Update: a winner (Cassi!) has been chosen and emailed! Thank you all again for participating!

This is the first Tuesday in two months without a How We Do It series installment! (Sniff, sniff!)

How We Do It covered such a wide range of topics — some of the most dear to my heart. The posts served as an overview of sorts to Em for Marvelous, and so with that lead-in, today seems like the perfect opportunity to give you the chance to respond!

I ask your opinion because to be honest, I feel so incredibly lucky to have you all as readers. Like, what the heck?! You guys chime in all the time in the age of crickets in the comment section, ha! I’m not sure what I did to deserve that, but I sincerely treasure each one of you who stops by, reads, and joins the conversation. I would write even if no one was listening, but you ladies make it wayyyyy more fun :)

So if you have a moment, please consider taking the short survey below… I’m so curious, and would love to hear from you!! Then, leave a comment below to be entered to win a $50 Airbnb gift card OR a $50 Amazon gift card – your choice. I’ll draw and email a winner next Tuesday, March 20!

Update! Cassi W. is our lovely winner and has been emailed! Thank you all SO much for sharing feedback with me!

Create your own user feedback survey

Finally, to make the commenting more interesting (and so I can get to know YOU a little better!), here are four questions I’d love for you to answer after you’ve taken the survey, if you’re so inclined:

The best book you’ve read recently:
What you’re eating for breakfast these days:
The next place you’d love to travel in the United States:
What you are most looking forward to about spring:

I will answer in the comments, too. Thank you in advance, friends! xo!

When Nancy wrote the original organization series back in 2014 that inspired this one, her Spiritual Life post was what sealed the deal for me. As a lifelong Christian who still feels like a beginner in so many ways, it was SO HELPFUL to read very specific details about what her faith life looked like on a day-to-day basis. Beginner though I may still be, I hope that today’s post can help pay the gift Nancy gave me forward, four years down the line!

To catch up any new folks: Nancy Ray and I are writing an eight-part series every Tuesday in January and February covering “how we do it” in eight different areas: the rhythms, habits, and routines that help us get things done and make the space and time for what matters most. You can read more of the backstory here.

As a Christian, organization in my spiritual life is by far the most important area we’ve touched on in this series. My natural inclination is to choose the path of least resistance, to opt for the lazy version, and to prioritize the wrong things. The easier I can make it for myself to choose the right things — to choose Jesus — on a daily basis, the better. Today I’m humbly submitting a few things that have worked for me:

1. Evening quiet time. My best time with the Lord and in the Word comes before going to sleep, curled up in bed. I usually begin by praying as I do some gentle stretches on top of the covers (helps me keep my mind focused!), then move into one of a few practices. I love using my Write the Word journal because it encourages me to roam around the Bible and not get stuck in one section. I use the “on my heart section” to reflect on a way I saw God moving that day. If I’m working through a particular book or section, I’ll use my prayer journal (just a blank notebook) to write out a favorite verse from what I read, then write out a short prayer. Then, I’ll spend another few minutes praying before cracking open whatever book I’m reading. Which brings me to…

2. Reading great books. There are some incredible teachers out there, and I have learned things from them that might never have become clear to me in any other way! First and foremost, C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity was faith-changing for me — so much so that I try to re-read it every year to soak in more of his wisdom. If you’ve never read it, please, please do, whether or not you’d consider yourself a Christian! Other favorites: The Meaning of Marriage, The Lifegiving Home, Too Busy Not to Pray, You and Me Forever, For the Love, 7, Love Does, and Crazy Love. I usually read a faith-based book at least every other month.

3. Attending church. The weekly rhythm of worshipping with other believers is so important for me personally. Not only is it an act of submitting my time to God (even and especially when I think I have a better way to spend it), but it’s a set aside time to listen for Him, to take communion, to encourage others in their faith walks, and to sing out some praise!

We also make a point to go to church when we’re traveling whenever possible, including this pretty one below! In addition to maintaining a weekly rhythm, it can be so energizing to see how another body does things, and also to take ideas back to your home church. There are a few messages we heard on the road years ago that John and I still talk about!

4. Listening to great sermons. In addition to our own church, John and I listen to sermons from a handful of incredible pastors around the country (and even across the pond). We listen to Adam Hamilton’s sermon almost every week (usually streaming live as we’re eating lunch on Sunday), and even after literally nine years of listening to him I still feel like I learn something every time and leave challenged to change something in my life. Highly, highly recommended, especially if you are newer to faith or curious. We also really like Darren Whitehead from Church of the City in Nashville.

