Category: Family

Can The Archer Help Us With Goal Setting?

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

During a recent Moon Circle we were discussing the archer. How they pull back their arrow, pause to assess the lay of the land, then take aim toward the target. Once they are sure and ready, they release the arrow, hoping it hits the target. We then talked about how this is similar to the beginning of a new year and goal setting.

Did I lose you? Let me explain.

Pull the arrow back, pause and reflect

For goal setting, I need to stop and reflect, not only the past year, but on past goals. How did they work out? What worked and what didn’t? You see this year, my overall theme is Take the Leap! So, I have to pull back and think of other times I took a big leap. For me, this was 19 years ago when I moved from St. Louis to New York City at the ripe old age of 24 to pursue my goal of musical theatre. Now, that goal did not pan out, but living in NYC sure did as I am still here loving every minute. Another example I can think of is leaving my corporate job to be a stay at home mom to my baby 9 years ago. This was a huge leap of faith and another one that was beautiful and such a special time in my life.

Take aim

Next, I have to use what I learned during reflection to create those next steps for my goals. So, for my goal of Making Our Apartment a Home I have to look back and think about what worked in the past and how I can apply that to this goal. Let’s look at the big leap of moving to NYC, I was organized, did research, and was prepared to the Nth degree to move to a brand new city. For decluttering and beautifying our apartment I can use that same strategy – read books and articles on cleaning, work with my husband to come up with plans and systems to use as we go from room to room, and we will get prepared before each cleaning session so we stay on task.

Another way to take aim is to see what you want at the end of the year and work backwards. I For example, I want to Live a Magical Life, but what exactly does that mean for me? I want to have a daily ritual that connects me to spirit and magic everyday. I want to have a journaling practice that nourishes my soul. I want to read books about Goddesses and learn more about the cultures and customs of countries I don’t know. These are all the smaller steps toward the main goal. Now I have my aims, my processes and my systems.

Once ready, let the arrow go toward the target

This is the actual step of doing the damn thing….which is probably the hardest step when we think about goal setting, but if we think of the archer, it’s the easiest – you just let go. Can we use that mindset for our goals? Can we make the act of actually doing our daily tasks that help us achieve our goals easier? Honestly, I’m still working on this mindset, but I hope having this image of an archer in my head will help me when things start feeling hard.

Because, here’s the thing, doing big things and taking big leaps is hard and changing systems and habits is also hard. When I moved to NYC at 24, that was hard – yes, it was exciting and fun and felt like a big glorious adventure – but it was also hard at times. Leaving my job to stay at home with a brand new baby was fun and amazing, but it was also hard at times. 2020 was hard a LOT of times, but we made it through, and we can do it again!

Can you use the image of an archer to help you with your 2021 goals? Have you ever taken a big leap before? What big leaps are you planning for this year? I would love to know in the comments below.

Using Tarot with my PowerSheets for 2021 Goal Setting

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Most of you probably know this by now — unless you are super new — but I love goal setting!! 

This year, I decided to marry one love with another and use my Tarot cards with my PowerSheets.  Ok, I can hear the questions loud and clear: How do you use tarot with goal setting? What are PowerSheets? Why are you so dang cute?  No? That wasn’t one of your questions?  Are you sure because I’m pretty dang cute?!?  

What are PowerSheets?

PowerSheets are a goal setting workbook from Cultivate What Matters. 

I used their undated 6-month version about two years ago, and while I loved the prep work, I also really like setting quarterly goals so after those were all used up, I didn’t purchase again.  Until, a friend of mine told me that this year they were adding quarterly refreshes and more mini-steps so basically it was my perfect goal setting system!  

Why? Because of the Prep work — 50 or so pages of guided questions to help you analyze and think about what’s important to YOU and your dreams and your vision for the year and for your life.  Not what goals you think you should have, but what goals you want to have.  Not what goals will make your neighbor think you’re awesome, but goals that will help YOU feel awesome and be awesome and do awesome things!

I have a serious addiction to workbooks and guided journals so the prep work is right up my alley. I love diving in and getting into this brain of mine to find out how I tick and what I want to accomplish this year and in life overall. I like taking a big picture look, then narrowing it down bit by bit so I have my five goals for 2021, smaller goals for Quarter 1 of 2021, and then even smaller goals for January 2021.  

