Productivity Archives - Page 25 of 35

Productivity

7 Lessons Learned from #GIRLBOSS!

Last spring the book #GIRLBOSS debuted on bookshelves in a marketing whirlwind. All of a sudden this book I hadn’t heard of was everywhere from blogs to the news and if you could judge a book by its cover, it looked seriously awesome! It was also written by a seriously awesome woman, Sophia Amoruso, the twenty something CEO of the wildly successful Nasty Gal online (and now brick & mortar) clothing retailer! Being a twenty something entrepreneur myself, I jumped on the bandwagon with the book and ordered it, read a bit of the book and then, like many books that had come before it, I shelved it and forgot to finish reading it!

Fast forward to the beginning of January when I spontaneously joined a book club organized and ran by my friend Lisamarie, of the blog and YouTube channel Paper & Glam! Her January book was #GIRLBOSS and I thought this would be the perfect time to pick the book back up and finish it, so I did! Now, you can read many a review of this book all over the internet, so I am not going to add one more opinion about the book out there, however, I did find that while I was reading the book, there were passages that really resonated with me that I wanted to share. Love it or hate it, this book did have more than a few insightful moments and so I wanted to share those with you in a post! So, here are the 7 Lessons Learned from #GIRLBOSS!

1. It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.

In the book, Sophia briefly explains the “business model” she used that brought her success with Nasty Gal when she was first starting off with her eBay vintage shop. Although there were many shops that sold the types of items she sold, hers was more successful for one reason, she put a lot of hard work, effort and thought into each and every item she listed for sale. From finding and styling models to wear the clothes, a good photographer to take the thumbnail shots, to using her knowledge of fashion and style to write awesome listings filled with styling tips, Sophia put effort into each and every aspect of her sale. This is a great lesson to learn because it really doesn’t matter what your job is, or what your business is, if you think about and put real effort into what you do, it will pay off! There is no substitution for hard work, even on the internet!

2. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.

This is a powerful one, especially for women to learn and really understand. I think ladies have a tendency to shy away from asking for things because we don’t want to come off one way or another, but when you boil it down for your business you won’t make any money or get any customers if you don’t ask for the sale or ask for the business. Sophia seemed to get everything she asked for, and while that may not be a fool proof strategy for your business, sometimes asking is the first step to getting what you want.

3. Never live above your means.

As someone who lives in a capitalist society, I witness commercialism and marketing all day every day! Things from food to luxury goods are thrown in your face and to be honest, I often find myself wanting everything I see, but that is no way to live. Sophia really does a nice job explaining that while she was building her business, she was very frugal and almost refused to spend money. Although she doesn’t really analyse this decision much, I believe it had something to do with her previous freegan lifestyle, mixed with a sense of apprehension that at any moment the rug could be pulled from under her and her business could fall apart. At any rate, this is a great lesson for young women (all women, and men too) to learn! You can’t spend money you don’t have, and you shouldn’t spend all the money you earn either. It’s common sense, but I think coming from a nation in massive debt, it’s apparently an important tip we are consistently missing!

4. Find ways to keep your goals in your face so that you’re manifesting magic!

This lesson is one I employ and believe in, whole-heartedly! I do believe in magic, and I believe that magic is something you make for yourself. How? Well, by keeping your goals front in center in your face, as well as hidden strategically within your daily life, you begin to ingrain them into your psyche and over time that results in you actually taking steps and actions to make those goals real. For example, in the book, Sophia talks about making specific goals into short phrases that she would use as her passwords for her computer. Unconsciously, everyday, she would be reaffirming those goals whenever she typed her password. Eventually, those goals in password form became one with her mind and her mind started acting accordingly so that she could achieve the goals. Now, none of this is science of course, that’s what makes it “magic” because it’s unknown. But boy does it work! Give it a try in your own life and see what benefits you reap by making your own dreams come true!

5. Don’t waste your time obsessing over people and things you can’t control.

This is another one of those difficult life lessons to learn, especially for women, whether you run your own business or not! The world is a really big place and there are billions of us living on it. Of course, from time to time, we are going to come across people and things we don’t like, and unfortunately, sometimes these things are unavoidable, as much as we wish we could just run away from them. They may be people or problems right in front of us that we can’t escape, and it’s so easy to fall into the trap of obsessing over them, wasting our own precious time thinking and worrying and guessing about outcomes we aren’t a part of. If we stopped focusing on the things we can’t control and started minding our own business and focusing on our own lives and the things we can control, we could do so much more. I know this is hard, I struggle with it too, but keeping your nose down and focused on your own work and your own life will really yield you so many benefits!

