Good news everyone! It finally feels like Spring in the Northeast of the U.S., YAY! I am very excited for the warmer weather which means I can dress in my favorite, light layers and flats, and take Starbuck for (almost) daily walks to help me break up the work day. This month, the tunes I’m loving all harken back to spring or at least some sort of life transition. I’m feeling very empowered for the season and just want to jump in and enjoy every moment of it. I feel like with this new season, I can literally achieve anything I set my mind to, and my mind is filled with curiosity that I am just waiting to explore!
Up Around the Bend by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
Defying Gravity by the Cast of Glee
Don’t Rain on My Parade by Barbra Streisand
I have to admit, I love doing this post each month because it’s a relatively simple post for me, but I also LOVE how so many of you have reached out to tell me that you are also enjoying these playlists and giving me awesome suggestions for new music for me to check out as well, so thank you all for interacting with me around this very simple, but powerful medium of music! So, please keep those comments and suggestions rolling in and I hope you enjoy this month’s selection!
I am not sure whether I am a morning person or a night owl. I do tend to have more mental clarity in the mornings, but since I work from home for myself, I normally allow myself to wake up naturally in the morning and never set an alarm unless its completely necessary. However, that tends to mean I sleep in more often than not. Of course, that’s because I normally work later into the evening hours and don’t actually go to sleep until after midnight. But, the other day I had the most productive day ever, and it all took place in the span of 3 hours in the early morning.
A few Fridays ago, I woke up naturally at about 4 am. After tossing and turning for a while trying to get back to sleep, I decided that I should make the most of the situation and go to my office and get some things done, expecting that sleep would return to me after a half hour. Three hours later, I had completed all my writting and design work for the upcoming week, a chunk of work that would normally be broken up over a number of days! I was floored by my early morning productivity and wondered to myself why I wasn’t able to get this much done during normal business hours. This is what I realized:
The morning is a naturally productive time for me
I won’t go as far as to say that the morning is a naturally productive time for everyone, but for me, I do tend to have a lot of clarity and energy in the morning. After waking up naturally from a good nights rest, my mind is just fresher in the morning!
The morning is void of obligations
I loved sitting quietly in my office with a fresh cup of green tea, not having to worry about my husband or my dog. While I worked, the hubster and puppy were fast asleep in bed, and I didn’t have to deal with the normal worry of my family obligations.
The morning is great for deep focus
These three hours were so productive to me not just because I was energized, and not just because I had peace of mind that I had no obligations to worry about, but it was also so productive because I had none of my usual distractions. I wasn’t getting a barrage of text messages, I didn’t have to take calls from my clients, I wasn’t focused on checking my email! I was just able to sit in my office at my desk and deeply focus on my work. I always knew that my daily distractions were taking time away from my productivity, but until now, I hadn’t ever seen how much work I could do with zero distractions. It was eye opening!
So if you are looking to get more done in your day or knock out a project that has been lingering, I highly recommend this one tip of waking up early as a means to jumpstart your productivity. To be honest, I don’t think I will be forcing myself to wake up at 4:30 am everyday to get more work done, however, after seeing how much I was able to do in one morning, I am seriously planning to try this one day a week. One night a week I will get myself to bed early and set an alarm for a few hours earlier than I normally wake, and I will spend that time working on items that will help keep me ahead on my workload. Perhaps it will grow to twice or three times a week, perhaps it will just remain one, but all I know is that it will be worth it for me to keep up this habit and I’m excited to see how many more projects I will be able to take on during the week now thanks to the early morning productivity session that knocks out a good chunk of my workload!
If you give this tip a try, I want to know about it! Leave me a comment down below and let me know if this is something you already do or if it’s something you may want to try! I’d love to hear about your experiences and insights you gleaned from it!
You know I love me some gorgeous office decor that is both functional and inspirational! So I decided to start this little series where I highlight 5 ways you can turn your office from drab to FAB without spending a ton of money! Seriously, how awesome is this series going to be?!? I’m so excited to share my favorite office trends from DIYs you can do on the cheap to beautiful and functional office supplies that will add personality to your desk!
