Planning You
Ya'll. I went to Go Wild!
This year the planner conference was in Dallas; I gathered with 2,000 other planner babes to explore, create, learn, and share every detail about this hobby that we love so dearly. It was great. Better than great. It was heaven.
On the second day, we gathered in an event hall filled with everything a planner could dream of. Tables stacked high with free swag from every planner or stationary company you can name. Simply heaven.
On top of that we had dynamic speakers, including the one and only Martha Stewart. She was incredible.
But it was Vivian J'ade (VJ), the founder of NOTIQ, that sent waves of inspiration through me. She is everything I wish to be; elegant, posed, graceful; and she dropped some gems that I plan on integrating into my every day life.
Her message: Planning an Elegant Personal Image.
My mind was spinning as I listened to her share tidbits that I never thought of adding to my planning that could not only make a difference in how I present myself and how other experience me (her words); but also how I can share this with you guys.
Two things that can be immediately implemented into a planner.
1. Plan Your Outfits.
How easy of a thing to add to what we are already planning. Now only does it take yet another thing off your plate by freeing up the time you spend trying to decided in the morning. Its common to plan your outfit then night before, but taking 5 or 10 mins to plan for the week could shave 15 minutes off your morning prep time. It seems simple enough and defiantly worth a try. The goal for this week is to not only plan every outfit, but also place them somewhere in my closet that is easily accessible.
This will handle one of the two questions that I dread answering every day; what am I going to wear and what are we going to eat. Meal planning is already included in my weekly spread, and that has been the key to smoothing out my nights; tossing in my outfits will smooth out my mornings.
2. Plan How Your Interact With Others.
This one will take a little more work. VJ describes how people experience you, and the power we have to decided what that experience will look like. Of course, we plan for big events, speaking in front of an audience, or a classroom; but not planning day to day interactions, especially if it's a difficult conversation.
The goal, start physically planning how I handle such situations; writing down key points, conversation goals, and questions. Just how I plan out my day, I can plan out these moments to not only be better prepared, but to also have a guide that I can refer to thought out the conversation. This can help redirect my mind and more importantly, my feelings; keeping me centered and focused on the outcome of the conversations.
I love being introduced to new ways to plan more effectively and how I can use this tool to improve my day to day, but it never dawned on me that I can use my planner to plan a better me.
Our planner can handle more than just a list; you can plan the what, and you can plan the how. Plan you, accordingly.