It feels soooooo good!

It doesn’t hurt that I get to use bright colored markers, pens, stickers, and washi tape – let that inner child play, you know?!?!

How do you use Tarot with Goal Setting?

So once I figured out my big picture goals for 2021, I got out my deck of cards and started pulling one for each goal.   What I’m doing is getting a litmus test on whether or not this goal is going to work for me or if I need to do anything different. Rewrite the goal maybe? Make sure I include certain things during my quarterly goal setting sessions. Or scrap it all together.  Let me walk you through my five goals below.

Write and Self-Publish Entertaining YA Novels 

I pulled the Nine of Swords which isn’t exactly a great positive card, but I pulled a clarifying animal guide card and got the Shark which is about honesty. What? Ok…right off the bat, you’re probably thinking I’ve lost my mind but I started to really think about things and I realized that I am scared to self-publish again. I love writing, but the business side of things still eludes me and I find myself flailing around.  Nine of Swords is about grief, sadness, anxiety, and worry.  If I’m being honest (The Shark), I have a ton of worry and anxiety around this goal.  These cards helped me come to terms with this fact, made me face that I have these fears and I did actually think about scrapping this goal.  But the fact is, I love writing and love hearing from readers about my books. I want to do this goal, so I know I might have some mindset shirts and some stuff to deal with and that’s okay!

Start my Tarot Business

I pulled The Hierophant and that is awesome! This card is all about spiritual wisdom, traditions, balance and being a teacher or leader – the holder of truth.  I take this as a very good sign that I’m on the right track with my ideas of what I want my tarot business to look like. It’s a little scary putting this out here so early but I want to help writers, actors, musicians, and other creative people deal with blocks, fear of success, imposter syndrome, and life in general using the tarot cards.  I will be doing this via courses, books, and hopefully life coaching. I feel 100% to take this goal on for next year.

Make our Apartment a HOME

Our place is a cluttered mess and I want to change that so I pulled Knight of Pentacles which is all about hard work, charging ahead, productivity, routines, and responsibility.  Basically the road won’t be easy with this goal, but it will be so worth it.  Not much to say here – this was a great card and I feel pretty good about things.

Make my self-improvement a priority

I feel like, honestly, I do this but I wanted to make it an official goal so I have a place to track things and make sure that I’m actually doing it.  The card I pulled for this goal was the 4 of Pentacles.  What?! This is about control, security, not having connection to spirit (okay, getting closer to making sense) and saving money.  So don’t buy a bunch of stuff for self-improvement…but what? I was still confused so I pulled a clarifying animal spirit card for this goal as well and got The Golden Egg which is all about the message at the center of the heart.  Time for introspection and contemplation (adding more meditation back into my life) and staying open to hearing the messages you need to hear.  Basically I need to take the pentacle off the top of my head so I can be open to the divine, and stop controlling every little thing – BE OPEN.  

Now I gotcha and I can keep that in mind while I dig deeper each month.

Live a Magical Life!

I pulled the 9 of Wands…which is all about a test of faith, courage and persistence and being tired. I need to get clear on what I will need to be successful here and then communicate with others. I have to stop allowing things to get in my way. 

It’s me…I get in my own way. 

I want every day to feel magical, I want to use witchcraft to make the mundane into magic.  Stirring my coffee with intentions, charging my lotions for self-love, using my candles and crystals, and seeing myself in a new light.  Maybe the card wasn’t 100% but some good things to remember and it will keep me on my toes this year.

After I did these, I pulled one card to represent all of my 2021 goals and got my old friend, The Chariot. I see this card as my inner guide telling me I’m on the right track.  It’s about action and determination, success and will power, and a spiritual transformation.  I’ll take it!!

Have you started working on your 2021 goals yet?  If you need help, hit me up below and I’ll pull a few cards for you!  

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3 Reasons Why I Love Using A Paper Planner in 2020

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I keep seeing this one particular meme going around about the silliest purchase of the year is a 2020 planner. And I have to say that I totally disagree with this sentiment. I love my planner. In fact, I have two!  Okay, I actually have three planners and a few notebooks that I use, but today I’m going to talk about two from my large stack of organizational fun – my weekly Erin Condren life planner and my Erin Condren daily binder pages. And no, this post is not sponsored (I wish!) – Erin Condren just happens to be my planner of choice.