6. Define failure and success on your own terms.

In the book Sophia explains that failure is a concept of our own design. To fail means something different to each person and that definition is something you have established for yourself. When you go into a situation open-minded with the intent to learn and grow and experience something new, there is no failing at that. Letting go of expectations and results that are weighing us down really help us to lighten the load and soar higher. Likewise, success is also something we define for ourselves. If I asked each and every one of you to give me the name of a successful person in the world, I bet I would get more than one name. Why? Because what success looks like and means to each of us is different, so define your own success and redefine failure to something that doesn’t exist!

7. You can’t take back your actions, so be smart about what you do!

My favorite quote from the book was when Sophia wrote “There is no AutoCorrect in life— think before texting the universe.” This was a very powerful message in my opinion because in our digital day and age I think many of us do and say things online and forget that our words and our actions have meaning in the real world. In life, there is no going back, the only option is forward, so it is so important to make sure you are thinking before taking action. Sophia documents some unsavory parts of her history within the book, things she’s done that she isn’t proud of, and these are things she has to live with. We all have things in our past that we wish we hadn’t done, and hopefully if we are lucky, these things didn’t have permanent or ongoing repercussions. Life isn’t easy, it just wasn’t designed to be, so it is very important that if you want to be happy in life and achieve all your goals that you stay focused, learn from your mistakes and try to make as few as possible of the bad kinds as you go along.

For those of you who have read #GIRLBOSS and even for those of you who have not, I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some more perspective on the book overall! If this post has piqued your interest in giving the book a try, here is a link to where you can purchase it online! Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments below and if you didn’t read the book, let me know how you feel about the life lessons in this post. Did they give you any insight, or do you too struggle with any of them, like me! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

xoxo,

organization

How to Organize your Computer to Maximize Productivity

The start of the year is a great time to start implementing small organization changes that can yield big benefits for your productivity for the rest of the year. Today I wanted to talk to you about organizing your computer for maximum productivity, which if you are anything like me, is sort of a dreaded topic! I live on my computer, so it is filled to the brim with articles, images and information. I use my computer to create a vast majority of my content, and of course, it’s the key to running my online business, so it really is important that I keep my computer files organized, my hard drive free of superfluous information and my desktop clean and neat!

Step 1: Create a virtual filing system

Without some sort of virtual filing system set up on your computer, it can be a pain to locate files in a timely manner. Although most computers come with default files like “Documents” and “Photos” its usually up to the individual to implement a system for filing away items for later reference. What I like to do is create folders within these sort of catch-all files, dividing my items up by categories or projects. I typically use category files like “Picture of Me,” “Online Receipts” or “Youtube Music” to corral items that are similar in nature, but perhaps don’t belong to a larger set. Once I have a handful or more items that belong in a specific set, I usually create folders with event or project titles. For example within my Pictures folder, I may keep Pictures of Me, but I may also have a folder called “Christmas 2015”, or within my documents, along side Online Receipts you may find a Strange & Charmed Project File where I keep all my info related to my brand. Within category files, I usually don’t bother with too much additional organization, other than to give my information descriptive titles for easier location, but within a project or event folder, there is often a handful of other sub folders. For example my Strange & Charmed Project File contains a sub folder for my blog post articles, my business information and image templates among other things. The idea is, no matter what your situation, whether you are a business owner like me, a student or even a stay at home mom, you want to create a filing system that make sense to you. Don’t be afraid to lay some ground rules for your system and type them up in a document to refer back to, in fact, that’s an excellent way to help you manage your system in an ongoing fashion!

So once you have settled on a filing system for your items, of course, you are going to want to go ahead and redistribute your files into their appropriate folders in the system! This can be a large project in and of itself, so don’t be afraid to set up the folder system one day, and return another day to work on distributing your information to their proper home. As you do this, now is the perfect time to also rename files with descriptive titles so that you can easily locate them in the future through the search function on your computer.

Step 2: Remove unnecessary information

Another major process you will want to undergo to organize your computer is to remove all the junk from your computer. Whether it be duplicate files or pictures, old documents you no longer need, or even outdated applications that you no longer use, spend some time locating any files that can be deleted entirely from your computer!

Step 3: Archive old information to save

Of course, you will also come across information that may be old or necessary, but for one reason or another you need to keep it. If it’s not something you need to refer to regularly, I suggest moving these sorts of files to an external hard drive for archiving and backup! Make sure to set your external hard drive up with a filing system of its own that makes sense for the information you are storing there, so you can easily find any archived files if and when the time comes.

