I want to do something fun…My favorites so far 2020

Please note:  I am doing this topic for several reasons, including that I would love to collaborate with someone both in video and or blogging.  I am also available for freelance work.  You can contact me through my email address plogan721@att.net.  I take serious people as I had a scammer back in November for my graphic work.  This caused a major shift in how I accept writing and graphic gigs.  I am not bitter about the experience and I caught it in time, or my identity could have been compromised.  Sorry, I am mentioning this on such a fun topic as the one you are about to read.  With that being said, on with today’s topic.

Disclaimer(s): P. Lynne Designs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

P. Lynne Designs is also a participant partner in the Erin Condren affiliate program which is designed to provide a 

means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Erin Condren. 

Ok, that last topic took something out of me.  I am not going to lie when I say that that the blog post was the fourth one I had written and the first one I am proud of since Corona broke out, landed in the United States, and showed herself out.

Now I am done.  I have said my piece for now about her. I am ready to have some fun writing topics.  I am ready for the doom and gloom to go away for a while.  I was reminded of that last week by my pastor.

I attend an online bible study via Facebook Live.  This is how I have been attended church worship services too, and except for a few times when my computer has not quite cooperated in either task or the two weeks I had to deal with my cat, Gizmo going through heat issues. Yes, Gizmo is a girl, my girly girl, and she was named after the Mogwai Gizmo from the movie, Gremlins, who is a boy.  Yes, you can feed her after midnight, although I do not suggest dealing with her during heat because she turns into a little Gremlin, LOL.  Anyway, she is my little gremlin,

Anyway, My pastor said of African Americans who have been killed in the last few months because of the continued hatred from certain types of white folks, that you can post all you want to about how much you hate what is happening from Trevon to Breanna, the RN who was killed because someone reported to police about some drug activity going on in her apartment, and she was sleeping after a grueling shift, and it was the wrong apartment.  If you do not act on how much you hate it, and make people aware of the problem in this country, then you are part of the problem.

What does that have to do with the coronavirus?  Same thing and the best thing to do at this point is to stay at home, wash your hands, and stay 6 feet apart.

Okay, enough of that.

Just making a list of my favorites.
 (photo by Pixabay.com)

What is today’s topic? 

I want to give all my writers and journal writers a task this week.  Yes, this week.  This will break you out of your mode of “normal” writing, and if this is not your thing, then try it once.  You may like it.

I normally write about lifestyle things on my other blog, Home Prep and those topics are on organization, decorating on a budget, and anything that is home-related.  Every once in awhile, you would see something about travel, and the reason was I had a travel portion on the blog.  I found after writing about my plans for a family Disney trip in December 2019 (see the previous post on THIS BLOG) about the problems leading to me canceling the trip.  I decided it would be best if I had a separate trip blog.

Anyway (count how many times I write, “anyway”), I want to write on this blog my favorite writing things or products of 2020 SO FAR. So in no particular order, I will have my list, and I will reference them with a link if I find the product on Amazon, Erin Condren, Walmart (which I do not get a commission on, but I love) or information I think you can use.  Again, you are not obligated to make a purchase.

Favorite item to use while writing:

These are routines, products, or tips that help me get into the mood of write.  Note:  Lately, I have not felt like writing much.  My mind had been scattered all over the place in terms of what topics to write.  Remember, I have chosen to write 3 blogs (soon to be 4), and it was not the number of blogs I write in, but how I write them.  So, the first thing I did was a little soul searching.  I turned to the very thing that got me started writing in the first place, which I mentioned that is was my friend, Lois, and writing in a personal journal.  In that journal, which is now an OneNote Notebook on my computer, it has allowed me to really think about what I am supposed to do.  It is the one thing that connects me to her, even though Lois died in 2002 to advanced breast cancer.  

Another thing is surprising, my pastor also journals.  He came to my congregation last year, and he has been a blessing.  He is younger than me, but I find him very relatable.  He is also an accomplished author, and has written a couple books and has a blog himself.  Personally, I felt that in the year since he has presided over the congregation (along with our “sister”, Westley United Methodist Church), my pastor has given me some insight on how a “woman of God”, “God’s child”, a Christian should govern over herself.

 Next, My favorite tea, which has to be decaf.  I do drink caffeinated coffee and tea, but I need something to calm me down, especially if I write at night.  I started writing at night because it was the only time that I did not have the noise of the day.  Up until February 25, 2020, my nephew and his girlfriend stayed here with me until they found an apartment.  Well, my great-niece came, and they are staying with my parents until they were able to save a little money for an apartment, which they had found, but corona reared up her head, and since he had been working double shifts at a shipping company (due to everyone online ordering and PPE stuff shipping in), they have not been able to move in.  since they have been gone, I still write at night, along with my tea, which is nothing more than Celeste Seasons fruit tea bags-assorted.  I used to drink Chamomile tea or CS Sleepytime tea, but I love these teas better.  I think it helps Gizmo calm down that I am not moving around so much.

What I use to write with?  That is simple, MS Word.  I will write down as much as I could, edit later.  Tip:  it helps to write it all down, then come back later to edit for clarity.  You may not have the same thoughts as you did when you first write it down.  This is why it takes me a long time for one blog post.  My blog post writing routine is:

·         Write for the thought process

·         Edit for clarity (this is where I add and take away)

·         Add bullet points, bold and italic and other ideas I want to emphasize.