1. Laptop Riser: Not only is a laptop riser an ergonomic way to reduce eye and neck strain while you are working, it also helps free up valuable space on your desk. I am frequently asked about where I purchased my laptop riser, it’s the Ghost Stand by Twelve South and you can get a great deal on yours here.
2. DIY Desk Blotter: I love the way my desk looks with this added element of color and interest in the form of a super easy and inexpensive desk blotter. I actually have a video about how to make one, along with a few other awesome DIY office products that you will definitely want to check out for some great office inspo!
3. Colorful storage boxes: I love this set of three nesting boxes from Kate Spade! They are an easy and inexpensive way to hide office clutter or organize and store files, paperwork, or your stationery collection! It’s funny how a simple thing like a pretty box can totally hide a complete mess of items, and actually look so polished and posh!
4. Smartphone Dock: I love having a dedicated spot to keep my iPhone, and this Jonathan Adler rotary style dock is my absolute fave! You can actually use this dock with a variety of phones because it has a nice wide area for your phone to sit in and an opening in the center where you can attach any charging cable. It’s like a totally functional piece of desk art!
5. Wall Art: I absolutely love the look of a gallery wall, especially on a blank wall of an office. It’s a great way to add special moments, images and inspirational quotes to your work space that keep you motivated and on task! You can check out my gallery wall here, and if you are looking for some inexpensive options for art, make sure to check out my shop for printable wall art that you can use all over your home!
I hope you enjoyed these ideas and this first installment of Office Oasis! Let me know in the comments if this is something you would like me to continue on a regular basis, because I don’t know about you, but I could write about office supplies all day every day! If you use any of these tips currently or get any inspiration from this post, I’d love to see a picture of what you come up with! Upload your pic to Instagram and use the hashtag #StrangeandCharmed and make sure to tag me, @MissTrenchcoat so I can like and comment on your pics!
Being a creative person 24/7 is an impossible task, even if you are naturally very creative, and for those among us who aren’t naturally gifted in this area, it’s a loathsome task to have to attempt to be creative when it just doesn’t come easily to us. For me specifically, I do happen to consider myself a creative, my work is largely creative, and because of this, I have had to develop a system or protocol in order to inspire creativity within myself even when I felt like I was running low on the creative kool-aid!. So, here is my process for inspiring creativity on demand!
Brainstorm:I do a lot of brainstorming and as a creative entrepreneur I dedicate a nice chunk of my time each week to the task, however, if you are being tasked with having to find a creative solution to a problem or just needing to inject a little creativity into a project without much notice, brainstorming can be an excellent way to open your mind up to the creative process. Focus on the problem you’re having and ask yourself the who, what, where, when and why of it all and see if you can’t answer those questions creatively!
Think like someone else: When I get stuck in a creative rut, I find that thinking about a problem from another persons point of view can often help me inspire creativity. When I say this, I mean, try to think about the problem and possible solutions from the wants and needs of another individual. This is a must for any business owner who needs to understand their customer in order to create great products and services, but this activity can really help anyone. If your stuck for examples of people to think like, imagine you were your parents, sibling, relative, neighbors or friends. Often times we know how people close to us would react to a certain thing, so do a little role-playing in your mind and get new ideas flowing into your mind.
Give yourself time: It’s not uncommon for me, as a creative myself, to know I need a solution to a problem, but not have a clear idea of how to make it happen. So, if the problem is not urgent, I sit on it and give myself time to think of a creative solution. Don’t be afraid to give yourself time if you have time to spare.
Block judgement: The killer of creativity is judgement, so it’s very important that when creative ideas start to flow that you don’t label them as good ideas or bad ideas and just take stock of all the ideas you are receiving. Write everything down, but refrain from rating or judging the ideas until you have captured everything you think you will need.
Ask for feedback: If you are having a hard time coming up with a creative idea or solution on your own, don’t be afraid to ask others for feedback. Either on ideas you have already had or simply for their opinion on the situation. A fresh set of eyes can often do much for our own clarity.
