Planning a trip doesn’t have to take weeks, but it also isn’t something that just happens overnight. Even if you’re someone who travels frequently there is still a list of things that you need to go through. So what do you need to consider when planning a trip?

Destination

So where do you want to go? There are so many amazing things to see in the world, from the seven wonders of the world to heated natural pools on remote islands. Do you want a city break with historical roots, plenty to see, and a great shopping district? Head to New York. For a unique stay in an igloo with a once in a lifetime view of the Aurora Borealis then head to the Netherlands or Iceland. Go on a safari trip, climb Everest, or visit the catacombs of Paris. Once you have figured out what you want to do on your trip, you can then easily weed out the places you don’t want to go, and then enjoy deciding on which destination is for you.

Hotel And Flights

Now that you know where you’re going, it’s time to get the details sorted. You can easily get flights, and your hotel booked through one website, but it can be worth shopping around to get the best price. There are so many options for accommodation so don’t think that you just have to settle for the same thing every time you go travelling. If you’re opting for a bit of luxury, then look into instant book boutique hotels. If you’re going to be travelling around, then perhaps look into hostels rather than hotels. 

Another great option for accommodations is Airbnb. If you still haven’t tried staying in an Airbnb when travelling, you are living under a rock! I love staying in Airbnbs as an affordable alternative to hotels while still maintaining a bit of luxury. There are places for rent ranging from cheaper studios and one-bedrooms to entire mansions! You choose how much you want to pay.  

Lists

So with the big details sorted—now you can start thinking about the fun little things. You have plenty of time to make your plans so your first list should comprise of all the things that you want to do while you’re there. You can research each thing and make a plan of what you really want to do. The second list should be of all the things that you need to take with you. You might have a decent amount of holiday clothing already, but everyone loves taking at least a couple of new things on holiday. Plus, if you’re heading somewhere where will you need special clothing—like skiing, or hiking, or climbing, you will need to buy the right things.

Those are my quick little tips of things you should consider while planning your next trip. I know I’m already starting to think about all the places that I can go in 2018. Have you started planning? And where to? 

Until next time, 

I’m definitely not saying that I’ve mastered it—it’s always work-in-progress. But I’ve developed a lot of coping skills and learned how to juggle every curve ball that life tosses me.

I’ve learned that you need to develop a certain level of discipline to actually follow the goals and to-do lists that you set for yourself. And that no matter how many time management articles you read, it’s not a skill that’s easily learned. However, I thought I would still go ahead and share all of my tips, tricks, and lessons that have helped me stay on top all of my tasks and goals day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month.

Use An Agenda

I have to credit most of my organizational success to my agenda. It’s been a long journey trying to find the perfect agenda for my needs. I was the type of person to go through 2-3 agendas a year purely because I didn’t like the layout or aesthetic of the agenda. And man, nice agenda’s are NOT CHEAP.

Recently I discovered the STIL Classics 12M agenda. And it has changed my life.

Before STIL, I was using a weekly agenda by Shinola, which was great as well. I loved the layout of their agenda but I always felt like there wasn’t enough space to fully plan out everything I needed to do—so I still used my bullet journal heavily for day-to-day planning, to-do lists, goal lists, etc.

Although I still do use my bullet journal daily to plan for projects and as a space to brain dump, I’ve completed nixed the day-to-day planning in my bullet journal because I no longer need it!

The layout of the STIL agenda provides you with both day-to-day to-do list space as well as weekly planning space (see photos below).

The Layout

Every month in the STIL agenda starts out with a quote. The one for January is “New feels, new chances. Same dreams, fresh starts.” which I think is perfect for the first month of the year. Then, on the page next to it, it gives you space to write out 3 of your most important goals for the month. At the end of the previous month, I like to sit down, think, and fill this part out. I’ve made it a goal of mine to set more goals for myself (ha, ironic). So having the space to write down just three goals, really makes me think and carefully decide what are the most important tasks that I want to achieve for the month.