Step 4: Run key Diagnostics

Depending on your computer’s operating system, there are a number of diagnostic tools you can use to help you ensure that you computer is running in top shape. First and foremost, I like to use an inventory style program like Disk Inventory X to help me understand what sort of information is taking up my hard drive. Computers can often easily begin to fill with bloat and most systems have a maze of hidden files and folders that you may not be aware of. Now, I don’t think you should go and delete files that you aren’t aware of, however, using a program like Disk Inventory X can help you see how the majority of your hard drive is being spent. Perhaps you didn’t realize that the game you downloaded two years ago and barely run was using so much hard drive space. Insights like that can help you make better decisions about what to keep and what to remove from your computer. Another popular diagnostic tool is a disk defray. PC’s are famous for the defrag, which basically helps to organize the information stored on your hard drive by compartmentalized it. Imagine your computers hard drive is like a storage facility with tons of individual units. When you save information to your computer, its like filling up units randomly in no particular order, so you can have some units in the back filled and some in the front and a few in the middle. When you defray your computer, you actually force those storage units together so that there is no empty space between empty and filled units, which helps you utilize space in your hard drive most efficiently! Like I said, PCs are known for needing to be defrayed regularly, however, Mac’s don’t actually require this, so do a little research on the best diagnostics to run for your computer and operating system and figure out what is worth your time, effort, and sometimes money, in order to keep your computer running the best!

Step 5: Perform weekly maintenance to ensure upkeep of your system

If you are like me and use your computer regularly, chances are you are going to need to continually tweak your system and keep an eye on your computers organization. As much as I try to always file my items into their proper spot in my own system, sometimes I forget or if I am in a rush, I skip that step. So, it’s important to schedule some time on a weekly basis (or more or less frequently depending on how messy your desktop and files get) to tidy up and put things back in place. Of course, you will also want to revisit steps 2-4 on a regular basis as well, although, perhaps on a less frequent basis, although that is completely up to you.

I hope these tips help you to get your computer organized so that you can achieve more with your screen time! If you have any other computer organization tips, I’d love to hear them!

P.S. If you would like to check out some more articles on this topic, feel free to check out Organize Your Mac with These 5 Tips and Back to School Tech Tips (even if you aren’t going back to school, this one has some great suggestions for making an older computer feel like new again!)

xoxo,

My Productivity Playlist

My Productivity Playlist #5

We are well into January of 2015 and I don’t know about you, but I am very excited for what lies ahead this year. I think it is incredibly important to get a strong start to the year, in order to lay the ground work and plans that will begin to really blossom as the year progresses. It’s not always easy for me to get motivated to take on a lot, especially during the winter months when I tend to be tired because of short days and less sunlight, and of course, it’s so cold all you want to do is cuddle with dozens of blankets, but I have to keep myself motivated and often times, music is the best way to pump up my mind and my spirit! So, I put together a playlist of inspiration and aspirational music to kick of this series for the new year!

As usual you can check out and listen to my playlist for the month via Spotify for free, but here are the list of tracks you will find!

Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
Titanium by David Guetta
All About that Bass by Meghan Trainor
Pompeii by Jasmine Thompson
My Way by Frank Sinatra
Set Fire to the Rain by Adele
Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
Off to the Races by Lana Del Rey
Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
Rhiannon by Stevie Nicks
Let it Go by Idina Menzel

Of course, I hope you check out the playlist and let me know what you think! I’d love to see a pic of you enjoying this playlist at work or at home, so make sure to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat! Also, feel free to let me know in the comments which songs you have been listening to to keep you motivated and inspired for productivity this month!

xoxo,

Productivity

Getting the Most Out of Your College Classes

As the fall semester of most colleges and universities comes to a close, you may be taking a good hard look at your grades for the semester and wondering how you could have done better. If you are early in your college career, you may not yet have learned the best ways to maximize your time in class and in college as a whole, so I thought now would be the perfect time to share some tips about how to get more out of your college classes. Think about these tips as you head into winter break and get yourself a plan of action for the spring semester!

1. Show Up: Look, college isn’t like high school, you are actually paying to be there and believe it or not, the time spent in class can have a profound affect on your knowledge and understanding of the world. Make your best effort to show up to all your classes, and make sure to get there early to snag a great seat!

2. Sit in the front row or center aisle: Apparently, studies have shown that students that sit in either the front row or center aisle of a classroom score higher than their peers in other seats. Make this special T zone your permanent destination in every class.