Find commonality and relationships: When you are looking for creative ideas, try finding the commonalities or relationships between two things. Forcing your brain to relate x to y can often lead to creative solutions and interpretations. Make sure the two things you are trying to relate don’t already have an obvious commonality, the more obscure the connection, the more creativity you will inspire.
Those are my tips and general process for inspiring creative thinking when I am not in a creative mood. You would be surprised the number of blog posts and video ideas I have come up with when I thought my idea well had run dry, just by using one or more of these tips! Give them a try to let me know how they worked out for you, and of course, leave me your best tips for inspiring creativity down the in the comments!
xoxo,
P.S. Are you looking for creative blog post ideas? Here is a list of 25 great ideas any blogger can use that should help you through a creative rut!
I truly feel like March has been a big game changer for me in a lot of ways, and I am beginning to feel infinitely spoiled by the universe. I know that all the good news and positivity can’t last forever, but I have decided that I am going to make the most of all these gifts while I can. As you may already know, March is my birth month as well, so I feel like the last few weeks have been one big celebration, marked with a lot of hard work, dedication and focus. So this month, my playlist is a collection of some of my favorite songs, some old inspirational tunes I can’t live without, as well as a few new hits that I have been playing on repeat. I wish I could say their was a clear theme for the playlist this month, and I think for me there is, but I’m not sure how someone outside of my head would categorize these. For me, these songs are all poetically inspirational, sending me subliminal messages to keep focused on the mission ahead of me. I hope you find something within this collection that speaks to you in the same way.
FourFiveSeconds by Rhianna, Kayne West and Paul McCartney
Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo
Black Coffee by Peggy Lee
Have you ever seen the rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
Killer Queen by Queen
The Downeaster “Alexa” by Billy Joel
Pink Moon by Nick Drake
Tennis Court by Lorde
Born to Die by Lana Del Rey
Make sure to head on over to Spotify to listen to the full playlist for free! Then you can let me know what you thought of this months collection and of course, tell me what you have been listening to and loving this month! Click here to check out previous installments of My Productivity Playlist as well, and I would love to see pictures of you enjoying this playlist at home or at work, so snap a pic, post it to IG and make sure to tag me @MissTrenchcoat and #ProductivityPlaylist so I can see them, like and comment!
Some of the people who know me best have told me that I have incredible focus. Now, I think this is probably the most wonderful compliment an entrepreneur can get because it means that I know how to get things done and execute! As you might imagine, I have a number of balls in the air when it comes to the many facets of my business and I have managed to find a sense of balance in order to get the most important tasks accomplished and chip away at larger projects that might take a period of time in order to complete.
I believe that at the heart of focus and execution is prioritization. Now I will admit that prioritization is a skill that needs to be developed and honed in order to be affective. It’s not always easy, even for me, to know what to prioritize and when, but in my 5+ years working for a fortune 50 company, I have pretty much learned how to prioritize, even when things get messy.
So I’m sure, if you’re like me prioritization isn’t hard when you don’t have much going on, but its when two or more things begin to collide and complete for priority that you get stuck deciding what to do. This feeling of being stuck can often lead us to not make a decision and not take action. So, to combat that, lets talk about two variables that can help you draw the line between competing priorities.
These two variables are values and expectations! Now, your values and expectations are variables because they will vary from person to person. What I value may not be what you value, and expectations you set for yourself may not be the same as the expectations I set for myself. For the purposes of this video I am going to give you some insight into my values and expectations, to understand how I prioritize and ultimately execute in my day to day, but please make sure yo base your own values and expectations off what works for you!
