Unscrambling The Holiday Rush

When it comes to organizing the holidays so that they go off without a hitch. There is so much going on from Halloween to New Years that it’s easy to let small but essential elements to get swept under the rug. That’s why we’re going to help you create checklists for each holiday so that nobody and nothing is left out in the cold.

Creating a checklist or Holiday Planner helps get your needs organized and accounted for. If you actively check off every note that you accomplish then nothing will be forgotten or unaccounted for. Creating a checklist will also help you organize your holiday expenditures so you can help keep on a budget this year, or get a good estimate of how much you will be spending in the following years.

A couple huge lists to handle for the holidays are the gifts and cards. It’s so easy to forget to send someone a card, so having a list of every person you care about is super helpful, and then you can cross out everyone who could attend your festivities so you have a solid list of every person you should send a card to and wish them a happy holiday since they couldn’t attend.

Gifts can be a little more sloppy, especially with budgeting, but getting a list of every recipient before planning out the gifts can be a crucial asset in not overspending for the holidays. You can split your total planned gift expenses between your loved ones to get an average cost of gift, or if you plan on getting a couple really big gifts you can deduct those first and get a good idea of your price range for everyone else.

The final major part of the holidays is handling food. Missing out on a spice for a pie could be bad, but forgetting you were supposed to bring the turkey could be absolutely devastating for holiday dinners. No matter how you delegate who brings what for holiday dinners, it’s important that everyone keeps a list of what they need to bring so you never have a holiday without a hen.
There are plenty of other things that can be organized into checklists, but hopefully these basics can help put you in the habit of using this organizational method to ensure everybody is accounted for.

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/unscrambling-the-holiday-rush

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https://startplanner.wordpress.com/2016/11/05/unscrambling-the-holiday-rush/

Keeping Your Meal Costs Checked

When it comes to gourmet cooking, one of the very first tenants learned is mise en place, a French phrase meaning “everything in place”, or that before doing everything, you should have all your ingredients on the counter ready to be used. This also has wonderful meaning when applied to shopping for food, where you should have your recipe, or shopping list, which will ensure that every ingredient finds its place in your cart – and then your pantry.

It’s super easy to go over budget in the supermarket while grocery shopping, it is also easy to forget essential items costing you time and gas to return to the store just to get the diapers you forgot or an essential ingredient to a recipe you had planned that night.

While it is easy to forget an item, it is also easy to over buy groceries, especially when you shop on an empty stomach leaving you tempted to buy all sorts of junk food. Make sure to shop after having a meal, or the very least after a light snack.

Of course, a good way to save time and money in the grocery is to go in with a plan, a shopping list and a budget in mind and hand will get you in and out without tears, and will help keep you on a diet if you are on one as it’s easier to stick to your diet while making plans (and going in with a plan cuts back on impulse buys).

The fuel grocery notepad will help you remember your meal budget from week to week, and encourages you to write in the cost of each shopping track so you can keep track of how much you are over or under your food budget so that you can cut back (or reward yourself) the next week.

Of course, even if we do go to the grocery store with a list in hand, it doesn’t mean we can’t deviate from that list at all, just ensure it’s marked down in your cost and calorie budgets to ensure you stay on track.

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/keeping-your-meal-costs-checked

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https://startplanner.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/keeping-your-meal-costs-checked/

Taking the Time to Plan a Proper Vacation

Plenty of people nowadays have given up the art of planning a vacation whether it be for themselves, their family, or a group of friends. Far too many people have taken the road most trodden with professional vacation planners that offer cookie cutter trips to tourist traps the world over. But if you want a personalized vacation that will take you off the training wheels and down to roads less trodden where you can really experience the world, you’ll want to plan it yourself. This simple printable vacation planner will help you build a vacation from the ground up, and help you track costs to keep the vacation within your budget.

But an aid is an aid, what do you actually need to do to help your vacation go off without a hitch.
The most obvious thing to plan around is your flights and the leave that you have. The cost of your flight can cost as much as half your vacation budget depending on the location you are going to, and is an essential consideration in figuring out where you should and can afford to go see.

Having your transportation and hotels planned out and purchased ahead of time can save your life and your wallet when you can hunt for deals online rather than negotiating with natives when you arrive (who may want to wring out any tourist cash they can get from you). Planning these out ahead while you have the power to negotiate and shop around is essential in controlling the budget of your trip.