3. Actively participate in class: Yep, classes can sometimes be boring and even though you are in college, there are still classes that you are required to take that may not interest you. But, you know what they say? Time flies when you’re having fun! So, actively engage in your classes, take copious amounts of notes and ask questions regularly to keep your brain working. This will result in more information retention for you and a much quicker and enjoyable experience all around.

4. Buddy up with your professors: Although some of your professors may seem big and scary, for the most part, they can be some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Now, I’m not saying that you need to hang out with your professor regularly, however, getting comfortable with them will drastically help you with your classes and workload, because you will feel more at ease asking them for help or advice. Plus, if you become friendly with professors in your major, they are more likely to write you great recommendation letters for grad school in the future or be a great reference for a resume!

5. Get your assignments done early: In most classes you will receive a syllabus on day one outlining all your assignments and their due dates for your class. If you stay on top of your work and get your papers and projects done early, you will be ahead of the curve. A week or two before that assignment is due, when your other classmates are just beginning their work, you can bring yours to your professor and ask them to review it for you before you hand in a final draft. This means you get feedback from your professor on your project or paper with enough time to make the necessary edits and hand in perfect A+ work!

So, those are my tips for getting more out of your college classes. If you are in college or know someone who is, feel free to share this post with them, and don’t forget to check out my tips for a Productive and Successful College Career, as well as my Biggest Regrets from College!

xoxo,

Productivity

The 7 Deadly Sins of Self-Promotion Online

#1. You don’t have a website: For businesses and individuals that want to promote themselves online, having a dedicated website is a must! You need to have a place online that can act as a landing page for all your business and important information so that people who search for you can find you! Now, this can be as simple as a Facebook page or as complicated as a full featured website, but carving out a little piece of the internet for yourself or your business is a must! Oh, and social media accounts don’t count as websites, sorry!

#2. You’re not covering all social media: So you’re online and testing the waters with social media but you aren’t yet comfortable with all the platforms. That’s understandable, but you need to at least have an account set up for your business in each and every major social network, which means Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and if you are selling things online, Pinterest! If you’re not ready to use the account yet, don’t start until you are ready to commit to it, but at least have the basic profile information filled out as well as an icon picture set in place that is something you already use on other platforms!

#3. You’re misusing social media: The beauty of the various social media platforms is that you use each platform for different purposes. They are not one size fits all! What works on Twitter does not work on Instagram, and what works on Instagram, doesn’t work on Facebook. You need to understand how best to use each media to their maximum potential! A great book that covers this is Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk! If you’re looking to promote online and you are confused about how to properly market and grow an audience across the various social media platforms, you need to read that book.

#4. You post too often: Most people consider personalities and businesses that post too frequently on social media spammers. Even if you are putting out completely unique information with each tweet or Facebook post, too many posts in a short amount of time annoy people and they will just end up unfollowing you! Stop posting on social media every 5 minutes, and bring it down to a manageable number. Tweet up to 3 times an hour (not including retweets or replies), Post on Instagram 1-3 times per day max and stick to about the same number of Facebook posts during peak traffic times!

#5. You don’t post enough: So you have these accounts and you post on them once a week or worse, once a month! Well that is a sure-fire way to get nowhere fast with your business! Like I said before, if you aren’t ready to start using a social media platform, don’t use, just leave your profile set with a message that says “coming soon” to give your followers a reason to subscribe even if you aren’t currently posting. Once you are ready to use the platform to it’s full potential, make a plan and stick to a regular posting schedule!

#6. You’re not providing value to your audience: How would you feel if Starbucks started posting pictures on Instagram of shoes? You would probably be confused as to why a major coffee company is suddenly interested in footwear! If you follow Starbucks in social media, you probably follow them to see what’s new in store or when your favorite seasonal drink becomes available, right? So, the shoes really don’t provide any value to you. If you wanted to look at shoes, you’d follow DSW or Payless! Well, the same goes for you and your audience. Make sure you are posting things that apply to the people who are following you so they get value out of the experience. If your posts are all over the place, it will confuse your online presence and you won’t be able to establish a firm following.

#7. You’re ignoring video: For some reason, I have noticed that many business and personalities on the internet are apparently afraid of video, although video sharing sites like YouTube and Twitch are gaining ridiculous amounts of success and every other day I feel like new video capture apps and features are being added to our current social media feeds. There is a clear trend here, video is happening and its big! So, you really need to get over the fact that the camera adds 10 lbs and start bringing your message to the video sphere. YouTube is a great way to share quick messages with your followers and share important or helpful information with others, but it’s not the only way! I already wrote about ways to add video to your website, but even creating videos for places like Instagram and Facebook will really help to establish your footing with video and bring added value to your followers!