Okay, so when it comes to my values, my first priority is myself, my personal and spiritual health and well being. After that comes my family and business, and finally the greater community outside my front door. Now, I know saying that putting myself first is a very controversial statement, but its one that we really need to demystify! When I say that I put myself first, it is not in a selfish or self centered manner. In fact, I have a great analogy that I like to use to explain why I choose to put myself first. You may have heard me say this before if you follow me on my blog, but to me, it all comes down to something we are taught when we fly in airplanes. If you have ever taken a commercial airline flight you may recall the portion of the preflight where the attendants go over safety features of the flight. Their is a great part of the safety presentation where they explain that in the event of an emergency, oxygen masks will deploy from the ceiling and you must secure your own oxygen mask first before assisting others around you. This is so important people, secure your own mask first! Why? Because if you don’t take care of you, and then things get out of control, you may not be in the position to help anyone else. Not you family, not your friends or the passengers near you who may need you. Lets extrapolate that to life shall we. If you are not getting enough sleep, eating well, and developing good self care habits, you will not be able to perform well in your daily life when it comes to your own or other peoples expectations! You just won’t. So, let’s together try to break this cycle and the stigma of putting ourselves first because in the end, we can’t help anyone if we can’t help ourselves.
Now in terms of my own personal expectations to support that value, I have some pretty straight forward expectations of how I will execute this value. First of all, I need sleep. So I prioritize getting the right amount of sleep per night. I also expect that I will take my vitamins and allergy pills everyday, because when I don’t I feel like poo because I have bad year round allergies! I also have recently developed a new habit of waking up early and drinking a fruit and veggie smoothy Monday- Friday for breakfast. But it has helped me to really start the day off right, make sure I am getting key nutrients and its just been making me feel better. On a side note, my choice of drinking a green juice is just that, my own, and its not open for discussion, so no comments down below debating the legitimacy of drinking green juice or smoothies, I’m good with that decision and I’m not looking for input. I’m just sharing these as examples for you guys to take and then extrapolate to your own lives.
So, prioritizing myself first has really enabled me to make sure I am in the right condition to actively participate in my life and my business. There is no doubt in my mind that I am able to stay focused because I have set clear values and expectations and the greatest of those values, my self care regimen, actually supports my focus in a very direct way.
Now, if you would like to know more about my views on Focus and hear a little more behind the scenes details about my values and expectations associated with them, make sure to check out my latest installment in my Plan Like an Entrepreneur Series. In this video I outline the same basic information here, but I also provide examples from a different value and expectations, as well as outline my top 5 tips for keeping balanced when priorities compete! If this topic interests you, definitely check out the video because you will learn a lot more through that!
I hope this post and this video are both helpful tools for you as you work to improve your own focus. This isn’t a process that can be taken care of in a single day, but the longer you work at it, the more experience you get under your belt making decisions and prioritizing, the easier it will be for you to focus on what matters to execute against your personal and professional tasks! As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic down in the comments, so don’t be shy, let me know what you thought and if this was helpful for you!
Sunday was a very exciting day for me. If you follow my YouTube Channel or my Instagram Account, you may already know that I have officially launched a new coaching program for members of my community who are looking for guidance building their own business online. The program is called Empire Building, and it was designed by me using all the knowledge I have acquired over the past few years building my own online business from a simple blog and rarely updated YouTube channel to an online community of over 30,000 followers and another 50,000 individual users who visit my site on a monthly basis!
I have to admit, my path to entrepreneurship has been an interesting one, especially when I take into account the fact that I have no specialized business training, nor have I participated in any of the popular online marketing courses you hear about. I’m definitely not against a business degree or taking a dedicated course on the subject of online marketing, but it just wasn’t something I ever did, and terms like hooks, listing building and lead pages still baffle me to this day. No, my success didn’t come from any fancy business or marketing strategies, but rather from doing what I thought was the most logical way to attract an audience and build a community. I created content that was of value to people, stayed consistent with my brand and focus, and treated my followers like I wanted to be treated. Apparently, I had inadvertently stumbled upon the golden rule of online business success.
Although this lesson was a long time coming for me, if you are looking for your own online success, I want to ensure you save as much precious time as possible, which is where Empire Building comes in! The Empire Building Program is a 5 Pillar Method for building a business online using tried and true methods that I have learned over the past 6 years of trial and error online! The Core of the Empire Building Program are 5 Blueprints (or workbooks) each covering one of the 5 Key Pillars to online business success. The first Blueprint, Branding, is currently available on my shop if you are interested in getting started on your own journey to online entrepreneurship, however, Empire Building doesn’t end there!