 

For me…there are three main reasons why I love using a paper planner over digital options only.

 

It keeps me on track

 

I have a section in the front of my weekly planner that has my quarterly goals, another section for monthly and weekly task lists, and then, of course, my overall schedule telling me when my son has google hangout sessions for school and appointments with my VA clients for me. My daily planner is where I list everything that needs to happen each day and its way messier than my weekly planner – it’s the workhorse that gets crossed up, notes taken and things moved around.

 

These things keep me moving forward on my goals, on task for work and writing projects and help me make sure I have time for fun & hobbies AND make sure we log on for all the things we have to attend. I know at a glance what’s coming up today, what’s coming up tomorrow, and even big items for the following few months. It gives me a sense of calm. I know – in a very big picture way – what’s happening and when.

  

It’s FUN!

 

Stickers have been a part of my life since I was a little girl in the 1980s with my giant albums of stickers that I would trade with friends over lunch. I used them to decorate my Trapper Keeper, diaries, and my bulletin board (where I had pictures of Joey Lawrence…because I was cool). I love stickers! I love functional, colorful boxes that help me notice an appointment on the page. I love cute little cartoons with coffee cups or laptops. I just love how bright and cute they are. Laying down stickers on a piece of paper is so much dang fun – it puts a smile on my face and makes me happy…and that’s really all I need right now. 

 

The other thing about paper planners is the online community – the Facebook groups and the Instagram channels – where other planner girls (and some guys!) talk about their planners, how they use them, what sticker companies they love and use. I have gotten some really amazing ideas and have some really great online friendships with these people. I feel like I’m a part of something much bigger than just me and my planner on a Sunday night. 

 

It’s my “Me Time”

 

Yes, I use planner time as my Jennifer/Mommy alone time. I spend about 25-30 minutes on Sunday night at my desk with my stickers and my digital calendar creating my weekly spread and then each morning and night I check in with my daily schedule for the messy to-do list.  I can listen to music or have it silent, I light a candle sometimes or turn on my salt lamp. I have some decaf tea or hot chocolate and I spend some time with my planner. I always feel so much better when I have that time, too. I feel ready to tackle another week, I feel prepared to face the meetings and the work. AND I’m a happier and a better Mommy when I come back into the living room to play a game or watch a movie.

 

Knowing I have my schedule organized and my planner all pretty makes me smile and keeps me calm. I don’t have to freak out about things because I know it’s written down, out of my head and onto the page. I know where things, things are getting tracked and noted. That makes my other “me times” easier – because they are also scheduled into my day. 

 

Do you use a paper planner or are you all digital all the time?  What do you use as your Me Time for the day/week?

 

 

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Look At This Stuff? Isn’t It Neat? NO! It’s a mess, Ariel, a really big mess!

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Have you ever had a Really Big Goal on your list of To-Do’s that keeps alluding you? A few weeks ago, I shared my Q1 Goals and way down on the list was: Beautifying The Apartment.    The thing is…it’s really so much bigger than just making the apartment look nice. So. Much. Bigger. 

We live in a decent-sized two-bedroom apartment with our 8-year-old son and all of our crap. Everywhere.  See, to start making it beautiful, we have to see the floor first. UGH! Step 1 of this overall goal is to declutter, organize, throw out, donate, and basically clean up the apartment. And this is where I get stuck, every time. 

Want to know a little secret? This has been on my goals list for a few years.  And last year we made a small dent, but we never finished because looking around at everything starts getting overwhelming! I look at each room and get tired just thinking of the hard work and energy and time that it’s going to take and instead, I make coffee and find some chocolate and flip on Disney+ (because who doesn’t love Baby Yoda?!?!).

I have a fairly strong WHY for this goal – to feel comfortable and more at home in our space. But that doesn’t seem to help motivate us into action.  Yes, I said US because this is not a solitary ME goal, this involves my husband and my son – so it’s not just me trying to motivate myself, it’s me trying to motivate all of us, at the same time, to accomplish a common goal.  Not easy.

So, I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and any advice you might have on this goal.  Have you ever had to declutter an entire room or apartment or house before? How did you chunk up the tasks? How did you keep from being overwhelmed and just get started? Seriously – any advice you can offer is appreciated? 