Once your hotels and transportation are resolved, or perhaps at the same time if you plan on seeing multiple cities, you will want to start writing down the restaurants and attractions you want to visit. Make a list as big as you can think of, get everything down in a list and start prioritizing this list while considering how much time each attraction will cost you including transportation. A good vacation can sour fast when your plans run over each other and blow you off the itinerary so it is best to give everything a generous time estimate, so you can have downtime between events.

When you get all of this information sorted out, it’s time to start contacting websites and making phone calls to get estimates of costs, and set down your seats so you don’t have to reschedule anything while on your trip. On this step you should really take the time to figure out the total costs of your trip, and get ready to pack your bags if everything checks out.

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/taking-the-time-to-plan-a-proper-vacation

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Planning For Growth and Success, Deciphering The Business Plan For Startups and New Leadership

Almost without exception, every healthy growing business is guided by well thought out plans and projections that ensure that investments are well placed. Today we’re giving you a crash course on how to plan for and run a business with a focus on the most important step.

When planning your business, it’s best to be concise and cut the fluff, this may mean you’ll start by writing a first draft of your business plan and come back through with a heavy dose of red ink cutting out the unnecessary language. If you plan on following a plan it should be as simple and concise as possible as you will reread it, revise it, check up on it, and share it with employees and business partners.

With that said, if you are working on a new startup we need to talk about business goals and how we are going to get there. To start out you should answer some really simple, but extremely important questions:

• What is your Product?
• Who is your target audience?
• What makes your product better than the competition?
• If everything goes as planned, where will this business be in 5 years?

Now the first two questions should be really simple to answer, your product and the target audience should go hand in hand, and targeted marketing will help you answer the third question by giving you an extra edge in regards to who you want to sell to. But the third question needs more than just group focus, you really should do the time to research who you are competing with and how you can handle the market better than the existing competition as they have the advantage of already being established. The final question should take some math to solve. You should have estimates of how much profit your business will make, and with that profit you should consider how to further invest and grow your business. After 5 years of growth, what will your empire look like?
Now not all of us are organizational geniuses, but there exist plenty of tools out there to help get our ideas down in permanent reviewable form.

At the very least, make it a habit to carry a daily planner that will help organize all of your ideas into one concise book to keep the year under control. If you are starting a business or taking the reigns of an existing one and intend to grow it, it’s time to take advantage of every tool you can get to give you the leg up.

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/planning-for-growth-and-success-deciphering-the-business-plan-for-startups-and-new-leadership

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https://startplanner.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/planning-for-growth-and-success-deciphering-the-business-plan-for-startups-and-new-leadership/

Holiday Gift Guide for the productivity lover!

 

Can you guys believe that the holidays are just around the corner and with cookie exchanges, holiday parties, and traditions galore, we thought you might want to get a jump on your holiday shopping!

 

We wanted to come up with a list that is perfect for increasing productivity and making things happen! We have compiled a list of our top 10 gifts for the productivity lover and we think you’re going to love it!! The only thing missing now is the eggnog and wrapping paper! Gift giving has never been so easy and here are just some of the things we love! 

 

 

I mean… this one is a no-braniner right?  :) Of course we think our Hustle Planner makes a great gift! Be a gift giving super hero this year with the gift of ultimate organization and goal crushing! Your friends, family, boss, teacher, neighbor, & virtually anyone on our list will love it’s beautiful design and functionality.  ;) 

 

A grown-up twist on the elementary school #2 pencil. With fun colors and phrases like “Goal Crushin’” and “Like a Boss,” they are easy to tuck into an office gift exchange, stocking or even tie on top of a pretty present for a picture perfect presentation! 

 

The office should be a place that inspires!! After all, you are there 8+ hours a day, let’s make it pretty!! We think a punch of color on the walls goes a long way and we LOVE abstract pieces by our 2017 cover artist, Hannah Joiner Crosby! 

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!! Water makes you feel better and studies show that being hydrated helps you focus and improves your overall productivity…. so what better gift than a pretty water bottle to sit on their desk that just screams “DRINK ME!” This is one we came across a loved. 

Another fun stocking stuffer or add-on, we just love these Fuel and Delegate notepads that encourage yet another level of organization with a pop of color! Fuel is great for on the go groceries and delegate is great for those to do list you need to assign. 

Oils are all the rage and with health benefits ranging from fewer germs, more energy, to better over all well being, we think that every office needs an oil diffuser and we just adore the simplicity and clean lines of this Aria Diffuser from Young Living Oils.  We are not experts on oils but if you need a contact that is reach out and we can connect you! 