Over the past 6 years, I have learned much about myself and my own strengths. One of those strengths is my sincere ability to help others and provide focused, practical advice and assistance to those who need it. This is the true reason I created Empire Building, because I wanted to design a program where I could coach members from within my community either on a group or one-to-one basis. So, in addition to the Blueprint workbooks, I am also offering two Coaching Paths to you so that I can use everything I have learned to help you build a successful business online. Now, I am not going to go into the details of these programs here in this post, however, if you are interested in learning more about those programs or the Blueprint workbooks, please head on over to my dedicated information page for the Empire Building Program! This page outlines the program in more detail and is the best place to start if you are interested in working with me, but want to find the option that best suits your needs!
Of course, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly via email. I would be happy to answer any and all questions you have regarding the Empire Building program to ensure you make a choice that works for you! I am so excited for this amazing opportunity to work directly with the wonderful members of my community and help turn dreams and aspirations into reality! Thank you so much to all those who have already joined the program, I am beyond grateful for the chance to work with you!
Today is a very big day, it is the day I unveil to you all my big collaboration video with Lisamarie of Paper & Glam! Lisamarie and I met via YouTube back in December. I guess you could say, I found her through her Erin Condren Life Planner videos and I was so struck by the quality and content of her videos and how we seemed to be very similar that I had to message her. After that we started chatting, discovered we are basically twins separated at birth and have since become blogging BFFs! To celebrate this, Lisamarie and I decided to do a collab video, the first for each of us! We decided it would be fun to do a swap of our favorite office goodies and then share in a video our Office Essentials; for me it is the Charmed Office and for Lisamarie it is the Glam Office. I’ll go ahead and link below to both videos for your viewing pleasure!
My Video
Lisamarie’s Video
Now, if you are not already following Lisamarie all over the internet, I highly suggest you do! This lady is definitely going places and you are going to want to be along for the ride! If you like my planner printables, you will definitely love Lisamarie’s as well, and she even sells lifestyle goodies and apparel as well! She also runs a very fun Paper & Glam Book Club and admins her own dedicated planner group on Facebook! This girl is on fire!
Now, I don’t want to spoil the videos for you and tell you all my office essentials before you’ve had a chance to watch the video, but there was something very special I wanted to tell you about that is featured in the video! I am launching a new product to my Strange & Charmed Shop, Inspirational Wall Art! Yes, I have been at work designing a series of printable posters for your office or home decor! Of course they are themed with all of my favorites and I hope you love them as much as I do! Right now I am launching with two unique designs in the 8″ x 10″ size, but by March I should have three finished and up on the shop! So hop on over to my shop via this quick link and take a look at my new additions for yourself!!
Thank you all so much for your visit to my blog today and for your ongoing support! I really do appreciate each and every one of you who reads my blog, watches my youtube channel and follows me on social media! Let me know what you thought of the video in the comments below and also let me know how you like the wall art designs! I truly hope you love my printable creations because I love designing inspiring items that help you keep motivated and organized throughout your day!
This month has really been like the greatest February of all time! Well, maybe not of all time, but it’s shaping up to be a really cool month! Not only is it the perfect calendar month with four straight weeks from Sunday to Saturday, but Valentine’s Day is also on a Saturday this year, which is very convenient! Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I decided to theme this months Productivity Playlist with some great love songs! If you’re a fan of romantic tunes or just need a playlist on hand for your Valentine’s evening, definitely check this out! As always, you can listen to my full playlist for free via Spotify!
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole (duet with Natalie Cole)
At Last by Etta James
Dream a Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald
Someone to Watch Over me by Ella Fitzgerald
These Foolish Things by Nat King Cole
Come Away with Me by Norah Jones
These are probably some of my all time favorite love songs! I know I could have chosen dozens upon dozens of great classics, but these have been on my mind lately! I hope you like the selection and that you use it this Valentine’s Day, either as some nice music to relax to or something to add a little ambience to your evening! Let me know in the comments your favorite love songs and if you also share a particular love for the ones on my list!