·         Decide my font (which will go away once I start writing this blog in WordPress format)

·         Paste to Blogger (or WordPress when I start writing in that format)

·         Edit for Grammarly

·         Finally, add my title (which is already written in MS. Word), scheduled to publish, add Keywords/SEO, summarize, hook up my links, and add photos and capture points.

It sounds like a lot, but it really is not.  I did not mention the hard part (yes, there is), which is promotion.  I post a link to Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Favorite ways to write.

What is that?  I have several ways to write, and some I like because most of the time, it is for continuity, a flow, while others have to be for the style.

·         Narrative.  Most of the time, I will write in a narrative-style or first person.  I am given you an account of my day, a routine, or even a place that I have visited. 

·         Ghost-writing.  I am writing in the style of the author or blog writer.  Yes, it is my work, but I cannot put my name in the by-line.  The byline has to be the person who publishes it on their blog. I cannot offer my bio either.  It has to look like the blog poster wrote it themselves.

·         Guest-writing.  I offer to write a blog post or article for a magazine or blog to name a few, and my name goes in the by-line, as well as my bio at the end of the article.

·         Lists.  This is still fairly new to me, but I like it just the same as the other styles of writing.  For example, I can write, “20 reasons to visit Walt Disney World”, or “20 reasons not to visit Walt Disney World”.  The trick is to do your homework or research before attempting to create lists.  I usually research to see if what I have to say is the truth.

·         SEO/Keyword.  Okay, I will admit it, I like it and I hate it.  It all depends on the post.  I have done some ghost-writing that required me to mention “body-building” 5 times in six 1000-word articles back in 2011.  I found that the subject was very boring, and I had to stomach through all 6 articles that I needed to write by the end of the week.  Three weeks later, I had to write 8 articles mentioning the words, “organize” and “cabinets” 8 times in 500-word articles and I wanted to write more. So, it all depends.

·         Journaling.  Yeah, you knew this was going to come up soon or later.  I have mentioned how many times I have enjoyed the art of journaling, decorating journals, and now I can add planners to the mix.  You can now journal in your planners, and visa versa.  You know I am here for that.  This is the reason I have the horizontal version of the Erin Condren Life Planner. I am a detailed person, and the more detail I can get, the better.  In addition, I get to put what date I want in this planner.  In addition to the Life Planner, I love using the Duo-tip markers, stickers (even though I make my own as well- coming soon to my shop and website), and petite books, which are perfect for sermon notes, goal setting, and project planning.

Well, that is it for this round.  I will update later in the year with new things.  Oh, I love to write in loungewear, and the pants I love are from Target, which is the Women’s perfectly cozy wide-leg lounge pants by Stars Above™.  I use any top that is comfy to me.  Right now as I write, I have on a tank top.  In the wintertime, I have on my Laura Ashley fluffy robe that I bought for Christmas.  I now have to find one that is perfect for summer.

Finally, I love writing in the dark.  Let me explain….

At night, when it is nice and quiet, and it is past midnight, I may get into the mood of a nice fluffy robe, my sock, loungewear on, and I turn off the overhead light in my office and have on only the lamps illuminating my screen.  It gives me the sense of a warm blanket, and this is one way that I cocoon.  The other way of cocooning is having 3-4 blankets on my bed and turning off the heat in the wintertime or turning on the air conditioner in the summertime, and snuggle.  Another conversation for a different day.

Anyway, I also have a sense that I am in some sort of secret cave and it is just me and the computer, then Gizmo wants something and ruins the moment, LOL.  But between the time I settle in and Gizmo’s wanting, I can get a lot done with my writing.

Fact: Dealing with an almost 3-year-old cat (who is still a kitten) is like dealing with a human toddler, but I like human toddlers better, LOL.   I do not have to dress this one or listen to it say, “Mommy, mommy, mommy”.  Oh, wait, constant meowing is the same as “mommy, mommy, mommy”.  Never mind, LOL.

Have a good day.

Let the flood gates begin

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links within the post, I may receive a commission for your click and purchase. You do not have to make a purchase to enjoy this post, I only highlight products to help with the cost of running the blog, and I only post links to products relevant to the topic in that post and to companies I use and trust.”

Please Note:  I started writing this blogpost in pen and paper.  You know, the old-fashioned way of writing.  I got the idea from an episode from Star Trek: Voyager where one of my favorite captains, Captain Janeway was sick of technology, after dealing with species 842 and the Borg.  This was the episode that introduced Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, a former Borg drone brought back by to her human self by The doctor, authorized by Captain Janeway.  Captain Janeway decided to take to writing her captain’s log by this method.  It is a practice that we should all do in the wake of this pandemic.  To me, even though you are seeing my post in digital form, it was a way of getting back to things in a natural way. 

Photo by Pixabay

This was the week when my city reopened for retail.  Today was the day I ventured out to a new norm of new rules (other than what was already in place).  As I drove, doing my errands of depositing money in my business checking account and going to a grocery store that carried a Starbucks kiosk, because the Starbucks down the street lied about being open, I was thinking, “was it all worth being quarantined for the past 2 ½ months?”  The only difference was Columbus, Ohio all of sudden looked like a Japanese prefecture, with mask-wearing people out and about in the 70° plus weather.  This is something that the Japanese and other Asians are used to doing, not Americans. 