I’ll just be over here, looking at the piles, drinking my coffee, googling Baby Yoda gifs. Thanks!

 

Like, What? Ugh…As If!

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

We’ve all heard of the inner child, right?  When someone is being cranky or needs a nap, or when we go to therapy and we talk about healing the inner child or giving them what they need or something…well, I think I have an inner teenager.

For real, I’ve been trying to be more adult about things – like decluttering my apartment, meal plan and prep – which involves cooking, and making sure things are done in an orderly fashion.  Which, okay, even my teenage self enjoyed….but lately I can feel her rolling her eyes.  She’s being annoying in my head.

“Oh man, when are we going to do something fun?” she’ll say to me when I get out the cutting board.  “Why do we have to do this on a Sunday?  Sundays are for playing games and watching movies?” Roll eyes, hair flip, huff in annoyance.  Inner teenager.

I can’t really ground her, because who wants that, so I decided to start listening to her.  Fun, she’s screaming for fun.  Yes, I have to meal prep and plan – it’s been helping me so much – but it’s not much fun.  So I’ve been listening to music or watching YouTube while I do some things.  I’ve been asking my husband to help me so we can get it done more quickly and we can talk while we do it.  Decluttering is the same thing.  It has to get done – trust me, it looks like a toy store threw up in our apartment and we have stuff everywhere it seems. So, music and timers and rewards have been helping.

But, she’s clamoring for fun.  Not making the boring stuff more fun.  Actual FUN!  So I got some magazine subscriptions and when they come, I make time with tea or coffee to sit down and read them.  I’ve started dressing in a more fun manner, adding more color to my life again.  I bought new exercise clothes that are cute and functional!  I started watching TV shows during lunch again.  Comedies – things that make me laugh out loud.

I need the fun in my life, my son needs the fun in his life too so the other thing I’ve been doing is planning Family Fun Adventures around the city.  Last week we took the Tram across the East River from Roosevelt Island into Manhattan and had yummy pizza at my favorite brick oven place, Patsy’s,  and then got bags of chocolate at Dylan’s Candy Bar.  We had a great time and it was just pure fun.  No real agenda except the ride over, the food and the exploring.

Do you have an inner teenager? What have they been saying to you lately? Have you stopped to listen?  Do you need more sleep? More fruit? More fun?  Do you need to be super lazy one day and not get up off the couch?  What did you like to do as a teenager?  Let me know in the comments below!

 

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Tick Tock

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

No, the title isn’t in reference to the Ke$ha song (although, I do enjoy dancing to that when putting on my makeup) – today I’m going to talk about timers!

I love timers!  I especially love timers now that I have an Alexa (the Amazon Echo Dot that I talked about a few months ago).  Timers are everything right now and not just for cooking –  although I do use Alexa to help with that too. 

So, you might be wondering how I use timers….read on and let me know what you use timers for.

First, I use timers when I’m writing.  I usually do one or two sprints of 25 minutes each.  That seems to be my sweet spot both for writing new words and editing old words.  In one hour I’ve been able to get down 2,000 words or more!  I’m editing right now so sometimes I don’t set a timer, especially if I have free time and just want to work until I reach the end of a chapter or a section but timers can still be helpful if I don’t have as much time in my day and want to play beat the clock.

Which brings me to the second time I use timers during my day. To clean or do the dishes.  We live in New York City and don’t have a dishwasher – I know, I can hear your collective groans from here – so there are always dishes to do by hand and it’s not one of my favorite tasks of the day so I love to set a 15 minute timer and see how many I can get done in that time.  Music also helps (but that’s true for me with almost every task).

The third way I use timers is for my son.  My seven year old loves to play Roblox, Minecraft, and Portal 2; he also loves YouTube – but we try to limit him throughout the day and also we have to leave the house for school, errands, or other fun things so timers help keep him accountable for his own time.  We also set one during the day after he gets home from school for homework so he knows he has to stop what he’s doing and do math, spelling, or reading.  For the most part, it helps.

And finally, I use timers when I have any task that I’m dreading. I hate calling places to book appointments (except Disney World to book a vacation package – I would do that every day if I could) but making dentist or doctor appointments, dealing with any kind of service people (gas/electric/cable/etc) I just dread it so I set a timer, get out all my fear and anxiety – usually on paper, but sometimes I just talk it out, then the timer goes off in 5 or 10 minutes and I make the call.  Some people won’t need this, but it really does help me.  Calling my Mom or Best Friend – nope, I’ll pick up the phone just fine but calling unknown people – ugh!  Can anyone else relate, or am I just a freak?

