Laura Knobel“I think women are especially hard on themselves because we expect to do it all…and do it well. The liveWELL planner is unique in that we aren’t just selling a planner—we are trying to help empower women to feel good about their days.” Tonya Dalton, Owner of inkWELL Press in Asheville, N.C. knows the value of organizing life in a way that doesn’t overwhelm, and believes that it all starts with the right planner.
I agree.
I’ve never been the most organized person in the world (in fact, most would probably describe me as a little addicted to coffee and a lot frazzled). Call me old-fashioned, but there’s something about a paper schedule and to-do list that help me keep track of all the tasks, meetings, and reminders that are spinning around in my brain. As you can imagine, I’ve gone through more than my fair share of yearly planners—sometimes more than one a year, when it didn’t meet all of my needs.
Then, I found it. The liveWELL planner from inkWELL Press has exceeded my expectations. Dalton describes her planner as “a marriage of design and function,” and I couldn’t have said it better myself. When I opened the package, I was taken aback by the gorgeous cover design (mine is the “Wood Chevron” style), gold foil customization (I went with my newly-married initials), thick paper (which doesn’t bleed through) and beautiful graphic design. But this planner is more than just a pretty face.
Inside are pages to list important dates, daily meal, fitness, and household task boxes, and sections for planning vacations, making lists of books and movies I’m interested in, and more. It also comes in two styles so customers can choose the structure that works best for their lifestyle—the vertical “Classic,” which plans your day in hour long increments, and the horizontal “Flex” which has open boxes each day for writing in tasks or the occasional meeting. Weekly and monthly Notes sections allow me to make lists, take note of my husband’s work schedule, practice daily gratitude, or just doodle.
My favorite feature of the liveWELL planner is how it intuitively guides you through the process of designing a purposeful life. We are most likely to achieve big goals when we break them up into smaller, easily reachable goals that contribute to our long-term success. My new planner is already helping me hold myself more accountable and establish habits that I’m confident will lead to triumph this December, not regret. First, the one-page yearly goals sheet forced me to prioritize and consider what big things I wanted to accomplish in 2015, in several categories. Then, the monthly Mission Board page allows me to set short-term expectations that benefit my long-term success in these parts of my life.
Sound overwhelming? Never fear. What makes inkWELL Press unique is the series of short videos that arrive to your email inbox leading up to, and shortly following, the arrival of your new life planner. Dalton personally introduces you to the format, includes a downloadable worksheet to help you prioritize, and shares unique ideas for making the planner your own. Over the course of a couple of weeks, you set up your planner to function the way you need. Meanwhile, you join a community of women who are ambitious, friendly, and supportive by using #inkwellpressplanner and #IWPsetup on Instagram.
Overall, inkWELL Press is a friendly company with integrity, and my liveWELL planner has inspired me to live deliberately. As Dalton so eloquently stated,
“Sitting down, setting goals and writing out your plans really can empower women to feel like they did accomplish a lot in their day. There’s something to be said about that feeling of satisfaction.”
Whatever your methods, I encourage you to take some time this January to reflect on what you want to achieve this year. Try not to focus on resolutions; rather, consider what gives you “that feeling of satisfaction” and how you will seek it out. It may be closing a book after reading the perfect final page, finding twenty minutes a day to take a walk and get lost in your own thoughts, or seeing your savings jar fill up with pocket change. Ultimately, celebrating these small joys throughout the year will cultivate a lot of happiness come December—and that’s something to plan on.