5. Spending time with other believers. I’ve written about this a bit before, but moving to the South was life-changing for us in many ways, not the least of which being the way it changed our relationship with our faith. For really the first time, we were regularly and intimately doing life with people that were way farther ahead in their faith than us, and who lived it out as a crucial and foundational part of their daily life. I cannot understate how much I have learned and grown from these people, whether by listening to them pray, talking through scripture with them, or watching as they wrestle with a circumstance in their life.

I still so clearly remember the first time Nancy told me she would pray for something for me, and then she proceeded to list out the very specific ways she was going to do so (i.e. I’ll pray for skill for your doctor, wisdom and clarity as you make decisions, and peace for your heart). My mind was blown! I’m sure this seems so basic to some, but it was revolutionary to me, as I had never heard someone talk about prayer in that way before. I am always learning from those around me.

6. Filling my mind with scripture. In addition to reading the Bible, we keep verses and good words close at hand and around our house, weaving them visually into the fabric of our family. When I’m faced with a challenge or question (or a joy!), I want a scriptural message to spring first to my mind, and that means becoming deeply familiar with the word. We have verses pinned to our fridge, framed on shelves, hung on our walls, and rotated out on our letterboard, to name a few. We also wear them, thanks to Walk in Love! My favorite piece of art is the Lindsay Letters fruit of the spirit canvas we just hung in our master bath – I love that it is one of the first things I see every morning!

7. Tithing. As people who are passionate about personal finance and filled with big dreams for our future, it would be so easy to go off the rails in this area. Tithing is one way we keep the first things first, reminding ourselves that everything that we have has been entrusted to us, and that we are simply the caretakers, tasked with doing the most good with what we have been given. Though I know the money we bring goes out into the world and does a lot of good, I honestly feel that the act of tithing is so important that I’d need to do it even if I just dumped the money into a hole every week. But I’m glad we don’t :)

8. Praying as a family. One of the best things that came out of my “year of prayer” last year was taking turns offering an extemporaneous blessing over dinner. As someone who grew up in a household reciting a standard blessing each night, this was a big step outside my comfort zone, but it opened the door to so much more, including blessings before each meal (except when we forget, which definitely legitimately still happens!), praying with June before bed, and praying together through our most extreme circumstances, both good and bad.

I’ll end by saying that of all the topics in this series, I most hope that if I were to rewrite this post in a year or five years or ten years, it would look totally different. I still have SO much to learn and so much discipline to cultivate, and for me, there’s no more important area of personal growth. If every year I can look back and say I trusted more, loved more, listened more, read more, prayed more, and acted more than the year before, I’ll be satisfied.

So friends, help a girl out: What’s one thing that’s bringing you closer to God these days? I would love to hear!

P.S. Don’t miss Nancy’s post today! I can’t wait to read her freshened-up perspective :)

The rest of the series:
Time: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Finances: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Home: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Personal Lives: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Work: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Relationships: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Kids: Em’s post and Nancy’s post

Work is not something I talk about often on Em for Marvelous, so hopefully this installment of How We Do It will be an interesting glimpse into another facet of my life, one which many of us have in common!

To catch up any new folks: Nancy Ray and I are writing an eight-part series every Tuesday in January and February covering “how we do it” in eight different areas: the rhythms, habits, and routines that help us get things done and make the space and time for what matters most. You can read more of the backstory here.

Let me begin by saying I love my job, and I feel incredibly, incredibly lucky to have it. There are a number of reasons for this, but here are a few:

1. I find my work deeply meaningful. It’s personally meaningful to me, and I can directly see the positive impact my work has on other people’s lives, adding meaning to theirs. My work is one powerful way I’m able to share the gifts — the unique personality traits, the skills, the experiences — that God has entrusted to me.
2. I work for an amazing company. It’s a small business, and I have an impact on the decisions it makes, the direction it takes, and the opportunities it pursues. I have autonomy in how I structure my days, I feel valued, and I earn a steady income. As someone with an entrepreneurial heart and drive but little interest in owning my own business, this company is a perfect fit.
3. I love the ladies with whom I work. They are kind, they are smart, they are fun and funny, and they are passionate. Did you ever have the experience in school where you hated group projects because you always just wanted to do everything yourself instead of entrusting things to other group members? (Both hands raised!) Well, I never feel like that at work, and it’s something I still don’t take for granted! It’s incredible to work on a team where you trust everyone else will do their work just as well as you would, if not better.