Do you use timers during your day?  Do they help you or cause more worry and anxiety? When are they most effective for you and your family?  I would love to know so hit me up in the comments below!

Write On!

Jennifer

 

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New Year…Who Dis?

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Hello to 2019 and to my lovely readers.  How were the holidays for everyone?  How has January been so far?   Christmas was really nice and a little crazy (seven year olds are good for that) and January has been a bit of a whirlwind as I onboard two new Virtual Assistant clients, gear up for another 6 months of helping my son’s Parents’ Association, and finishing up the first draft of my next novel!

While reading through the old blog archives, I  realized that I’ve never really introduced myself (and if I have…it was years ago) so no time like the present to give you a few facts about ME!

1. I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and went to college in Springfield, MO so I spent the first 24 years of my life in Missouri.  I loved growing up in St. Louis (and I lived in the city – if you’re familiar with the city, I grew up just a few blocks from The Hill across Hampton Avenue) we had an amazing Art Museum, Science Center, The Arch, good food, and Botanical Gardens.

2. I was homeschooled from sixth grade through High School.  The one thing St. Louis didn’t really have was good public schools.  I hated school, like so much I did not want to go back and would get sick (either real or fake) to stay home.  We tried a few other options (that didn’t really work – including a private religious school – which was worse that the public school in terms of how kids treated one another and the teacher’s being weird bullies themselves) but eventually we landed on homeschooling and I thrived.  I was able to do my regular school work along with all the passions that I had – photography, theatre, writing, and music.  It was a multi passionate kid’s dream!

3.  To go along with Number 1 – I moved to New York City right before my 25th birthday having never visited (I also didn’t have a ton of people that I knew there – there was a few friends of friends, or people I went to college with but weren’t exactly close to) but I flew up there with my parents, dropped my stuff at the 92nd Street Y (where I was staying) and immediately fell in love with the city.  By the first night, standing on the Staten Island ferry, watching the lights of the city start to come on I turned to my Mom and said, “I’m home!” and it’s true then and it’s true now.

4. I moved to New York City to pursue my first love of musical theatre.  I took classes, singing lessons, went on auditions, and did a few off-off-off-off broadway shows.  I had fun when I was doing something, but the constant rejection finally took it’s toll and I decided to hang up the towel.  I still love musical theatre and Broadway, but it’s not a huge part of my life anymore and actually I’m okay with that.  For years, after I “quit” auditioning, I couldn’t watch The Tony awards – it was just too hard – now it’s just not that entertaining because I don’t know as many of the shows.  Although – if someone has some Hamilton tickets lying about – I’ll take them off your hands.  HA

5. I love coffee!  While in college I got really into teas and so some of my “old” friends think it’s funny how much I love coffee, but coffee was my first love.  I’m the youngest and my much older brothers both drank coffee as did my parents (my sister did not drink coffee though) so I wanted to be like everyone else, so they would let me have some with milk and sugar and it was heavenly.  I’m not a coffee snub, I know what I like and I enjoy every last drop every day!

6. I’m multi passionate – I mentioned this up in number 2, but although I love writing novels I also love learning about witchcraft and shellwork, pulling tarot cards and researching meanings and history, I love music and still want to learn how to play that guitar properly, I love singing and entertaining still even if I’m not auditioning, and I love planners and planning, I love helping my clients with their VA stuff, and I love so many other things – I never realized there was a term for it – I just assumed I was flighty, but nope – I’m just multi passionate and it’s been a glorious discovery!

7. Random facts: I type 100 words per minute with about a 98% accuracy rate.  I worked at The Disney Store for about 6-8 months after college (if you know St. Louis, it was the Crestwood Mall location – which sadly isn’t there anymore).  I haven’t drive a car since August 2001 (since moving to New York City).  I know about 95% of Friends episodes – meaning I can recite the whole show while it’s going on, and I’ve even been known to know an episode just from a screenshot or line from the show.  (I can also do this with certain movies – Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and Ferris Bueller)  

Okay, so here’s seven things about me — what else would you like to know?  Ask below – I might do a part 2 if I get enough questions, or I might just answer them in the comments.  Also — I have a few ideas for the next few blogs, but then I’m tapped out, so if you have any ideas of what you’d like to see from me and this blog, let me know!  

