve found when I’m making art (painting, mixed media, photography) I don’t actually multi task! Making art is a great way to express myself beyond words. It encourages us to be present in the moment & experiences, through noticing the sensations we are experiencing as well as how our art (the way the paint moves or how the picture I just captured looks on my digital display) responds to our input.

Listening to solfeggio music:

Ever step into a spa and feel immediately relaxed? Spas help you relax because of their environment. And part of that environment is the music! I recently found solfeggio music and how the different tones can help you promote benefits to different parts of the mind and body. The use of tones and frequencies music dates back to ancient Sanskrit chants (read: Om) but the modern science is fascinating. Apparently DNA become more healthy (ie show increased UV absorption) when they were exposed to different tones (such as the Sanskrit chants). Further research confirmed that the certain frequencies of the Earth’s ionosphere matched that of the human brain wave patterns! (Notably the frequency that encourages cell regeneration & healing) Most musical instruments were tuned to match the earth’s vibrational frequency so by default listening to solfeggio music (specifically designed to recreate the earth’s & human brainwaves) can help you feel at ease and change the your DNA!

Deleting social apps

Mindless scrolling is the most obvious of activities to remove from your day. I delete social media apps which immediately stops the scrolling for no reason. This then improved productivity because I am more focused!

Anytime gratitude & visualization as often as I can

Being able to take control of your self talk/the voices in your head is an important way to be mindful. Not letting negative self talk run a muck in your mind can be prevent by training yourself to see the good (have gratitude) and be positive (visualize something that would be help you think the opposite of the negative self talk).

How to make better to do lists!

Planner, Crystals, Productivity, Smart Goals, Work Smarter, Women in Tech, Lifestyle, Life Lately, Life Tips

To do lists are the micro levels of my big dreams.  Big dreams are astronomical, may take months or years to achieve them, require persistence and consistency.  Consistency is where our daily to do lists come in.

I do want to preface this post by saying the following:

  • we shouldn’t be slaves to our to do lists
  • to do lists don’t own us
  • to do lists are meant to serve us 

So if your daily to do list, post it or weekly planner spread is making you feel bad about yourself – throw it out, take a beat and start over again when you are ready!

We shouldn’t feel productivity debt (feeling like you always need to be doing something and rest is not deserved unless your to do list is completed) from not completing everything on our to do list & there is nothing you NEED to do to earn your existence.

But when you are ready to schedule the day you want to make it amazing – read on!

Side note: I’m writing this as I was feeling overwhelm trying to use notion.  Notion is meant to be a tool to keep your life organized but there was too much scope creep in their product – for me at least.  The idea that it might also need to look aesthetic, link to a Spotify playlist and my Pinterest mood board was a little too much.  So I realized I need to step back and figured others might need to too.

So how do we make our to do lists work for us?

  1. Figure out your big dreams, goals, priorities and projects.   But also think about the habits you want to build and routines you want to have.
  2. Pick a medium that works for you.  Could be paper or digital, simple or complex.  You’ll also want to choose a template: Is it just 1 sticky note for the day, or multiple colour coded ones, is it a weekly spread planner or an hour-by-hour list of tasks.  This can obviously change but it’s a great idea to try something out.
  3. Fill your list with your daily living + tasks that will help you got to your big goals.  Example are meetings, but also your workouts (goal: to focus on fitness).  It could be having lunch with someone and blocking 2 hours in the morning for writing (goal: to write a book).  
  4. Pick something to fail at.  Not everything has to be checked off and not everything has to be done well.  So knowing what can be moved to another day vs a non-negotiable will help you stay intentional and not feel like you aren’t moving forward.

Remember – it’s all about getting to outcomes (not getting things done).  Your to do list should be on your side helping you build intentional habits and keep you 1 step closer to your goals!

Planner, Crystals, Productivity, Smart Goals, Work Smarter, Women in Tech, Lifestyle, Life Lately, Life Tips

Starting the new year with renewed focus and intention

It was a GREAT 20 days of blogmas! I am pretty impressed with my ability, consistency and ambition.  I think it was the longest streak of blogging I’ve had in a long time.  For January, I’ll be returning to more regular yet less frequent blog posts.  Maybe, it will be twice a week and centered around a new theme – I haven’t confirmed my creative process yet! :P

<Admin reminder for myself> I’ve also yet to share all the posts on Pinterest so that will take some time in January also. So between editing titles (taking out the word “blogmas”), promoting on Pinterest (and twitter & instagram for that matter) I know I’ll be scaling back.  </end reminder>

So here is my first post – post blogmas!  It’s a multi day vlog showing my routines & habits.  All things I want to continue focusing on in the new year.  Whether that’s nature works, morning workouts, journaling, reading, meditating, doing well in my career – it’s a reminder that my Focus and Intention needs be all about consistency.  So hopefully it inspires others out there who want to start (or stay on …like me) the journey of their personal development and self growth.