Americans are used to having the freedom to do whatever we want to do, and how we want to do it.  If it puts us in jail, so be it.  When we get out, some of us will try it again until someone ignores us, then it becomes a norm.  If we have to protest, that is fine, it makes an interesting news story locally and/or nationally.

I am not sure how I feel about it.  

OK, let me explain….

Since this whole Covid-19 started, I have been squeamish about a few things and those are:

• What is my new norm?
• How is the country supposed to work now that there is the new little bug that can wipe us out, especially in places like the city where I live and places that I love, like the Caribbean and Walt Disney World.

What is my new norm?

I have been a quiet person all my life.  I get it from my mom.  So, I do not mind being isolated during this time period.  My only problem at first was wearing the mask and gloves, and I get it.  I had no problem putting them on, the problem comes because my hands are the same size as a child. There are people who cannot be around others because of their immune system and they are the elderly and the young.  I have 6 people I have to respect that.  My parents and aunt all have pre-existing conditions and they are elderly.  I have a niece who will be 3 months old next week, I have a friend who also has a pre-existing condition and a pastor who has a pre-existing condition.  I also have to watch it because I have high blood pressure and I am pre-diabetic. Depending on the doctor, I either have diabetics, or it can come at any time.  Either way, I have to watch my diet and my weight.  Thank you, Corona for giving me the sense of ignoring those two things.  I am much better at doing that now.

Also my new norm:  My business.  I could tell you that I have the easiest job I could ever have, but like most businesses, there is the struggle of getting gigs.  There is a struggle of getting money for this business.  I also could say that I like the stimulus package for small or even home businesses.  I do not have a small business, I have a home business, and as a home business owner, we often get lumped in with small businesses.  What Is a home business?  It is a business that is operated out of the home and if you do have any employees, it is usually an assistant.  Your revenue is lower than a small business.  A good year is when a person is able to earn $1,000 plus per month. 

Why offer help to small businesses if big businesses get approved?

Well, to be honest, the EIDLE and the PPP portion of the first stimulus package has done nothing for me and my business because of companies like Potbelly and The Lakers basketball team, who should not have been allowed to apply in the first place, nor their applications should never been approved.  Potbelly has returned the money and I believe so has The Lakers.  That still does not help P. Lynne Designs. I applied twice.  The first application was on Go Alice, while the second application was on the SBA.gov site. I have not heard back, and I doubt I will at this point.  I do not have any employees.  This is just to maintain the business of one, and for growth.  The government did not handle this process very well.  I chucked as “I am getting no help as usual” and went about my day. Update:  Last night, I was able to file for unemployment, a right that was not given to people like freelance writers and freelance graphic designers, which I am.  I pray and hope they approve it.

So let us go back to what I was talking about

THE RETAIL STORES

I do not mind the retail stores being open.  Personally, I will not be going in the very beginning.  Actually, I am having fun online ordering.  I do not have to worry about donning on a mask, fighting crowds, not finding what I want. In fact, I ordered a mystery Die cut bag from Tonic Studios at 3 am this morning.  That is how much fun I am having to order online.  Yes, I can always order online, then pick up at the store like Walmart. 

Amazon has been my store of the hour, and ever since I was told by my governor that even pickup was impossible in the craft stores in my state, I said “okay”, and started ordering online.   Ordering online is natural for me anyway, so it did not bother me that I could not go to any of my stores, except Ikea.  That is another story for another day.

I have been to two grocery stores since lockdown.  One was for last-minute stuff as I found out just today that the second store only allows me to do pickup ordering if the order was over $30.  The reason:  Cat food.  Well my nephew came through with the cat food, so now I do not have to buy that.

It is best if all stores keep in mind a level of safety.   My feeling is this since I do have pre-existing conditions, as well as my parents, I do not want to spread the super germs.  I am calling Corona that until we find a vaccination for it

My hardest hit yet, Walt Disney World

I am having the hardest time with a Disney Vacation.  Last May, I booked a stay for 12 at The Bay Lake Towers at The Contemporary Resort (its official name) for the time of December 15-20, 2019, with all the bells and whistles as this might be the last vacation with my parents, who are in their 80s. 

This was a well-meaning trip as two things went wrong from the start:  how to pay for a $30,627.00 trip that included a 3-bedroom villa, tickets to the parks, and a deluxe dining plan, and how to tell a Disney-hating father that we were going to the “land of the mouse” times 4 (The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and The Animal Kingdom theme parks).  It would not be a requirement for my parents to go into the parks unless they wanted to.  In years past (1998, 2004, and Disneyland in 2007 respectively), my father stayed at the resort or drove around the property, Orlando, and surrounding cities (Cape Canaveral, Kissimmee, and Tampa are close by).  This time, my mom, who loves the parks will join him if she wants to.  She is not too keen on using a riding scooter.

We were going to drive down instead of flying.  We were coming back home that Sunday so that my siblings and my nephew and niece can get back to work by that Monday before Christmas.  The kids (Nephews (age 12 and 9) and niece (11)) was being pulled out of school.  Ohio has a funny winter break schedule where they are out either the day before Christmas eve or a couple of days before Christmas.  Either way, it would have been fun.  I pulled the plug on that trip on October 15^th, one month before our last cancelation date of November 15^th.  I did not cry because I was going to call them the day after Christmas with a new date of December 12-19, 2020.