I hope this post helps you to identify areas in your online marketing plan that may be preventing you from reaching your fullest potential online! If you have any additional no-no’s for self-promotion online, let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

Solutions

How to Save Money on Pricey Items

With Black Friday just short of two weeks away, I thought now was the perfect time to discuss my favorite ways to get deals and save money, especially on pricier items. I am definitely the type of person who has slightly more expensive tastes, but I am also a complete cheap-skate! I hate spending more money than I have to on an item (who doesn’t, really?) and I will go out of my way and spend extra time price checking and scouring clearance racks to get a deal on an item I want. I realize, however, that not everyone always has the time to comparison shop and price check, so I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of a few tried and true methods I use to find deals quickly, when I need to make a purchase!

1. Take advantage of Black Friday Deals: Now, although Black Friday only happens once a year, it’s one of those events that we all know is coming. So, throughout the year, I will hold off on buying certain items for myself, my family and my home if I can wait until November 30^th to grab them at a great price. With Black Friday around the corner, I suggest giving good thought to items in your home that may need replacing, upcoming gifts you may need to buy within the next year, and any wish list items you have been pondering. Decide if its worth it to upgrade that aging tv now, to buy your nieces graduation gift a few months early, or to pick up that high-end bag you have been eyeing, taking advantage of seasonal sales for purchases you know are coming down the line anyway!

2. Shop Designer Outlets: I think you can tell from watching a few of my youtube videos that I am something of a designer handbag and accessory nut! I love having quality staples in my wardrobe, but I don’t like to pay full price! I don’t even like to buy bags and accessories from designers when they have sales or provide me with a 25% off coupon (I feel like they send those to me every week)! No, I pretty much never buy a designer item from their retail stores, instead I shop their outlets or larger department store outlets and take advantage of real savings and price cuts! Outlets are great because their items are always significantly marked down in comparison to what you would pay for an item in a designer retail store, and on top of that they are always running at least one sale on any given day. If you shop around holidays (any holiday really, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day- not just Christmas) they often have sales on top of sales! If you ever wondered how it is that I own multiple bags that retail for a few hundred dollars each, it’s because when I want a $500 bag, I go to the outlet where they sell it for $350 and then take advantage of their 40% off with an additional 30% because it’s a holiday. So that $500 bag ends up being less than $150 dollars!

3. Sign up for store mailing lists: Now, you and I both know that it isn’t the occasional splurge purchase on a handbag that kills your budget, but rather it’s those daily expenses on pricey necessities that add up quicker than anything! Clothing, home supplies, or car repairs are much more dangerous to our finances than we give them credit for and on a daily basis, I don’t think enough of us are taking advantage of sales and discounts in these areas. Make sure to sign up for store mailing lists and email marketing lists to the places you shop at most often, and even a few you may only occasionally visit. Why? Because most stores send out weekly coupons and flyers that outline sales on specific items, and if you just spend a few minutes checking out what is on offer and making your shopping decisions based on the stores advertising coupons or running sales across specific departments, you will save loads of money for sure!

4. Price check through Amazon: Whenever you are questioning whether or not you are getting a deal on an item, the best thing to do is to price check through Amazon.com. Why? Because Amazon is all about making sure they price match even the best published deals. So, if you are looking for an item and you think you are getting a deal in store, Amazon will be able to accurately tell you what the lowest advertised price is for that item, because they automatically lower their prices to match deals found elsewhere in store and online! So, if you have the time to do one quick little price check, use Amazon and feel confident that it was time well spent!

5. Check Clearance and As Is sections: For some pricey items, especially home goods, appliances and furniture, many stores keep a clearance/as is section where you can find great deals on new items that may be older or slightly damaged. With many large items, even the smallest dent or scratch means the store can’t sell the item at full price because it’s not in perfect condition. If you don’t mind a little superficial marking or buying an item that is maybe a model year older than current offerings, make sure to check for Clearance and As Is sections in your favorite stores because you can save a lot of money this way!

I hope these tips help save you some time and money, not just during the holiday season, but year round! There are plenty of great deals out there, you just need to know a few little retail secrets to find them sometimes! If you score some big deals this Black Friday, make sure to let me know about it in the comments or send me a tweet!

xoxo,

Productivity

Preparing for a Stress Free Holiday!