I know my situation is unique, and again, I feel incredibly lucky. It’s one reason why I never seriously considered quitting my job altogether when June was born. I knew if I were to let go of it, there was no guarantee that I could ever find anything like it again when I wanted to reenter the workforce, say, when she was in elementary school.

I did, however, make a few adjustments when she came along, and they’ve made it so much easier to be both a mama and a team member. I now work a shortened day, from 9 to 4. I also work from home three days a week. To be clear, June still goes to school on those days, but since her school is literally two minutes from our house, we don’t skip a beat in the afternoons, and we still have time to play outside, go on an adventure, and get dinner on the table without feeling rushed or stressed (usually!).

As our family grows and kiddos get older, I’m grateful that further flexibility is a possibility, whether that means working 8 to 3 to match elementary school hours or cutting back to four days a week to accommodate the growing complexity of multiple kiddos and activities. Again, part of the reason that flexibility is a possibility is because of my longevity and loyalty to my company (I’ve worked there nine years!), and the equity I’ve built – something younger readers might want to keep in mind as you consider the shape of your career :)

Someone asked in my survey last year how I keep my work feeling fresh after having the same job for so long. The answer is in part everything I described above, and the other half is that, working for a small company, things are always changing whether I like it or not! (And y’all know I like stability!) In my tenure, we’ve grown from 3 to 9 team members, and the ways we do business, the ways we generate revenue, and even the structure of the company itself have changed drastically. That keeps you on your toes!! My role has also changed significantly over the years, which has led to plenty of opportunity for growth and learning.

So that’s a little bit about how I integrate my work and home life. Now, here are a few strategies I use for staying organized at work:

1. When I’m at work, I have child care. This is without a doubt the thing that makes being a mama and a team member sustainable and enjoyable. Though I am grateful to have the flexibility to work from home when June is sick or home from school on the odd holiday I don’t have off, I kind of hate working while she is at home — for me, it’s the only time when I feel like I’m failing as both a mama and an employee. When I’m with her, I’m all-in, and when I’m at work, I’m all-in — and confident that she is having so much fun with her friends and sweet teachers at preschool! This does not come cheap (gracious, no), but the peace of mind is worth every penny.
2. I try to use a one-touch email system. That means I’m okay with letting emails sit unread for hours or sometimes even days, but once I open them, I make an immediate decision and get them out of my inbox. That eliminates the time wasted of diving back into the parameters of a decision or situation multiple times without solving it and moving on. I also take advantage of Gmail canned responses whenever possible. Those things are lifesavers!
3. I use Asana to stay organized. Asana is a project management system, and our team is a bit obsessed with it. We implemented it about two years ago, and though it sounds cliched, I’m really not sure how we got anything done before we did. Not only does it help multiple team members contribute to and stay up to date on each project, but we have taken the time to document “process templates” for everything we routinely do, whether that’s writing a blog post, planning a photo shoot, or hiring a new team member. Each time I’m faced with a task, I just plug in the steps and follow them instead of starting from scratch each time, potentially overlooking something important.

4. I use Pomodoros in especially busy seasons. Usually the day to day rhythm of work is enough to keep me focused, but if it’s crunch time or I’m feeling extra distracted or frazzled, I’ll use the Pomodoro technique. Basically, I set a timer for 25 minutes, and then put my head down and work without interruption until the timer goes off – no email checking (unless the task I’m working on is email!), no Instagram checking, no getting up for a snack, etc. When the timer goes off, I set another for five minutes, when I can do anything I want – stretch my legs, check my personal email, respond to text messages, etc. Then, it’s back to another 25-minute stretch, and so on and so forth. Those little distractions can really add up, and I’ve found this technique a great way to curb them.
5. I use my PowerSheets to track my goals. I generally set quarterly versus yearly goals for my role, and my PowerSheets are a great way to continually be reminded of them (which is more than half the battle for making progress!). I keep them open to my tending list on my desk – a peek at February’s below!