Well with Ms. ‘Rona on the prowl, and for the first time ever since Walt Disney opened Disneyland in 1955, all the parks were close, due her not wanting to play fair, I decided to see what Disney is going to do with the guidelines that they and the State of Florida government, as well as the federal government, was going to say about a reopening date.  For the moment, Disney reopened Shanghai Disneyland Monday, Disney Springs, Walt Disney World’s shopping area is reopening on May 20^th, and Walt Disney World is excepting bookings starting July 1 (it has been delayed from June 1^st). 

I do not want a vacation in 2020.  I feel like it is too soon to book a vacation and go in 2020.  So, I have decided to wait until December 15-19, 2021 to take the trip.  This all depends on two things:  the health of my parents and the health of our savings.  There is one more factor and I am not depending on whether I do or do not do for this vacation and that is to get another Disney Vacation Club membership.  This will affect how we pay for this trip.  Naturally, this membership is a timeshare, and I have spoken about timeshares before on this blog. That is a talk for my yet to be created a new blog, which will be Disney-related.  I took all the travel stuff off of my blog, Home Prep because it is not related.

Some good has come out of all this…

My stories are not all bad, in fact, some of them quite funny.

Last week, a friend had a birthday.  She announces it each year 6 days in advance.  This year was no different.  What I love about Facebook is the ability to have people donate to your favorite charity in loo of presents for your birthday.  I am going to do one, I am not sure where yet.  July 21 has not gotten here yet.

Anyway, her sister and mother thought that since Ms. ‘Rona decided to cancel my friend’s plans, a surprise drive-by birthday salute was in order.  Can I tell you that I do not know how to do one, LOL?

First, I told her mother that I was coming by via Facebook invite.  I have seen lineups, so I thought that I was going to meet at her mother’s house, and we would fall in line to go to my friend’s apartment.  After all, it was a surprise.  Since I am one of those people who would show up late to her own wedding if given a chance, I decided to arrive early so my friend’s mother cannot say that I was late.  So, I drove to the house at 4:46 and I did not see any cars.  “Good, I am the first one,” I thought, so I went the next street over to turn around.  Okay, next thing I knew, I saw my friend’s daughter, who is 3, then my friend.  I thought, “Oh, Crap”, and I drove off to my parent’s house who live around the corner.   This drive-by was at 5, so I killed some time at my parent’s house and went back over there.  It turned out to be an “individual” happy birthday, as my friend and her mother sat there while people drove by, wishing her a happy birthday.  It turned out great, and this goofy person now know the proper drive by, LOL.

Business Dealings….

I was able to get some things done for my business while on lockdown.  I was approved for an affiliate that I have been wanting since 2017.  You know how much I love Erin Condren products, so you will be seeing more affiliate links from that company.  As always, I only support companies that I love and believe in, and you are not obligated to make a purchase, but it would be nice for the support.  It is a way to put money back into my business.  Some of these companies with affiliates, like Erin Condren, Cricut, and Amazon may have links that will help you save money as well.  So in that case, if you need the product, it is good to help out a blog and save money at the same time. 

I am also working on some things that will help improve this blog, including the infamous blog move.

Even though I was down and out during this period of time, I am fine now and living a new norm.  For the moment, my state is wrapping being on lockdown.  This is the reason for this title.   Let the flood gates open!!! Well, I am over my limit.  Be well and safe.  Wear a mask, and I will talk to you later.

It is almost time (Planner setup)

Disclaimer: P. Lynne Designs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Today, I want to talk about time.  I know, boring subject, but there is a purpose for this topic.  I am not going to talk about time too much on this post, except for when it comes to setting up your planner.

How much time do we really have?

Photo by P.Lynne Designs (c) 2019

We all know what time is and how valuable it is in a day.  I feel that if I have a lot of time on my hands, I am not being productive when I watch a video or playing a game on my tablet. I like to be productive, as I am sure many of you do.  I am not saying don’t play games or watch videos.  Find a set time in the day/night to do that sort of thing.  This is part of your scheduling.  I do not write it down in my planner, but I make a conscious effort to note that in my head. 

Experts say that went you go to bed each night, turn off the screens.  What does that mean?  It simply means turn off your computer, turn off your phones and tablets, and do not play the television all night.  If you cannot do that, at least put them in the next room.  If you put them in the next room, you now have to physically get up to answer any texts or comments on your posts on Facebook, for example.  I know if I have to do that, I do not want to get up, so, I save it for the next morning.

For instance, I turn off my phone.  Not because the experts say that I have to, but I have a phone that constantly needs charging.  It is a Samsung Note 4 and on its last lap around the mobile bin. I will get into my issues with my phone at a later time and hopefully, I can change my phone soon. Next, there is my desktop computer.  I keep it on all the time, except when Windows 10 updates without my knowledge, and it automatically turns off the computer.  I have the computer downstairs because where I really want my computer, which is in the next room, my nephew and his girlfriend are living there until they can find an apartment.  My laptop is powered down for the moment and in my backpack for when I want to work in my room or decide to go to a coffee shop or the library to work. Those are examples of turning off the screens.

I have a flaw that I am working on.

One problem that I still have is my Ipad.  I carry it to bed with me.  I look at my messages, play games, read articles, and watch YouTube videos.  This is a bad example of turning off the screens.  When I don’t do these things that I mentioned, I find myself walking over to my Ipad, unlocking it, and just let the light from the screen put me to sleep.  It is my 5 minute night light, which I am trying to correct right now.