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How I Got Out of My Planner Funk

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson


At the beginning of the year I bought a new planner and was so excited to start using it, but around the middle of the year, it had lost its luster for me.  It wasn’t working….for me.  Now, this has happened in the past, I have tried all sorts of planners and types of planning systems and I’m all gung-ho for a while then it peters out.  Usually, this happens after the newness wears off, but also because I realize that the brand new shiny planner won’t actually do my work for me – it’s just a device to keep track of my things.  My tasks, my goals, my daily to-do lists, etc.  It’s a device, not a robot that’s going to write my blog posts, my novels, my short stories, do my day job work for me.  It’s not going to grow legs and clean my bathroom or do the laundry.  That would be awesome though, but it’s not going to do that so I get in planner funks when I realize that I’m still me – just with a new planner.

So, this time I actually realized that and instead of just jumping into a brand new shiny planner without thinking, I stopped and researched and did some reading and came to the conclusion that a new planner wouldn’t necessarily help me, but that I had chosen my current planner without doing some thinking about what I actually needed a planner to do.  I read an article called Being in a Planning Quagmire (which, btw – awesome word!) and this basically gave me some insights into why I was having problems with my current planner and why I had such issues in the past.

The questions at the beginning of that article helped me realize that I wanted a bullet journal type planner but I hated having to write out the monthly calendars vertically like the original bullet journal concept and I didn’t want to draw the calendar grid every month like I had seen on Pinterest.  I  knew a larger planner wouldn’t be a big deal because I rarely carry it out of the house. I also knew I wanted good paper and bright colors.  Then this question hit me: Are you in a Planner Quagmire because what you REALLY want is too expensive or otherwise out of your reach, and nothing else will do it for you?

Bam!  

This was the mother lode question because I had been pinning for an Erin Condren Life Planner for years but they were pricey so I kept finding other things, other workarounds. I wanted the bright, colorful, sticker-filled fun that was the Erin Condren life planner, but on the other hand, I really wanted a more simplified Bullet Journal style.  So I started googling and low and behold – Erin Condren had released a new version of their Deluxe Monthly Planner style that was monthly calendars in the front (mine runs August to July because it’s an Academic style – works for me as my son is in school and I like starting a new year in September when school starts) and then a boatload of lined pages in the back.  

Yes!  

In between the monthly spreads are planning pages for each month too.  All of a sudden I had these ideas running through my head of exactly what I could do with each section.  This was the bullet journal I was looking for.  Monthly grids all laid out and colorful, planning sections for monthly tasks lists and goals, and blank pages for my daily to-do’s and lists.  I added a smaller dot grid journal for collections (plans, larger lists, year goal matrix, ideas, etc. And so forth) and my system was complete. Side note:  If you’re in the market for a new planner, click HERE for my referral code and save a little bit.

The beauty – once I made the decision and signed up for an account, I got a discount code right away and then because I had linked from a planner girl YouTube friend of mine I got another discount code and then…I discovered the planner was on sale!  It was like the Universe said, okay – you’ve done the work, you made your decision – here’s a gift.  It took awhile to get to me, but it was so worth it.  I’ve been using it for a few months now and I’ll be honest – I still catch myself getting upset that my planner is not doing my work for me, but not as much as I did. HA

Let’s dive in shall we? Get ready, because I’m about to hit you with a ton of pictures!

This is my monthly spread.  



I use color-coded stickers to mark events and birthdays.  I use washi tape to mark vacations. I keep my monthly spread simple.  I realized that the stickers that come with the planner are going to run out, but luckily Erin Condren’s website sells them separately so I’ll be doing that soon.   I like being able to get a large overview of the month before drilling down to weekly and daily tasks. 

This is the page before the monthly spread.


I use this blank dot grid as my Monthly Task List.  I will add to this throughout the month as things come up that I know need to get done that month but aren’t time or day specific.  For example, my son’s Halloween costume.  We needed that by the middle of October but otherwise…it was a pretty open task so it got added to the large monthly task list. I’ve also checked this off as my son chose a very cute, Jack O’ Lantern costume for this year (he’s 6!).