6. I use a social media planner for loose scheduling. Sharing on my personal platforms is part of my job, and this simple doc I designed helps me keep track of what should be said when. There’s lots of flexibility here, but it’s a helpful guide in busier seasons! If you’d like to try it yourself, you can download it here.
7. I keep a generic background image on my laptop. This might be the weirdest tip :) But I find if I have, say, a family photo as my desktop background, feelings of sadness or distraction might creep in every time I closed a window – or, at least, I’d be jolted out of one world into another. I do have framed family photos on my actual desk, and I’m not sure why I feel differently about those, but I do. My pretty sky scene is also a neutral backdrop that offers breathing space instead of adding to visual and mental clutter. (And on that note, I try to keep just 1-3 icons on my home screen at any one time, always including my To Do List Word doc :))
8. If there’s something I need to bring with me the next day, I put it in the car the night before. Guys, this is such a simple tip, but it has been huge (HUGE!!) for me. I’ll talk a bit more about getting everyone out the door in the morning in the upcoming Kiddos post, but this small step is one key. Need to bring styling items, a book, a piece of clothing, or a box to mail? They’re rounded up, walked to the garage, and placed in the car the night before. I can’t count the number of times I’ve raced around in the morning collecting things I needed for the day, or worse, gotten something ready the night before and then left it sitting on the counter. This simple habit eliminates both.

I’ll finish by adding just a few notes about Em for Marvelous organization. Even though it is not my job (I make about $15-20 per month on affiliate links, and that money goes to cover hosting and web development costs, not our mortgage!), I approach it quite seriously. Posts take at the quickest half an hour to write, and at the lengthiest, six-plus hours over multiple days. I generally write on weekday evenings after June is in bed, and sometimes while she is napping on the weekends.

The most important tool I use to stay organized is the blog planning sheet I created several years ago. This is far and away one of my most pinned posts, so I’m glad y’all have found it helpful over the years, too! My goal was to create a place to both brainstorm post ideas for each month as well as to schedule those ideas throughout the month. The top section has blank lines, and ideas get crossed off once their posts have been completed. The bottom portion is a blank calendar. I try to keep sheets for the next six months or so printed out so I can jot down season-specific ideas as they come to me.

I recently updated the PDF to include the nine most popular EFM topics (voted by y’all in my last survey!) in the brainstorming section to help me plan content that covers a wide variety of topics. I’ve loved this update, but y’all can still download the original sheet here.

I’d love to hear: What helps you stay organized at work, whatever work might look like for you? Share in the comments, if you’d like – I love learning from you all! And don’t forget to check out Nancy’s post for a business owner and all-around awesome person’s perspective. Thanks for being so wonderful, friends!

The rest of the series:
Time: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Finances: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Home: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Personal Lives: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Work: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Relationships: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Kids: Em’s post and Nancy’s post

Affiliate links are used in this post! Pink shirt photo by Ally & Bobby, June photo by Katelyn James, and bulletin board photo by Ally & Bobby. Do you like that I’m wearing the same shirt in two different photos from two different occasions? :)

Here we go: week four! Today’s topic is how we handle organization in our personal lives. This could cover a wide range of things, so I’m curious to see what angle Nancy is going to take! :)

To catch up any new gals: Nancy Ray and I are writing an eight-part series every Tuesday in January and February covering “how we do it” in eight different areas: the rhythms, habits, and routines that help us get things done and make the space and time for what matters most. You can read more of the backstory here.

I wanted to start by talking about social media. I promised I would share some of my boundaries in my first How We Do It post, and I’m following through, even though it makes me a little nervous! The reason I’m apprehensive to share is that, similar to my “no” list, even if I take great pains to emphasize that these are choices I have made solely for myself based on my own unique set of circumstances, it’s easy to infer that I somehow disapprove of different choices others make.

Friends, that’s not the case. I want to share because I think I have chosen a bit of a different path, and it’s one that works for me. I am well aware other people have other beliefs, needs, mission statements, and even callings surrounding social media that lead them to make different choices. But, if there’s something within the way I do things that might inspire one of you to think differently or make your own tweak, that’s worth it to me!

I have two Instagram accounts. I opened them at the same time, in 2012 when I began using the platform. One is public, and one is private. (I’m focusing on Instagram because my Twitter and Facebook use are pretty non-existent and Pinterest is just a handy storage spot for me, not somewhere I spend much time!)