My tips for scheduling:

In addition to powering down your screens, which is more of a “how to get a restful night of sleep” than “How to schedule” tip.  I have these other tips:

1. Get a good planner. 

I have I ready mentioned in Part 1 of Planning for Beginners 2020 Edition, steps for buying that first planner if you do not already have one.  I have watched plenty of YouTube videos prior to writing that post, to make sure that I was pointing the reader in the right direction.  This is sort of part 2, and I apologize for not writing a proper post for this second part.  What I have learned from my experiences and watching those videos is get a planner that is right for you and how you plan. 

Photo by Pixabay

No two people can have the exact type of planning and planners.  I have mentioned that I have 4 different planners.  One is for my business, for my personal life, for my budget, and I am trying out bullet journaling, after a failed attempt of it for 2019.  The planners are all from Erin Condren, but I am open to trying new ones.  This is the brand I have chosen for me.  There is also the Happy Planner, Moleskine, The Simplified planner, Mead has a planner, Emily Ley, and Carpe Diem, to name a few thousand.  It seems that everyone has a planner to sell.

2. Have a “Think Tank” session. 

Choose a day to think about what you want to do and accomplish for 2020.  You do not have to take the whole day, but take a good chuck out of your say to set up your system and your schedule.  Place standing dates and dates (such as doctor’s appointment) that were scheduled in 2019 and place them in your planner. 

So, decorate or not decorate it according to your tastes.  Make a schedule that you are comfortable with.  I have 4 planners, and I am fine with that concept.  I know others who have 8 or 5.  There are some people who stick with one paper planner and have a digital planner. Do what makes you happy. 

Take ideas from people and make them your own.  You do not have to make an exact copy of their setup.  Before you begin, ask yourself, how can I make this work for me?  Use a scratch piece of paper, and write out a budget on what you are willing to spend and what you can spend.  Next, draw or write out your sections, such as Home, Business, Budget, and personal.

3. If you can, have a separate budget book. 

Yes, that is what the Erin Condren Monthly deluxe planner is for with me.  This is not a new concept.  I adopted this technique from Shay McMillian, AKA Shay Budgets.  What I like about this planner is that there are notebook pages inside of each monthly section, where you can write down your notes, your income, your expenses, your sinking funds (I am still learning about those), and your financial goals.  You do not have to go all out like me.  I am testing this system for the first time.  What was not working for me was using Excel for a budget, and placing it in my main planner.

4. Business/Work Planner

Also if you can, have a separate business planner (or work planner if you still have a corporate job).  When I planned out My Ambiance Life and decided to talk about business ventures, I did not realize that I had a whole audience of readers who were both entrepreneurs and corporate workers, or corporate workers ONLY.  So this tip is for you too.  Many times, for example, we often find ourselves not only placing appointments in our personal planners dental appointments for our children, but that “all-inclusive” staff meeting from XYZ company, or meeting with a client, who wants to do 14 fittings of a wedding dress that she is not sure of in the first place into that planner.  Why not have a separate planner?  Even better if you can leave on at the office and carry the other one around. 

Photo by Pixabay

Not feeling the need to have to carry one around.  Does pocket-size mean anything or using your phone as a digital planner?  That is why I carry my Ipad.  I put all my dates in there

5. Putting it all together.

Find a way to coordinate your system.  Make a conscious effort to look at it every day.  Decorate if you want to.  I know of some people who go wild with the decorating and some who take on a minimalist approach to it.  I am in the middle.  If I feel like it, I will decorate it.  I do not make a habit of it.  I like stickers, which goes back to my days of making scrapbooks. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject of setting up a planner.  Place them in the comments section.

Related Articles

Planning for Beginners the 2020 addition part 1

How to set up a Planner 

Planning for beginners the 2020 edition Part 1

Today’s topic:  how to plan out 2020 without pulling your hair.

Well, I have news for you...

You cannot, but you can look like you are an expert, but first, let’s talk about planners.

Image by Jess Watters from Pixabay 

Please note:  there are so many planners out there and no one has the same style and technique in that is ideal for everyone.  So, guess what?  You must find it yourself.  I am not being mean about it.  It is like journaling, which is why I am including it with journaling.  Also please note:  I am not an expert in this.  The only way I can teach you is from my experience.   So, here is my experience with playing with planners.

I have had many different types of planners.  The one I started with is called DayTimers.  It is nothing fancy about this system at all.  I worked with this system from the smallest to what was called, the folio size.  I ordered it faithfully, and with its boring green and white style, you could order it in daily only and weekly only.  Both had the monthly layout with them, but you can also order just the monthly layout as well. 

What I liked about this system was I could archive it.  The layouts came in both spiral and binder style.  The last style I ordered was in 2006, and it came in a daily, spiral style, with a monthly layout feel to it.  All the style allowed you to plan things by the hour, which is a plus if you had clients to meet with, not so if you had an event that ran all day.

I stop ordering them and did not keep up at all.  I had no clients, just a job at Archiver’s, and my schedule was easy to keep up without a calendar, paper or digital.  That failed miserably.

Fast forward to 2014.  I was getting bored with entering my dates into my phone.  I was not looking at it half the time, as well as forgetting to enter the date in the first place.  I had all these papers that I carried around in my purse, which started looking like a briefcase.  I had to curb that ish quick.   I was looking at the Daytimer’s website (only because I received a catalog in snail mail, begging me to come home), and I learned that Franklin Covey (yes, THE Franklin Covey), had bought the Daytimer’s line.  I did not like Franklin Covey when I first started planning and my mind were not changing on how I was feeling about the brand, which to me was a little on the “Old man” side of planning.  So, I started researching.  I needed something that made planning fun, and NOT a chore.