I know February can be something of a controversial month. Most people in relationships claim this month as a chance to celebrate their love, while those currently in between relationships complain that February is nothing special and that Valentine’s Day is just a product of the greeting card, chocolate, floral and jewelry industries! Whatever your stance, I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to share my wisdom with my readers when it comes to what I have learned about love thus far in my short existence! I don’t claim to be a professional or highly schooled on the subject, but I have a few common sense lessons to share that will hopefully help any of you out there who are looking for a deep, meaningful relationship. Whether you are currently single, or in a relationship lacking that special something you are longing for, I submit this post to you like an old love song dedicated to the lonely hearts club!
First Key to Finding Love: Stop Looking
You know the old adage that “you find love when you aren’t looking,” well it is completely true! I have said it before and I will say it again, but love is invisible (obviously) so you can’t go around searching for it. It’s not a shoe that you lost in the back of your closet, it’s not the perfect little black dress hanging out on some rack in a department store waiting for you to spot it, and it certainly isn’t something you can concoct with a spare guy and a quick recipe! Love, in fact, is an energy! Which means it must be attracted! Because of this basic principle, it is possible for you to repel love through the act of searching, the way a magnet repels another if it uses a similar charge. So, if you have been searching high and low for Mr./Mrs. Right and have come up short, this is why! So, halt all efforts immediately and jump straight into the next lesson!
Second Key to Finding Love: Self Love Means Everything
If love is an energy that can only be discovered by being attracted, the best possible way to find it is to love yourself. Why? Because if you are truly, madly, deeply in love with yourself, who the heck wouldn’t want to also fall in love with you? Self love is everything when it comes to finding true romantic love. First of all, to love yourself means to truly know and understand yourself and your own mind and heart. Once you are in tune with that your heart and mind want, it actually becomes much easier to identify Mr./Mrs. Right once they are inevitably attracted to you! Secondly, when it comes to love, you will attract that which you believe you deserve deep down inside. So if you loath yourself inside and have a laundry list of flaws that you like to dwell on, and generally don’t have much esteem or confidence in yourself, guess what? You will find someone who is attracted to that weakness in you and they will latch on and exploit it! We’ve all see it before, maybe it hasn’t happened to you personally or to someone you know intimately, but I bet you know someone in that situation. Where they didn’t have any self esteem or self love and they got into a relationship because they were desperate for one and they ended up being used and abused. So, if you want to find a relationship, one with someone who thinks you are wonderful and amazing and will love you to the moon and back, you need to feel that way about yourself. You will attract a partner who will treat you the way you treat you, so make sure you are loving yourself to the moon and back first!
Third Key to Finding Love: Put Yourself Out There
One of the major barriers to finding love these days really stems from a lack of accessibility. If you don’t put yourself out there, you will never attract a loving partner. Common excuses for this range from work, to family obligations, to having too many friends, but when you boil it down, the truth is you are not prioritizing yourself and putting yourself in the situation to have love find you. This may be because you are truly a busy person, or it may be because you are afraid to put yourself out there, but either way, you are making no progress and should therefore not be surprised when no one comes knocking on Friday night! Another common defense I hear is that you do put yourself out there but there are no good available guys/gals. Untrue! The truth to this situation is that you are going out, usually with friends, and you are not actually putting yourself into the right setting. Putting yourself out there doesn’t mean going out to bars and clubs and to the movies with friends, it means prioritizing yourself, and your hobbies, and getting yourself involved in external situations without the crutch of a friend or another security blanket. The best way to meet people to start a relationship is to join a regular activity or group that interests you. Join it for the fun and for the heck of it, but make sure its something you like, whether that be spending time outdoors, or joining a book club, following your passions will always guide you in the right direction! Get involved with something, put yourself out there, be open to new friends and new experiences, that is the key to finding love!
I hope you found this post informative and helpful! Like I said in the introduction, I am no love expert, but these lessons aren’t ones you need a degree in to understand. For some people finding love is easy, its the part that comes later on that is really the difficult stuff! If you start to understand and practice these three simple tips, I think you will surprise yourself with the amount of attention you will begin to receive and theamount of eligible individuals you will start to notice!