After the monthly spread is the planning pages.


The first page has five sections.  I have divided my life up into sections: Writing, Family, Health and Wellness, Apartment, and Misc. and I write a few goals for each section or tasks that I want to complete that month in each part.  I like this fine, but I am also thinking about using these boxes for each week and writing my Top Goals for the week here.  I might try that one month and see which I like better.  


The next blank page has my social media stats so I can see growth (or lack thereof) and I’ve given myself note space to write down goals, things I need to work on, or things I want to touch on during the month.  The little side column is where I write down my tasks for the Rising Heroes health and wellness online game that I am a part of (and talked about HERE). For now – I really like this page and don’t see much changing.

In the back of the notebook is lots and lots of lined blank pages.  


This is where I (currently) write my Weekly Top 5 tasks (Blog posts, Novel, Short Story, Apartment projects, School stuff, etc.) and then start my daily bullet journal style to-do list with boxes, triangles, and arrows to mark various tasks, appointments, and notes.  I like to use stickers to add some extra color and flair but those things change weekly.  I am Team Blue when it comes to pen colors but I can also see myself using color-coding at some point, but that involves always making sure you have the pens with you…and right now, I’m keeping it simple.


This is my collection book.  It’s matchy-matchy, but not exact and has dot grid paper inside. You can see from my Index page what kinds of things I keep in here, but I’m also hoping to add a page for Fiction Books to read, Non-Fiction books to read, online course tracking (I’m currently in one about Self-Publishing but am getting confused as to which modules I’ve watched or ones I need to re-watch), and I’m thinking of adding a Monthly Habit tracker to this as well- but I also have an app on my phone I like so we’ll see.


So…what do you think? Are you in a planner funk (or quagmire?) – are you strictly an app/phone/digital person or do you like paper and pen and stickers and washi? What do you track in your planner? What ideas do you have for me on how I can utilize my system better?   I have another post planned where I’ll be talking about my favorite writing tools and I will be talking about the apps and software programs I use, but my planner will also be listed so if you want to know more about anything I’m using or want an update – let me know.

Let’s Get a Little Real

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

So, today I’d like to slow things down and get a little real.  The past few years have been hard for me, personally.  I lost my older sister three years ago to pancreatic cancer.  I miscarried a very wanted baby girl two years ago. And my sweet five-year-old started kindergarten.  And if you think that last one isn’t quite the same as the first two, you’re right in some ways, but my son is autistic and he went from a very small loving preschool program to the New York school system in a bigger class, with all new teachers and kids.  To say I was worried and feeling lost was an understatement.  
I wasn’t dealing with things well after last September.  We had just moved and although I loved our new apartment and neighborhood, I was feeling sad all the time.  I managed my day job okay (I work from home) but I just wasn’t feeling it.  I did the work but wasn’t happy.  I cried a lot, watched too much Netflix, and ate nothing but crap.  I was depressed.  This has happened to me before.  Also, I have a history of binge eating – and I started to see myself creeping back toward those old habits and I didn’t want to go down that road again, so I recalled what I had done about 6-7 years ago and took action this time.  I started seeing a Nutritionist and a Therapist.


Yes…both, at the same time.  Why?  Because having support and help from multiple people is exactly what works for me.  This time, I delved into the serious loss I had felt over the last few years (I also lost extended family members in the past five years that I loved dearly), the loss of having my baby start Kindergarten, the general malaise and hurt feelings I’ve been holding on to for too many years about my career and lack thereof.  It took many months, but I can say I’m finally feeling like myself.  Happier, on the road to healthier, and I’m actually kicking butt on my goals.

The thing that both my nutritionist and my therapist have been instilling in me is Health at Every Size (for more info, click HERE and HERE) and Self-Care/Self-Love/Self-Acceptance.  Learning to love who I am, right now, right here today and not When I Get to Be a Perfect Size….because that’s BS and that attitude was holding me back.  I’ve been adding in self-care to my daily plans – reading time, planner time, showers (yes…when I get depressed or I start hating on myself showers go right out the window), facial masks, tea and cookies, and music, going to bed and getting sleep, etc.  I’ve also been working on Intuitive Eating and listening to my hunger and fullness cues.  That has been so hard, but I’m now starting to tell when I get hungry and I listen and ask questions – am I really hungry or thirsty?  When was the last time I ate?  What did I eat?  Was it filling?  What can I eat now to satisfy myself? How can I make things easier for myself?    If I start feeling hungry and I know I really shouldn’t be hungry, I think – what’s going on emotionally? Can I do something else instead of eating to help me feel better?  Sometimes the answer is NO and I go ahead and eat, giving myself permission to fully enjoy whatever I decided to partake in.  This keeps me from binging and feeling guilty for giving myself what my body is craving.