Life is messy! Its nice to be able to erase from time to time! These Erasable Frixion Gel Pens come in a variety of pretty colors and are great for color coding your planner and notes!

Every one loves a coffee mug and with fun and motivational phrases, your coworkers will be fighting over this one at the gift exchange! There are a ton on Etsy and coffee mugs are easy fun gifts. 

 

Papers. They pile up and add so much distraction. Get them out of site and organized with these adorable Kate Spade files that will actually look cute on the desk!. 

 

Sometimes it’s not easy to focus in the office with all the chatter and noise. Or if you are trying to focus in the house. Yes we know the feeling.  We love to drown out the background noise so we can focus in and crush our goals, and these stylish beats headphones are the perfect accessory to do just that! 

 

It is crazy to be already thinking about the holidays but if you or someone you know loves organization or has some pretty big goals to meet. These items might just be the perfect gift! 

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/holiday-gift-guide-for-the-productivity-lover

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https://startplanner.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/holiday-gift-guide-for-the-productivity-lover/

An Organized Teacher is a Good Teacher

It’s pretty insane how bad a rap teachers seem to get these days, especially considering just how much they do and go through to help provide kids with a quality education. Not only do they spend their workday dealing with rowdy kids (and a couple good ones), they also need to handle unruly parents, do battle in one of the most heated political workforces in the country, craft lesson plans, track supplies, grade homework and hold tutoring – and that’s just the day-to-day stuff.

Because there is so much on a teacher’s plate, it’s vital that she or he has some type of organizational effort in place. While it might be true that a handful of teachers can keep track of everything without a schedule in place, that’s the exception to the rule. Even teachers most people think have a cakewalk of a job (looking at you P.E. and art teachers) have a ton of stuff they need to keep track of and plan for.

When you bring special events or any out-of-the-norm activities into the fold, everything gets even more complicated. Permission slips need to be signed. Paperwork needs to be filed with the district. Field trips have to be planned and those locations need to be contacted.

For the most part, a trackable calendar of some sort is going to work wonders for all the daily tasks that a teacher goes through (and we obviously have the best selection of those around).

But, when it comes to those who want a better way to track issues specific to educators, our organizational inserts for teachers were crafted specifically to help you organize the important parts of your job and make your day a little bit easier.

Now, about that loud and vindictive teacher in the room next to yours – we don’t have anything ready but we’ll let you know as soon as we think of something.

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/an-organized-teacher-is-a-good-teacher

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https://startplanner.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/an-organized-teacher-is-a-good-teacher/

Are You Making This Huge Organizational Mistake?

Not giving yourself time to decompress? Studies show that appropriately timed breaks can increase productivity and lead to a healthier happier work-life relationship.

Research also shows that the most efficient way to do any office work is a nice 50 on, 20 off system. Our brains (just like our muscles) get tired from constant use. So, by breaking apart work into 50 minute bursts followed by 20 minutes away from the computer, we can refresh our mind and be up to 10% more productive than if we took no breaks at all. Talk about a win-win. Just remember that 20 minutes of Facebook or YouTube do little to actually refresh your mind. Go for a walk, read a book, or do any other relaxing leisurely task as long as it helps break your mind away from work for a bit.

Another thing to take note of is that working overtime will help us accomplish more than normal, up to a point. We’ll be more productive for the first two weeks of overtime, but the benefits rapidly fade after that time period. By the time you’ve spent 2 months working more than 40 hours a week rolls around, you’ll need a serious refresher. You’ll get to a point where you’ll be accomplishing less in your 10-16 hour days than you would have if you were working a regular 8-hour schedule. This means those chronic overtime workers are in desperate need of a planned vacation to get themselves back onto the rails of efficiency (managers & supervisors, take note – give your employees more vacation time).

In fact, taking a vacation every 3 or so months can be beneficial even to those who don’t burn the midnight oil. Taking a few days off to experience some new sights and forget all about work can have a month-long boost on productivity.

Either way, it’s certainly a lot more fun than sticking to a life of year-round monotony. So don’t get conned into overworking yourself out of enthusiasm and take a moment to write down time for you to enjoy yourself in your calendar, your daily planner, or wherever it is you use to organize your life.

from STARTplanner – News https://startplanner.com/blogs/news/are-you-making-this-huge-organizational-mistake

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https://startplanner.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/are-you-making-this-huge-organizational-mistake/