Enter Erin Condren.  I looked at it and thought that for a cute planner, it was expensive. Well, so was Daytimers.  I had not learned about Happy Planner at that time and that was 2015 when the Erin Condren website had a sale because it was in the middle of the year.  So, I went for it, and at $35 (as a comparison to the normal $65) I decided to order it.  I was happy with my purchase, and it went nicely with some stickers that I also ordered it.  I have been with the Erin Condren Life Planner ever since 2015, and I love it.  Most of the time, I order when it is on sale, and as long as I am not too late in the year.  If I am, I order next year.  I also like to decorate the pages, more on that later. 

The first question is, are you a planner person?  If you are, great, you are ahead of the people who want to learn.  If not or you want to learn some tricks of the trade, sit back, grab a cup of your favorite beverage (mine is either coffee or water), and prepare to learn.

1.       Choosing your planner.

There are really two types of planners: paper and digital.  Digital planners are on your phone, your tablet, laptop, or your desktop.  They can also be on your TV since televisions are slowly becoming the family hub center.  You access your planner through an application or app.  

Paper planners, on the other hand, were once a dying thing.  There are many planners to choose from.  I have mentioned 4 already:  Franklin Covey and Daytimer’s are the oldest planners, and the Erin Condren life planner and Happy planner are some of the newest planners that came into existence in the past 10 years. 

There is no style that is wrong for it is a matter of preference.  The best way to choose is to think about what you want to do with the planner.  For instance, I have an Erin Condren as I said before.  The way I plan my planner could easily transfer to a Happy Planner, which I have plans to try for next year.  It is cheaper than ECLP, and I can go to any craft store for one.  This leads to to….

 2.      Price

When you first start using a planner, you do not want to go overboard with price.  One reason is if you get bored with the planner, you do not want to feel like you are stuck with it. You can get a fairly cheap planner monthly calendar at Walmart for $5.99 (not sponsored by the company)

3.      Are you a decorator or “Stick it in” person

Image by David Schwarzenberg from Pixabay

Here is the difference.  Are you are a decorator, then you will want to purchase stickers, use colorful pens and markers, and have all the accessories that your little planner can handle.  If this is you, again, do not go overboard, or your $20 worth of stickers, pens, and accessories can rack up to $500 in a heartbeat, and you will wonder what you got for that much.  Trust me, I have been in your shoes, and I still, am.   The best bet is to set a budget stick with 1-3 brands and go with it.  I am on Erin Condren’s, Oh So Paper’s, and Happy Planner’s list.  I have also tried Planner Society, but I did not like the idea of renewing the subscription plan every three months.  I also tried other subscription plans with the same result, and I told you about my beef with Daytimers.       

Now if you are more of a “stick a date in and forget it” type of person, you have no worries.  You might want to use a colorful pen or two, but no stickers and accessories are at a minimum if any.  That is ok too. this means that your planner orders are going to be a whole lot less than “the decorator’s”, and your budget will thank you too. I. just. have. not. gotten. that. point. Yet. This brings me to…

4.      Watch the budget.

My suggestion no matter what your basic kind of planning is to have a budget.  Once you pick your planning system and your “stuff”, make a plan on how you are going to plan, and so forth, please price them out on your budget sheet, and divide by 12, and put that amount in your budget.  For example, if you plan on spending $1000 for the year, divide that by 12, which equals out to $83.00 per month.  On some of the months, $83 would be going towards a planner and some months the accessories.

5.      Have fun.

I am going to say this but have fun planning.  If you are stress over things that leave you ready to smack someone, then you should not be planning at all.  I look at it this way, it is your way of decorating the books.  Anyone can have fun with the project; men, women, and children.  This project does not have any age boundaries.  I hear all kinds of stories about a person who gets organized and loves it. 

There are no set rules of time management, except the following according to Entrepreneur:

1.       Start your day off right.  Not only be positive but meditate, have a daily routine, do not rush to get things done

2.      Plan for what you want to accomplish.  Have a to-do list.  Make that list obtainable and reasonable.  Going out to get ice cream is not a goal, but saying spending time with Angela, who is your 10-year-old is a short-term goal.

3.      Have a set time and day to set up your week. I try to set up my week on a Saturday before.

Well, this is it for right now.  Take care.

Journal Prompt: Dream Jobs as a Kid and an Adult

Disclaimer:  This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links within the post, I may receive a commission for your click and purchase. You do not have to make a purchase to enjoy this post, I only highlight products to help with the cost of running the blog, and I only post links to products relevant to the topic in that post and to companies I use and trust.”

 Today is Journaling Day.  I am loving this day. 

In case you are new here, this is the day where I give you a journaling tip and journaling prompt.  It gives you ideas on what to journal on in case you get stuck.  It is not a requirement to read this blog as I have other days that have no participation.  It may change once I have this new website online.  Just Kidding, but I will have more things that you may want to do in your journaling journey.

Tip for Today: Do not hesitate to convert an old planner into a journaling planner.

I find this to be a much-needed idea because I am starting to become a hoarder of notebooks, planners, and journaling books.  I still journal online (actually, in MS Word), but I also am finding myself making journals on gratefulness, blog posts that I want to write about, and so forth. 