The public one (snapshot above) has several thousand followers — mostly people I’ve never met. That is an important point, as most of what I’m going to say below is most pertinent if you, too, have an account followed by strangers (even kind ones!).

The private one has 59 followers, about half of whom are related to me (the rest I would consider my closest friends).

I follow 39 people on the private account (all friends and fam) and 50 on the public one (mostly friends and fam plus about 16 brands or people I don’t know).

Why am I sharing those numbers? My first boundary is that I don’t follow too many people, and I try hard not to follow people who make me feel less-than, covetous, or jealous. I mostly stick to following people who are already in my life and who inspire me!

I chose to have two accounts long before I had a child, so even though I know that’s why most people choose to split their accounts, that was not my primary motivation. (I like sharing a mix of work and home life with y’all!) My split was more about time and expectations.

A snapshot of my private account

During the work day, I’m signed into my public account, and when I leave work, I sign into my private one. Here’s the biggest difference between the two: there are probably 4-5 new posts per day to look at on my private one, as opposed to 20-30 on my public one. There’s just no draw to be checking constantly when at home, because I know there won’t be any new posts!

Similarly, when I post something on my private account say, on a Saturday afternoon, I can post it and go about my business without feeling a need to check back and monitor it to answer questions, gauge the reaction, etc., because there are so few followers (one reason I so strictly limit the number of folks who follow that account). There’s a different level of expectation with my public account. And that’s great — when I’m at work, I have the time to monitor posts and chat with folks, as that is part of my role’s responsibility.

Whew! You with me? :) Honestly, it kind of feels a bit trivial and silly to share all of that (especially since most of these guidelines are pertinent for those who have a public following of some size, and I know that’s not the case for everyone), but when I think about how much angst social media can cause us, perhaps it’s not. Any little tweak that can make it a more positive and less draining aspect of our lives is worth sharing, I hope!

Again, if we have different boundaries, PLEASE don’t feel the need to explain yourself to me!! You do you, girl! :) If you’re comfortable with where you’re at, that’s all that matters to me.

Okay, moving on! The main way I stay organized with all the things on a daily basis is – wait for it – the most old school and basic Word doc on my laptop! Ha! It’s divided into a few sections:

— To Do Today: currently includes “make LL Bean return,” “buy LOVE stamps” (they’re so pretty and I want to stock up!), “order Super Bowl wings,” “buy baby shower gift for Jackie,” and more – there are 18 items on it at the moment
— To Do Soon: things to do in the next few weeks
— Later: things I don’t want to forget but that aren’t of immediate concern

On really busy weeks, I’ll sometimes split out the “to do today” section into “to do today,” “to do tomorrow,” “to do Thursday,” etc.

In addition, I use this same doc to keep track of all sorts of other things, like potential posts for EFM, Etsy orders on deck, and my passwords. (I know that’s not the safest, but it is what it is at the moment!)

I’ve written about my love for the iPhone Notes app before, and it’s still going strong! This incredibly simple and incredibly handy widget helps me seem more together than I am and be a more thoughtful person than I would be otherwise :) A few of my favorite lists: restaurants to try, books to read, books read in 2018, John gift ideas, our chore division, and the food preferences of our friends and family. I also love the Emily Ley tip of starting each list with three corresponding emojis to keep things neat and aesthetically pleasing.

I keep lists that I don’t update so often in Google Docs. Examples include our Christmas card address log, my spreadsheet of Christmas gifts for family and friends, our master packing list for trips, our camping packing list, and my list of favorite excerpts and quotes.

I’m still working on a better and more complete system for organizing our personal photos (a huge goal for this year!). I purchased Nancy’s guide and am on my way, but in the meantime, there is one thing we have down pat. Every January, I order 48 4×4 prints from Social Print Studio – our favorites from the past year. 24 go on the bulletin board in our kitchen, and the rest go into a dish on our coffee table with prints from the last five years. June LOVES looking through them, as do guests!

I’ll leave it there for today! It was hard to know just what to tackle in this post, so if there’s something you’re curious about, don’t hesitate to ask! And don’t forget to check out Nancy’s post here! Thanks for being so wonderful, friends.

The rest of the series:
Time: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Finances: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Home: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Personal Lives: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Work: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Relationships: Em’s post and Nancy’s post
Kids: Em’s post and Nancy’s post

Affiliate links are used in this post!