Now that we are firmly into November and the holiday season is nearly upon us, I wanted to spend a little time talking about holiday stress and how to manage it! The end of November thru December is often a very exciting and busy time due to the multitude of holidays scattered throughout the season. With busy times often comes stress, and I for one am definitely someone who feels it this time of year. Sometimes the pressure of wanting to please large numbers of people, mostly friends and family, can just build up. This time of year isn’t cheap, we all want to buy presents for our loved ones and the purchases add up causing mental strain and stress on our purses. Then there are the gatherings, and I don’t know about you, but if you get more than two members of my family together at a time, conflict often arrises over the silliest issues! It’s my ongoing mission every year to manage this stress the best that I can, so that I can enjoy the season instead of stressing about things beyond my control! So, I put together some easy steps, tips really on how to manage the holiday stress before it begins and during the thick of it! Hope these tips help you as much as they help me!

#1 Have an Attitude of Gratitude

Get your head in the right place before the stress begins!
Make your gratitude list and keep it with you!
Focus on what the season is really about- being grateful for your life, your family and friends and celebrating that together!

#2 Have a Plan

Know what is going on when it comes to events, parties, obligations etc
Don’t assume someone is going to tell you, make an effort to find information (people are busy after all, especially now!)
Know who is doing what and what you are expected to be doing for certain events.
Make lists for everything so you don’t forget anything.
Review your recipes (if you’re cooking) and make a schedule for when you will start them!

#3 Be Flexible

When it comes to getting large numbers of people together during the wintery months, understand that plans often change at the last-minute, so don’t get worked up about it if that happens to you!
Don’t fight the change, just roll with it!

#4 Prepare Yourself

If you know there are people, events or situations that will stress you out, avoid them or be prepared for them.
Try to enter tough situations with a positive mindset, often your negative thoughts going into these situations can blow things out of proportion and stress you out much more than the situation itself.
Don’t let anyone rain on your parade- these are your holidays too and you have a right to enjoy them!

#5 Spread Happiness

Go out of your way to help others and make them happy.
This sort of behavior will catch on and put those around you at ease as well.
Pay it forward as much as possible!

I sincerely hope that these tips help you to manage your stress during this wonderful time of year! If you have any additional tips or tricks you think I missed, please let me know in the comments below! I need all the help I can get- that’s for sure!

xoxo,

organization tech

6 Must Have Holiday Shopping Apps to Save your Cash and Sanity!

Holiday shopping, for many of us, can be something of a complicated process. If you have a large family or many people to buy for, purchases can start to add up quickly and keeping track of what you have purchased for whom can become really tricky when you are busy hiding boxes of presents in remote hidey holes in your home! You’ve probably asked yourself a time or two, is there a better way to manage all this? Well, yes, glad you asked, because I have assembled a list of 6 must have apps to help with your holiday shopping. Apps to help you save some cash, apps to help you keep track of what you are buying for whom and apps to help you have a little fun while you’re making those few hundreds of stops to the mall in the next few weeks! And best of all? All these apps are absolutely free!

1. Shopkick: I have written about Shopkick before, so I will try to keep this short and sweet, but basically, Shopkick is an app that you can use to help you earn rewards just for shopping and visiting your favorite stores. Through Shopkick, retailers market and promote their stores and products and offer Shopkick users “kicks” for various activities, like making a purchase, going to check out a specific product, and even just for walking into the store! These kicks add up and then you can redeem them for gift cards to a variety of different stores! So, with Shopkick, you can turn all those last-minute errands and repeat visits into real rewards for you!

2. Price Scan: Ever find an item in a store and then wonder if there was a better price at a competitive retailer or online? Well, with Price Scan you can scan a barcode with your phone and instantly find the best deals available for the product! Simple as that! This is a great resource to use if you are like me and enjoy “browsing” for gifts before you actually intend on making purchases because you can keep track of the gifts and products in the app and come back to them over time to see if prices have changed, making sure you are getting the best deal possible!

3. Wunderlist: If you have a long list of friends and family to buy for, keep your thoughts and purchases in order with Wunderlist. Touted as being one of the best list making apps available, Wunderlist has a simple and clean interface with just the essential list making necessities to help you keep your list in order. Use the app to keep track of who you are purchasing for, gift ideas and even budgets for each present. Now you have no excuse for purchasing duplicate gifts or going over budget!