Continuing on with the monthly planning, the next page has several different sections for you to fill out at the beginning of the month. The first half is dedicated to budgeting. What are your monthly expenses? What are your budgets? I’ve been using this section religiously since December because YA GIRL HAS A SAVING PROBLEM. So this section has definitely helped me visualize exactly what amount I need to set aside every month for expenses and other budgetary needs.

The second half again pertains to goal setting. Other than your three main goals of the month, what are some other things you want to achieve? What are some main tasks you need to finish this month? What important deadlines do you have? I like to fill in this section with my brand collaborations due for the month. It’s a great place to just round up everything that’s important that I have to finish so that once I finish each task, I can come back here and have the satisfaction of checking it off the master list.

Then, of course, there’s a standard monthly view. Not including a photo of that because we all know what monthly views look like right?

Here’s my favourite part of the agenda. Each week is broken up into two different layouts. The first being this typical weekly view but with to-do list bubbles rather than just solid lines. LOVE THIS. I am definitely someone who gets a kick off checking things off a list once I’ve completed it. But also, this makes it easier for me to see the tasks I haven’t finished so that I can carry them on to the next day. But wait! There’s more…

The second weekly view is this block view that lets me fill in appointments, meetings, tasks, and other time-sensitive entries. This is where I plan out my week. I use this section to visualize what my week looks like and it’s where I go to block off time for appointments, gym sessions, hangouts with friends… whatever it may be.

having the two different weekly view sections may be a little extra for some, but it is literally everything I wanted in an agenda and more. Not to mention all the STIL agendas are stunning. 

Discount Code

If you want to try out the STIL agenda for 2018, you can use the discount code ‘ANGEL25’ for 25% off (expires January 31st, 2018)! The code can be used on any products, not just the agenda. Just enter it at check out!

My Planning Process

At the beginning of each week (or the end of the previous week), I write a master to-do lists in my bullet journal. My favourite ones are these by Leuchtturm. I include every task, from small errands to larger project-based work. If there’s an over-reaching project that I am working on, I will even break it down into smaller, more-digestible steps.

Once I’ve created my master list, I will start scheduling my tasks into my day-to-day to-do lists (the weekly view in my agenda). I try to spread out my work equally throughout the week so that no day feels harder than the rest. Doing this makes completing daily tasks easy and I usually have time to complete more tasks that I’ve scheduled for other days.

In order to distinguish between tasks I need to accomplish for work and for everything else, I use different-coloured pens. I try to write everything I need to get done for work in black and everything else (content, side projects, passion projects, etc.) in pink.

The monthly view in my agenda is used as a content calendar for my YouTube, blog, and Instagram. Although I don’t plan my IG content DAILY, I make sure to note down posting dates for any collaborations or paid projects that I am working on. I also tentatively plan any video and blog content I am trying to create for the month. Like my master to-do lists, I also keep master content lists in my bullet journal in which I can pick for ideas to fill my weekly content needs.

Using My Phone

I typically bring my agenda and bullet journal with me no matter where I go, but there are definitely times that I still use the reminders app on my iPhone to do some of my planning. If I have time-sensitive tasks that I need to do within a day, I will typically enter them into my reminders app and set up an alarm for when I need to start the task.

I also use the reminders app for one-time lists that I can just check-off and discard like travel packing lists, grocery lists, etc.

Planning For Success

I think spending a little time at the beginning of each week to think about what I need to accomplish really sets me up for a good week. Although I have loved daily agendas in the past, I now prefer weekly layouts so that I can easily glance at the week as a whole and make sure I am completing the “mission critical” tasks in easily-digestible bites so that I don’t feel overwhelmed. It’s also important to take a further step back every once in a while—and look at your month as a whole. This helps ensure that you never feel caught off guard with longer-term projects and tougher workloads.

Hopefully, I’ve provided you with some tips and tricks that you can use in your own planning and time management. Everyone sooner or later develops their own uniquely effective workflows—it’s definitely a trial and error type of deal.

If YOU have any tricks that you use to organize your schedule, let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for new ways to effectively use my time.

Until next time,

Why do you need one?