A type of journaling I also do is called list journaling.  It started out, I think, as a way to making a bucket list, but for me, it has become much more.  I write down things in the following list order:

·         Books I read

·         Library books I looked at (which is different then the books I read)

·         Things I want to do for my business

·         Crafty things I want to make

·         Future blog posts so I will repeat the title of the subject

·         Vacation points

·         Being grateful

Some I check off, while for others, it is a list. 

Currently, I use anything from journals from Dollar Tree, Target, and Erin Condren.  I talked about the Erin Condren Petite Journal in a video two months ago, and I absolutely the smallness of the journal.  The journal do not too many pages, which is good for short-term journaling.  Sometimes you may want to journal events such as a wedding you are planning, a pregnancy, or even a trip of a lifetime.

Today’s prompt:  Employment

Question from 300 Writing Prompts:  As a Kid, what Job did you Dream you would have as an ADULT? What job do you have now?

Yes, it is one of those two-part questions, but I like this question because again, it makes you think about what is going on in your life.

This is an optional question from me:  Are you happy in your current position at your job? 

This is even harder to think about because you are deciding if you should change your future.  There is always something you can change about your jobs, such as hours worked, the location, or even your boss.  Some are easy fixes while others are harder to fix.  It may mean that you have to leave your current position, ask for a higher raise, or add on new responsibilities.  Remember that one year, 5-year, or 10-year plan?  It might be time to dust it off and take action.  Remember, talk is cheap, but the action is expensive.

So it is my turn….

I was first asked this question at the age of 6 years.  I had 3 dream jobs:  A teacher, an Actress, and a dancer.  I took the lessons for dance, I learned all I could to become a teacher, and I thought I would wing it as an actress because I thought that I was a natural at it, thanks to mom, who thought I was.  I was so dramatic as a child.

Later, around 8, I added nurse and model to my list of occupations that could go after.  By 12, being a mommy was added.  Before you ask, nothing was achieved by the time I was 25.  I was a preschool teacher for a few years, but the others, it was a no, and you can read about what I did in my life over several blog posts.

What am I doing now, and am I happy with the outcome…

I am a single person with no children.  That I am not happy with.  I am in marketing, a graphic designer, a writer, and a stationer.  This I am happy with. I am finally doing what I was meant to do in the beginning.  I do not think I would be happy as an actress, I am too short as a model, and I still can be a teacher, just not a teacher of children.  I am still holding on to be a mommy.  I am an aunt at the moment. 

As a person who can do all that I am doing at the moment, I can teach a person how to do what I do.  I am teaching now as I write this.  I am giving you tips on how to journal, such as what materials to use, and what I use.  Teachers make you think, which is what I am doing now.  Teachers give students ideas, which is what I am doing now.

One last tip:

If you think what I wrote is short, it is, because I have written my employment life story throughout this blog, My Ambiance Life. I do not like to repeat myself unless it is necessary. Besides that, I want you to write your own work life story.  What you have to offer people, especially young people?  I want everyone to remember this as you are writing your work life story:

Your story can make you or break you.  you can see your way through or get you to change.  The results are the teachers that allow you to tell your story.  Your story is not fiction, it is a true story.  Talk about the time that you did not have any money and when you were ready to give up, a job came along and save you from doing something that should not be doing in the first place.  Talk about the time when you wanted a raise in position, but the supervisor thought you were not ready and why.  Talk about the customer that you help, and you felt grateful for your job, but also talk about the customer who made you so mad that you had to remove yourself.  I had one such customer when I was working for Archiver’s, a Memory Store in 2009.  Your story may be someone’s saving grace and to let them know that they are not the only one who has not gone through that. 

That was my takeaway for this post, and I will leave you for right now.  May God bless you on your journey to journaling, on your job, and in life in general. 

Scheduling 2.0

Caution:  May contain Affiliate Links

Lately, I had a lot of things on my mind, so I had to take a break.  Not too much of a break because I am loving the page views I have been receiving, but enough to get myself back on track.

I have started some posts to put up this week, but they have been pulled back to next week. I have not been mindful to myself, but thankfully, my family nor my church has not asked me to do too many things.  The reason I said this is as of this morning, my left ankle has been acting up, which mean one thing:  I am having a slight flare-up of gout, and I do not want to slow down my intake of seafood.  The other things that have been slowly flaring up are my shoulders and my eczema, which is concentrated on my face and chest (started to say the other thing in the chest area, but I remember about my G-rating on this blog, LOL). Except for the worry that I may not have enough money to finish paying for my trip in September, working on my YouTube Channel, and working on my friendship swap (my third scrapbook/mixed media swap with this woman), this has been a laid back week.

Well, enough about me, how has your week been going? 

Topic of Scheduling: What is it?

Today, since I mentioned my schedule or the sort of lack of a viable one, I thought I would post about making a schedule.  Not only a schedule that works for your writing but a schedule that contains everything you do in your life.  Let me first say to those who are new to scheduling, it is another way of planning.  In this case, you are planning out your day, week, month, or year. (Trust me, I know people like that). I have mentioned in many, many blog posts, and now some videos, planning is a way of knowing what you need to do, and want to do.  Planning keeps you sane, it keeps you on track, and it keeps you from duplicating tasks.  When you were in school, it was called a syllabus. Another name is called a “To Do List”.  Rather you call it a planning guide, syllabus, To Do List, Honey Do List, or scheduling, it is all the same, which again, it is a list of things that need to be done.