Click here for Blogmas 2022!

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Blogmas | Do THIS before you create your reality with a #VisionBoard

We are 18 days out from 2023.  I hope between the get togethers, holiday meals and gift giving your are making time for YOU.  As a mom of daughters, with a full fledge and progressive career with ambitions of growing my business – goal setting has always been my thing.

But with the new year I definitely try to be more intentional.

Below is the process I’ve developed over the years + sharing my vision board capturing visual cues of all the areas I’m setting goals in (wellness, learning, career promotion, financial abundance, family, friends and world travel).

  1. Retrospective on the past year: I use the life audit wheel and do an audit of the areas of my life that went really well (10) and the areas that I felt I could have put more effort towards or that could have gone better (1 being the lowest on the scale)
  2. Write in words what the life audit showed me: This is really about writing down what went well and what didnt.  So now you have two representations of the past year.
  3. Get clear on what you want to achieve: Now taking the written retrospective, write down all the things you want to achieve.  Be as detailed as possible.  And also make room to jot down the feeling you have when you think about these achievements.  And most importantly, write down actionable steps to get where you want to be (full disclosure: this will take you more than one sitting)
  4. Pinterest, pinterest, PINTEREST! You are gonna grab all images that show you achieving everything you clearly articulated in step 3.
  5. Make you vision board: Now you are going to make a visual representation of what you wrote in 3. Before you make your vision board, make a gratitude list, meditate, light a candle, clense your crystals – just be in the most receiving space you can be in!  Once you love what you’ve created (also: this could take a few tries) PRINT it out, save to all of your desktop wallpapers & make sure you look at it multipe times a day.

You’ll notice a pattern here, we think, write and visualize.  Repeatedly.  Why? Because the brain can’t tell the difference between something actually happening/how it feels when you achieve something vs when you just think about achieving it & feel the feelings.  Once you brain believes you’ve achieved it, you’ll starting behaving in a way and taking actions in the direction of that achievement.

BONUS: Do future journalling – everyday of the new year, potentially as part of your morning journalling practice.  This is where you write down everything of the day as it it’s already happened (ie: these will be the actionable steps you wrote down in 3 aboce).  Again tricking your brain into thinking you’ve already achieved the accomplishment but on a daily basis.

Vision Board, Pinterest, Mood board, Future, Goals, New Years Resolution, Goal Setting, Happy, Abundant, successful, wealthy, prosperity, vitality, wellness

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!

Blogmas | Podcasts I’m listening to right now

I don’t know what I’ll do if they ever make it a full subscription model for free learning mediums like podcasts and youtube!  But grateful I get access to virtual mentors world wide through podcasts!

I am really into personal success stories, biographies & female empowerment when it comes to my taste in podcasts.   Read below to learn more about the podcasts I’m into these days (in no particular order):

Diary of a CEO: is hosted by Steve Barlett (an investor from Dragon’s Den) who is able to get the most comprehensive and value add stories from his guests.  I really love that given all of his experience he still breaks it down so anyone listening can gain the knowledge that he already knows to be true.  My only qualm is that each episode is over an hour.  

CEO School: is hosted by Suneera Madhani.  A brown girl unicorn founder and CEO.  She shares her own lived experienced lessons that are so relatable.  She also talks about smart topics such as how to level up in business and in life.  I really love wine-down Wednesdays, episodes are not over 25 min

*are we seeing a pattern here*

Goal Digger: is hosted by Jenna Kutcher (who’s amazing success story had me hooked from day 1: she was a SAHM, bought a DSLR and built a 7 figure biz).  She talks about EVERYTHING from crypto, to side hustles, to daily finances to biohacking.  I recently found her and so glad I did!

Podcast, podcast episodes, goals, productivity, entrepreneurship, business, corporate girlie

Affirmation Babe: hosted by Ashley Diana (what a beautiful name!). Her episodes are affirmations on important topics for most women. The episodes are less than 20 minutes and serve the dose of positivity and optimism you need to fill your mind with to change your story. One word of caution: some episodes contain explicit words so read the titles before playing on speaker!

Leadership Babes: is hosted by Atena Morelli & Laura Wizman. I’m new to this podcast but their topics are all about the journey to success: mindset, manifestation, and creating the consistency to build the life of your dreams. (if you are looking for a planner spread: check out my digital wellness and agenda pages here)

The Daily Motivation: Is hosted by Lewis Howes. You might know him as a lifestyle entrepreneur or best selling author – annnddd he was actually a footballer player. I really enjoy this podcast because each episode is less than 10 min and include the real impact & actionable steps of his longer episodes

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!