4. Cartwheel: If you are already a frequent Target customer, you may already be familiar with the Cartwheel app. It is a dedicated app for Target shoppers to find instant savings on items in their cart while they are shopping. Simply scan the barcode of your item while shopping to find any extra deals or instant coupons that you can apply to the item. Once you go to checkout, give your phone to the associate at checkout and they will scan the custom barcode in your app and apply all the discounts and coupons you found while shopping! It’s pretty easy and can save you some extra money, especially if you are like me and bad about using coupons!

5. My Package: Online shopping for the holidays has grown exponentially over the past few years, so chances are you are going to have more than a few items coming in via the mail! Keep track of these packages to make sure you don’t loose anything but entering your tracking number and an item description into the app. The app will then begin to track your package with its geographic location and alert you as it makes its way to you! You can even set up delivery alerts, so you can be sure to check the mail before anyone else at home and tuck away any important packages like the gift giving ninja you are!

6. Retail Me Not: You may have already heard of or used the coupon site, Retail Me Not, but they also have a great app that can help find you coupons and deals for both in-store and online purchases! Add your favorite stores to the app or let the app track your location to find great deals near you at a wide variety of retailers. Again, this is an awesome app, especially for people who like to hunt for great deals or are always forgetting about coupons!

I hope you found this list of apps helpful as you proceed with your holiday shopping! I know we are all trying to save extra money where possible and make this stressful time of year a little easier and especially more enjoyable! If you have any other must have shopping apps that you think I need to know about, please let me know in the comments! Of course, don’t be stingy- go ahead and share this post in your social media feeds so your friends and family can make use of these great apps as well. I’m sure they will be very thankful you did!

xoxo,

My Productivity Playlist

My Productivity Playlist #3

Welcome back for another installment of My Productivity Playlist, aka Whistle While You Work 2.0! Since it’s October, I thought it would be super fun and festive if I themed out this playlist to fall favorites and haunting Halloween sounds! I’ve gone ahead and made another Spotify Playlist in order to share these tunes with you, and it seems that you guys like this idea because many of you told me so and began following me on Spotify which I do appreciate. Plus all you followers had the added bonus of actually accessing this playlist before I published this post!

Without further ado, let’s get to the tracks in this playlist!

Ghost Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash
Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett (you can go ahead and cross that off your 31 Things to Do in October List now!)
Northern Sky by Nick Drake
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
I Put A Spell on You by Nina Simone
Witchcraft by Frank Sinatra
Montagues and Capulets by Sergei Prokofiev
Sweet Transvestite by The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Told you it was festive! I hope you guys enjoy this playlist and of course I want to know what you’re listening to right now! So, leave me a comment or go ahead and send me a tweet and tell me what music you have been loving this month to get into the Halloween spirit or just to help get you through the day!

xoxo

Productivity

Secrets of a Charmed Life

I recently received a very lovely comment from a reader and member of my online community about my life and the work I do creating inspiring and motivational content for others. The comment was truly sweet, and ever since I received it, I have been thinking a lot about my life and the way it must seem to others who follow me online. From the outside looking in, I seem to be living a very charmed life! By all means, I feel incredibly grateful and thankful for my life, because I know that I do live extremely well and am overall, incredibly happy with my situation in life. That doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days like everyone else, or struggle with things like anxiety or depression from time to time, but I know I lead a charmed life. Hence this blog is called Strange & Charmed because it encompasses the duality of my quirky yet blessed life, but I think you already knew that.

What you don’t know about me, the part I am not so open about sharing, is my past, most notably my life before I began blogging in 2008, and even further back than that. Truth be told, as much as I live a wonderful, happy life today, things were not always going so well for me. Growing up was pretty rough for me. For most of my childhood my family was lower middle class, my parents divorced when I was young and from that time onward, I was always moving from one place to another, never setting down roots or establishing friendships in any one place for too long. At various points in my life, I was exposed to some decidedly unfortunate aspects of life, like addiction, abuse, neglect and of course, poverty. It’s a little hard for me to even admit that here to you all on my blog because to be completely honest, it’s painful to even remember those times. However, I think it’s important for me to share this with you guys because we have all gone through bad times in our lives and although some of us have experienced different struggles, we all have them and they are all painful!

What I want you to really take away from this is that if happy well-adjusted Alexis can come from a a place in life where she didn’t have very much and then turn around and make something of her life- something lovely and wonderful- then you certainly can too! I gave it some thought, and put together a list of some of the things that helped me to get where I am today. If you are struggling right now or in a rebuilding phase, hopefully these tips will help you get inspired to make changes in your own life in order to fulfill your dreams and potential.