How to make a schedule?

Making a schedule is not hard to do, but for some reason, this is something that most people struggle with, myself included.   Even as a single person, with no kids, and not currently dating, it is a struggle.  Why?  Because I have so many facets of my life that I have to place into motion, such as time with the family (both biological and church family), church services, regularly scheduled meetings to attend, blog posting, videotaping, writing assignments that I suddenly feel that I need to do, and handmade projects that need to be made.  Oh, let’s don’t forget things, such as doctor and dental appointments, hair appointments (getting your hair twisted is an all-day appointment, even when you have 3 African braiders in your head at all times), pedicures, grocery shopping, and spring cleaning and decluttering (in the process now).  The list goes on and one.  You wonder if I will have time for baby when I adopt. Sleep, yes sleeping and pooping (OK, TMI)

To do that, you have to first prioritize.  Yes, that nasty little word called prioritizing.  What is important to you, may not be as important or more important to another person, so you have to place, in order, the things that need to be done.  Let look at my list:

·         Family time (D)

·         Worship services (W)

·         Meetings for church (M)

·         Meetings for business (AN)

·         Blog writing, editing, and posting (x3 W)

·         Video filming, editing, and posting (x2 W)

·         Freelance writing assignments (AN)

·         Handmade product creation, pricing, and placement (W, Q)

·         Doctor and dental appointments (Every 3 months, 6 months, A)

·         Hair and feet appointments (Every 2-3 months)

·         Personal and grocery shopping (AN, 2 weeks)

·         Spring cleaning and decluttering (Q)

·         Technology stuff (M)

The symbols are

·         A=Annually

·         AN=As Needed

·         D=Daily

·         M=Monthly

·         X#=Number of times during the week, month, or year.  The word Every in front shows importance for me.

·         Q=Quarterly

This is my breakdown of the overall schedule.  Note that I have not put any times on the scheduling part.  This when I do my calendar.  More on that part in a moment.

This is how I do my scheduling.  I write it on a big sticky note, handwritten, nothing fancy.  I usually will plan out my week on Sunday night (Sunday to Saturday scheduling).  So tomorrow, I will sit down at my desk, and look at my calendar, and plan out my week.  This process will take about 15 minutes to an hour, depending on what I have.  At the end of the month, I will throw in what I have to pay in bills, so it takes longer (towards the hour mark), and the rest of the month is usually towards the 15-minute mark.  So, if you are wondering how I throw in bill paying time.  There you have it.  I usually do not schedule in a separate bill paying time because I pay online, and it is like an internet session for me (before social media time).  I go to my credit card and utility sites, my banking, and Paypal in one session, jump back and forth between screens and in 15 minutes, I am done.

Next level:  Calendar

My Erin Condren Calendar
(c) 2017 Photo by P Lynne Designs
(c) 2017 Erin Condren 

Once I have all of that stuff straighten out, for the most part, I turn to my calendar.  I have 5 calendars:  Two paper planners (personal and business), My Ipad, and My smartphone (no the smartphone and the Ipad are not talking to each other (IOS and Android).  They do not play nice with each other, when you are on the family plan with your parents, and having an Ipad and an Iphone is not in the plans when your 21-year old nephew has one. So, until then, I have to deal with devices that do not talk with each other.  I mentioned a 5^th calendar, that would be my desktop, I nicknamed, Della because she is a Dell computer. (Get it, Della). OK, so I have a quirk. My car is Baby J, the desktop computer is Della, Smartphone is Sammy (for Samsung phone), Ipad is Izzy, and my Cricut Explore is named Carmen.

Sorry, for going off track, where was I?  Oh, yes, my calendars.

A view of how I schedule through EC
(c) 2017  Photo by P.Lynne Designs
(c) 2017 Erin Condren 

Like I mention, I have two Erin Condren Calendars.  I love this brand because it is the first calendar that allows my style of recording things.  I have looked at others, but I am happy with the EC.  They offer three styles and I love the horizontal style, which allows me to write as much detail as I care to.  I place the topics of the blog post or video titles in there under the date.  That way, if I feel like I am repeating, I can turn to the month that I thought I wrote it, and decide on a different topic if I need to.  I can write down detailed things I need for appointments, meetings, and even directions.  EC has a dashboard which I use both as a white board and a place to put sticky notes.  My only wish is those planner creators who design stickers for the EC planner would have more horizontal formats.  

When it is time to make my schedule, I turn to that week to see if I have any meetings, appointments, and so forth.  I even record what I spend, and how much I have to spend.  Sammy, Izzy, and Della are online backups to my EC calendars, and I can enter in dates on these devices when I do not have the paper planner with me.

Is this a foolproof system?

No system is completely foolproof.  You have to put it in action to see if it works for you. Feel free to tweak any scheduling system that does not work for you.  Also, one tip:  no system is going to work if you do not use it.  If you keep putting it off and do the same things you have been doing, it is not going to work.  For me, a system will or will not work if you do not use it for at least 3 months.  3 months is plenty of time to tweak along the way.

So, give it a try.  You may need to tweak it to your style of doing things, but if it does not give you the satisfaction of a foolproof system, try another system.  I will tell you what does work for me, scheduling apps.  To me, they are so limited, especially the free systems.  The way they work and the way I work did not meet my needs, especially the last one.  Who knows, you may find an app that works for you.

Have a good evening