Along with the help of my nutritionist and therapist (and my family – shout out to Mom and Hubby and my cute son, for keeping me going when times were tough), I’ve started getting involved in the writing community online and I joined a Mastermind group that has been amazing.  The leader is big into Mindset and I’ve been doing a daily mindset practice for a few months now and I was ready to start up-leveling my life in a few areas – one being my fitness.  Yes, I love myself today just as I am, but I also knew that I needed to be able to walk up my stairs without feeling like I’m going to die, run around after my cute kid, and walk around Queens and get stuff done.  I sit all day for both my day job and my passion work so I needed something to help me get some exercise in and start feeling stronger.  Enter Nerd Fitness and Rising Heroes …it’s an extremely geeky online role-playing type game that helps you complete missions and earn points all centered around health, fitness, hobbies, your environment, and more. 

I created a code name – Caffeina (the Roman goddess of Coffee!), took the first self-assessment and was placed into a faction (like a Harry Potter house), joined a Squad and a Division and started walking, doing bodyweight exercise circuits, and drinking more water.  It’s only been two weeks but I’m really enjoying it.  It does cost money (I think I paid about $100 for the year) but their Facebook group is active, helpful, and funny.  The geeky online game and backstory is a bit over my head, but maybe I’ll get into it more once I complete all the beginning missions.
So…what do you do each day for self-care? Do you have a plan?  I try to jot down 5-6 things at the beginning of the week and then check them off as I do them.  Do you work out?  Do you enjoy it?  I’m still also doing my yoga, but I knew I needed some variety, some help, and I find I really enjoy the bodyweight circuits – I feel strong and all amazon goddess warrior type afterwards. 

Muddled Moments: Not Cooking with Gas

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Today, I’m starting another new series I’m starting on the blog called Muddled Moments – little slices of my life (that’s not necessarily related to writing) – today is about the lack of gas coming into our apartment building.
What happened?
So….a few weeks ago, right around the time of Career Day actually, there was some issue with the gas heading into our apartment building.  From what I’ve heard, the gas company was checking something or doing some work and they overloaded our pipes and a small pop-like explosion happened.  This didn’t cause any permanent damage, but the gas needed to be turned off immediately. So far, it hasn’t been turned back on to the apartments (it has been turned on to the water heater though so we can shower and do dishes).  Our management company felt bad since it wasn’t their fault, so they gave us a 2-burner hot plate. 
How will we cook?
We cook with a microwave, the hot plate, an electric kettle that my Mom gave us, our crockpot, and a toaster oven.  It’s been like cooking in a college dorm. Also, I’m not much of a chef, but I swear the last two weeks all I have wanted to do was bake.  Seriously, I keep dreaming about banana nut bread, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and all sorts of tasty treats that I can make, except that I can’t.   It’s been…tricky, but we have actually been managing fairly well.  We found some new crockpot recipes to try, some old favorites to pull up on Pinterest, and some new ways of cooking veggies and steaks. 
It affected the laundry room too?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: I started laundry one day, threw my two loads into the dryers and headed back upstairs.  I went down 30 minutes later and my clothes were still wet and cold.  Thinking that the dryer was just having an issue, I ran it for another 30 minutes….again, wet and really cold.  I finally called our super and found out that the dryers should not have been plugged in, as they were affected by the no gas.  Great!  I wound up at the apartment building across the street finishing up my clothes.  Fun day…NOT.  Lately, we’ve been using the laundromat pick-up and delivery service down the street.  It’s nice having the clothes come back home all clean, dry, and folded. 

This no gas thing has been interesting, to say the least, and has caused my husband and me to get really creative on meal planning. Do you have any favorite crock pot recipes?  Have you ever had to get creative with cooking due to an unplanned issue?  Isn’t apartment living the best?