1. Make a plan: So life isn’t great for you right now, but it doesn’t have to be that way! The first step to getting the charmed life you want is to make a plan. What can you do right now to make your life better? What is lacking in your life that you need to acquire to come to a better place? Figure out what you need and make a plan on how to achieve it!

2. Get to work: If you want something, you have to work for it, it’s that simple! I know this can be a scary concept sometimes because it means that we actually have to take control and get things done ourselves. Your wonderful life is out there waiting for you, but you need to work for it- the world isn’t just going to roll over and hand it to you.

3. Ask for help: I think one of the major things people get wrong when they are trying to build their lives is that they feel like they have to go it alone, as if having help diminishes what you have or can accomplish. This just isn’t true. Don’t be afriad to ask for help if you need it. Sometimes, we don’t know exactly what we need from others, but reaching out for a lifeline can often bring unexpected and positive results.

4. Get out of your comfort zone: We all know that change isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t comfortable. However, if you want to bring change to your life, you are going to have to get outside your comfort zone and be prepared to feel very uneasy and unsure. Stick to your plan and understand that just because you can feel the pain of change, doesn’t mean that you are hurting yourself. In the long run, a little discomfort during the process is much better than staying in a bad situation.

5. Replace bad habits with new ones: Often times, we are our own worst enemy in our lives. If you complacently play the role of innocent victim, your life will never change. Instead, try to pin-point the areas in your life where you feel helpless, and make changes in your habits to develop confidence. For example, if you feel like you are always working but never have money and like to blame “bad luck” when you get a speeding ticket or a bill goes missing, acknowledge that the common denominator in those situations is you and that you need to become more responsible with your money by getting into the habit of paying bills early or making sure you practice safe driving. Whatever bad habits are holding you back, acknowledge your part in them and do what you can to build new habits in their place.

6. Always be ready and willing to learn: I believe that the people who have the greatest lives are the people who always keep their eyes open for new opportunities to learn. You seriously never know what important life lessons are around the corner, but if you walk around with blinders on all day you will miss them and in turn may miss important signs from the universe that may help you make the most of your life. Be open and always prepared to absorb new information and messages that can bring greater insight to your life.

7. Mix it up: They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you have made your life changing plan and have gone ahead and broken out of your comfort zone but you still don’t see changes yielding any results, mix it up. Don’t be afraid to try something new, or to approach your problems from a new angle. Remember, the path of life isn’t a straight line, you may have to take a few turns from time to time!

8. Have a back up plan: So, you have made your plan, and you are determined to stick to it, but things just aren’t working. This is why you need a backup plan- something else to fall back on if your original plan doesn’t pan out. After all, it’s important not to rely too much on one single course of action. Like they say “don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” Options are good, just so long as you aren’t bouncing between options too frequently!

9. Stay inspired: It could take years for you to see major changes in your life, at least, I know it did for me! Don’t let this deter you or cause you to loose hope in your dreams. After all, this is life, and your in it for the long-haul! Make sure to constantly look for motivation and inspiration for your journey so you don’t loose steam. Even when things get tough, and they will get tough as you try to make major life changes, remember this quote by Kenji Miyazawa “We must embrace paid and burn it as fuel for our journey.”

10. Share what you have learned: As you take this journey of self-advancement, you will certainly learn a thing or two along the way. I believe that what we have learned, we must also share with others. Although this post may be titled “Secrets of a Charmed Life” there is nothing “secret” about it. The formula for a charmed life isn’t something that’s hidden from people, in fact, if you really pay attention, you are receiving signs and messages to uplift and advance you all the time. It’s just a matter of believing in yourself and trusting that you will end up where you need to be in life. As you go along on this journey, take a moment to stop and share your knowledge with others. It’s almost like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind so that you do not get lost along the way and so that others can also find you and see the direction you have headed.

Now, to help you guys remember these little lessons, I have created a lovely free printable with a book mark, some journaling cards, some page tabs, and deco flags! Like I said above, you will need a lot of inspiration for your journey, and I hope these small reminders help you stay inspired. For best results, I suggest printing these on 98 bright, 32lb paper or a nice heavy card stock if you have it handy! If you enjoy this printable, I may start making more of these sorts of things and including them in my blog posts as little mementos that you can keep with you in your planner, a notebook, or on your inspiration board! Make sure to let me know what you think and what sorts of printables you would like in the future, and of course, make sure to share this in your social media! I would also love to see pictures of these journaling cards and deco items at home in your planners and notebooks, so please make sure to upload a picture to Instagram and tag me!

Click Here to Download the Charmed Life Diamonds and Ampersands Printable!

xoxo,