Possibility in every day, purpose in every to-do, and empowerment in every decision—that is the Ponderlily way. We take pride in helping you answer the question: how can I make space for meaning? And our planners are intentionally designed to facilitate your quest. I’m sharing the 6 powerful approaches to planning that will change your life.
Let’s be real, Lovely. Between jobs, appointments, families, fur babies, projects and schedules, some days real meaning can feel a bit out of reach.
Unless—we have a system in place to ensure we give time and space to the things that keep us inspired, motivated and living in our purpose.
Being intentional about making time for the most important things in your life is a game changer. It makes sense when you think about it: When you plan your time, you have more of it to do the things that really matter.
One planner, 12 months, and 6 powerful approaches to help you create a meaningful life. I invite you to start using these now to find joy in every day, from work to weekend.
PRIORITIES
If planning is anything, it is personal. Especially when it comes to priorities. But whether your priorities are more personal, professional or all over the map—getting clear on them is a must.
When we identify our top priorities, we get things out of our heads and organised onto paper. In both our professional and personal lives, we will often have multiple priorities and goals for the day jumbling around in our heads, and being able to write it all down in an orderly way can help us visualise what we have to achieve and the best way to go about it.
While there are certainly other important types of lists to help you get organised, identifying our priorities has major benefits. It declutters your mind, in turn reducing your stress levels. Priorities help us establish boundaries with our time, which is vitally important in both our professional and personal lives.
No doubt, your priorities will change season to season, week to week, even day to day. But the one priority that should never change: making time for you.
Which brings us to our second of the 6 powerful approaches to planning that will change your life.
RECHARGE
I know you’ve heard it many times before, but it still rings true: if you don’t put your oxygen mask on first, you can’t help anybody—especially yourself! You simply can’t do the things you want to do if you are not filling up your cup and taking care of yourself.
It is imperative that you restore your energy often. In fact, here at Ponderlily, we think it’s just as important, if not more important, than the appointments on your agenda. As the saying goes: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
That’s why we created space in our planners for you to recharge and stay connected to who you are, so when you take on tomorrow, you’re ready to put your best foot forward again.
Because the truth is, if you don’t take good care of your mind, body and spirit, then you’ll likely find yourself struggling to take care of your goals.
Recharging is about getting back to yourself and what makes you feel like you. That could look like reading a good book in the quiet of your garden, making time to exercise before you start your workday or scheduling time to reconnect with friends over the phone or over brunch. It’s different for all of us, but these energy-generating activities help us to recharge our “batteries” and re-enter our work and family spaces with more zest and vitality.
POSITIVE HABITS
Dr. Mike Murdoch said: “You don’t decide your future you decide your habits, and your habits decide your future.”
Whether we like it or not, who we are becoming is largely being determined by what we are doing. And more pointedly, the things we are doing over and over again. And because our passion here at Ponderlily is to help you become the person you know you’re meant to be, we make space for tracking positive habits in our planners.
Habits are powerful—and can compound positive or negative effects. They can make you happier, set your entire day on the right track, and they can increase your productivity. And that’s just the beginning.
Anything you practice on a routine basis can have a dramatic impact on your life. And it only takes a few intentional habits to make a difference. When I started implementing a morning routine that worked in and around my life—it was a game-changer.
With two small children, I was never able to achieve a solid two-hour morning routine, complete with meditation, intentions, exercise, and breakfast—ALL before work began. It just wasn’t realistic for me. So I created habits that work for my life.
Now my morning routine happens in segments, throughout the morning. They are little touchpoints that incrementally help me start and get organised for the day.
So embrace positive habits—but make them work for you and your life! Making them stick is the whole point.
GRATITUDE
In spite of all the popularity that a ‘gratitude practice’ has garnered in the last decade, it remains so much more than just a good habit. Gratitude can transform your life in near-miraculous ways.
It changes your outlook on life and induces positive feelings. When we channel our gratitude toward others, it improves our relationships. When we can find gratitude towards someone we care about, it encourages collaboration and empathy. Gratitude instantly shifts your perspective which can help you feel more energised and productive.
And most importantly, gratitude brings us back to the present moment. And when we’re present, we generally experience less stress.
It only takes jotting down a short list of things you’re grateful for to have an immediate effect. In fact, keeping it simple is one of my best tips for boosting your gratitude practice. We can practise gratitude simply by thinking or speaking what we are grateful for.
Or we can feel gratitude deep within by feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, the smell of rain or fresh air, the giggle of a child, the completion of a big project. Whatever it is, allow it to fill your mind—and your planner.
CELEBRATE
It seems like an obvious practice, but celebrating our achievements, milestones, and wins is highly underrated. And when we don’t take the time to properly acknowledge what we’ve accomplished, we miss out on enjoying the reward. We undervalue all the hard work it took to get there.
I’m a big proponent of celebrating things—big and small. Like gratitude, it can energise and motivate you. It makes you want more celebration, which in turn increases your productivity. That’s why we make space in our planners for intentional celebration.
So take just five minutes at the end of your day, and write down three accomplishments, wins or tasks you were able to complete. And celebrate them! It could be something as simple as “sent that email that’s been hanging over my head” or “made progress on my top priority project.”
Whether it’s monumental or incremental, all of our achievements bring us closer to the person we want to be. And that, my friend, is always worth celebrating.
SUSTAIN
The previous five approaches ALL lead up to this one very important element: sustain.
If your daily and weekly habits and routines don’t sustain you day to day, season to season—then they aren’t working. And if you cycle through waves of burnout year to year, you need a new system. One that prioritises your well-being and your purpose so that you can be productive in the things that matter to you—for the long term.
At Ponderlily, we not only design our planners to sustain your life, but also the life of our planet. Everything we consume comes at a price—whether a financial cost, a cost to the environment, or a cost to us energetically. Making sustainable choices might seem like a trendy marketing ploy to get us to spend more money, but in reality, being eco-friendly is essential for our own health, as well as the health of the planet.
That’s why we approach sustainability from three different angles: in production at the binder, in our packaging, and through our transport. We choose partners with environmentally-sound manufacturing practices and supplies, and our products are eco-friendly from cover to cover.
When sending products to you, our packaging presentation was carefully designed and considered to only include what is absolutely necessary, on purpose; back to basics without losing the finesse of a luxury look and feel.
We’re not only environmentally conscious, but also mindful of creating planners that can be used sustainably by you. What this means is that you won’t have another planner stacked up on your bookshelf or under a pile of papers on your desk that is forgotten about after a month or two. Our planners are designed to be a long term choice for keeping track of your to-do list, but also empowering you to use that to-do list to be the person you were meant to be in this moment.
At Ponderlily, we’ve closely studied productivity and what is required to foster an environment of true productivity and meaning. With this knowledge, we aimed to redesign and reinvent how people organise their lives.
In our planners, you’ll find space for putting your goals and aspirations on the agenda; road maps where you can fill out hopes and dreams that set you up for success. You’ll have daily spaces to record your to-do’s and to-done’s, as well as extra prompts to allow you to dream, find gratitude, and live a life filled with intention and meaning.
And that’s what makes us—and our planning approach—different.
I hope you’ll take some time today to prioritise, recharge, practise positive habits, find gratitude and celebrate.
Ponderlily is dedicated to supporting you with beautiful, functional, and empowering planners and journals while also meeting the needs of the environment.
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