It feels so good to be back on my planning BS again. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a planning class or Facebook video about it. So today I’m here to share more details about the workshop I’m teaching at the Be Bright Conference #BRIGHTNEWYOU and sharing some info about my latest favorite hack for productivity.

Be Bright Babes is a group that puts on conferences and events to make you feel like the total boss you are. They’re passionate about bringing women together and letting them all shine. Their conferences feature incredible keynote speakers, yummy food, great swag, and breakout sessions to learn things you’ve always yearned to know (flower arranging, meal planning, how to make the perfect Instagram flatlay, parenting strategies, and yes, even planning if you’re into that kind of thing).

#BRIGHTNEWYOU is happening Saturday February 23rd from 1-10 pm at Noah’s Event Center in Lindon. For the opening keynote we get to hear from the badass therapist and intuitive eating advocate Tiffany Roe, and the closing keynote is brand designer Heidi Swapp! In between these speakers you will get to select your own breakout sessions from 11 other presenters (myself included!!!). You can check out the whole lineup here and start figuring out which ones you want to attend – maybe a small business workshop? How to do PR for yourself? Physical training? Positive parenting? A class from a Cake Wars winner? Is there a “all of the above” box to check? \

BUT THE BEST PART is the dance party!!! I can’t wait I love making a fool of myself. You can buy a ticket for the conference which gets you all of the speakers and the dance party, or you can buy a ticket for just the dance party.

There is a flash sale for today (Monday January 21st) only – 50% off! That means you can get conference tickets for $50 or dance party tickets for $20!! Drop my name in at checkout and please come join me! I’m a little nervous about doing my first conference workshop so I’d really love to see some friendly faces. And I already have a nice girl gang ready to groove at the dance party, so join it. You won’t be alone. Grab your tickets today before midnight and come learn some stuff to make 2019 your best year yet.

NOW, finally. Here’s my latest planning/productivity hack. I have started alarming the sh*t out of my life. I’ve used alarms on and off throughout my life. I mean, I was a teacher so alarms have run my life since like kindergarten. Alarms are important. They can help us shape our time and stop when we need to.

Also it is the year of our Lord two thousand and nineteen and you should not be late to everything in your life. You have alarms and you have Google that tells you how many minutes away your predicted destination is so seriously, you can do this.

I’ve always been pretty good about setting alarms to get out of places on time. If I have an hour to kill at Target, I set an alarm. If I’ve decided not to stay too late at a girls’ night, I set an alarm. otherwise I’d talk until everyone was asleep.

But one of our goals is to get on a better nighttime routine/schedule. We often find ourselves downstairs when the girls get cranky and we realize OH WOW IT’S 11 PM WTF???? Alarms will save the day. I set a recurring alarm for 8:50 pm titled “GET UPSTAIRS” so we can wrap up, be upstairs by 9, bathed by 9:30, optional music time if they don’t ruin our lives, and asleep (well, at least in their room) by 10 pm.

I set a recurring alarm for M/W/F for preschool pickup.

I set a recurring alarm each morning for 8:30, an hour before the girls wake up, so I can get in scripture study. And I only turn it off like twice a week.

I set an alarm every Wednesday to send around my weekly RS email.

Tuesdays for the trash to go out.

A daily reminder for nap time (because I’m sick of just waiting until Loney goes 0-60 on me).

Automating your schedule with alarms may feel like high school. And it should. Do you remember how much you got done in high school? 8 classes, lunch, sports, dances, drama, illegally downloading music on limewire… how did we find time to do it all? Bells, teachers, and parents were our alarms.

I’m also using alarms to get myself to do stuff I don’t want. Set an alarm for 15 minutes (Hey, Alexa!) and clean that kitchen. I bet you can do anything for 15 minutes.

And I set alarms for things I really want to do, so I don’t lose an hour down a particularly strange internet rabbit hole about Fantastic Beasts fan theories. Before you sit down with that perfect new book (this feels almost like blasphemy to even say), set an alarm so you don’t find yourself reading until 3 am and ruining tomorrow. I mean, I’ve done that and NOT regretted it but I’ve also done that AND regretted it. So. Do you.

ALARMS.

It’s not breaking news, but if you can get in the habit you can really start to take control of your schedule. There are so many demands on our time. Get in the drivers seat. Kind of. Make that annoying chirp the boss of you and watch how much more you can get done!