Why is it so necessary to incorporate content calendars into your routine of planning and writing blog posts? It is an organizational tool that will help you keep track and manage a hectic posting schedule and balance it with your own schedule. But more than that, it also ensures that you are consistently publishing quality content and that even when you are taking a break, your blog isn’t.

Sage Grayson, a book editor turned blogger, created this awesome video showcasing how you can get started with your calendar. There are endless ways to customize your calendar to make it a program that works for you. Sage’s idea of using post-it notes creates an impermanent way of scheduling your posts and other content—this way you can rearrange as needed.

Sage mentions in her video that you should have a brainstorm list of blog posts aside from your calendar. I personally do this in a bullet journal. I use my bullet journal as a brain dump of ideas, content development and details, and to jot down any other inspiration material.

Examples

For my set up, I use a Google calendar with a specific colour (the red blocks below) for all my scheduling. This way I can integrate my content calendar into my work and daily calendar seamlessly. I used to use the monthly view of my agenda. Instead of post-it notes, I used an erasable pen to schedule my content. My favorites are the Pilot Frixion pens. These babies use friction to erase their ink which I think is genius. They leave no leftover marks and are great for planning content. If you’re just as much of a stationery freak as I am, the Well-Appointed Desk blog wrote a great review about the Frixion pen and other erasable pens with demonstrations.

If you want to keep your calendar separate but still want to do it digitally, the agency that I work for does theirs on a Google sheets page. Just set up a monthly view table with all your dates and you’re good to go! You can even split up each day into Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram content so you can plan your copy ahead of time. This method is extremely customizable and you can virtually add in sections for whatever your needs are. I like to add in an “image” section so you can link the image you’re planning to use for your posts. And a “hashtags” section so you don’t have to think about what hashtags you want to add to your posts!

Along with your brainstorm list and your monthly view, you should also include a prioritization list which categorizes your content into different topics and levels of importance. You can either use a separate page in your bullet journal to do this or just use an icon or colour coding system to classify your tasks. You can use whatever icons that work for you. If you’re at a loss, just google “bullet journal icons” and you’ll find millions of different ways to categorize your tasks.

As I mentioned above, your content dates and times can change as life as unpredictable. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Of course, it’s better to avoid pushing off posting and stick to your planned schedule. But if life gets in the way, don’t feel guilty moving posts and plans around. It is more important for you to create quality content rather than posting just to post.

Hope this post was enough to convince you to at least try to integrate a content calendar into your life. If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work! Everyone works differently. But there’s a reason why editors, bloggers, marketers, and entrepreneurs alike have been using this system for ages! So try it!

Do you currently use a content calendar for your blogging and how has it been working for you?

Initially I did all my feed planning in an album in my Iphone Photo app. That worked most of the time except because the Iphone default in albums is four columns, not three like Instagram, I had to download a bunch of blank “white” photos to go around what my 9×9 feed would be to visualize it better. Although doable, you can see how this got tedious after a while.

And then I discovered the app Mosaico. It is a paid app but it is a one-off payment which is a lot more cost efficient than some other feed-planning apps that are subscription based.

Mosaico allows you to sync with your Instagram so that all of your current photos already show up and you don’t have to reimport them into the app. You can then upload new photos you plan on uploading into Mosaico and drag and drop them around to see where they fit best in your feed.

It also provides the opportunity for you to schedule your posts and plan your captions and hashtags. However, Mosaico does not post for you! It sets a reminder for when you schedule your post and will remind you to post at that time. It will also copy what you planned for your caption into your clipboard which you can then paste into Instagram once you’ve entered the app through Mosaico.

Although $5.99 seems like a lot to pay for an app that just lets you drag and drop your photos around, it is SO worth it. I use this app before I every upload to ensure that my content fits my current feed and theme. Feed aesthetic is something that is often overlooked by most when considering good content to post. BUT REMEMBER. Your feed is the first thing people see when they click into your profile. NOT JUST individual photos. Personally I always judge accounts by their feed. A messy feed makes me bounce almost immediately, not matter how high quality the individual photos are.

Have you used a feed planning app before? Which one works for you?

More soon,