Friends, I am so excited about this series!!! I loved hearing your guesses — everything from another round of Marvelous Mama to an extended personal finance guide (both of which sound marvelous, by the way) — but dare I say what we have planned is even better…? A month or two ago, I was searching on Nancy’s blog for something when I stumbled upon the “organization” series she wrote in 2014. I remembered loving the posts when they were originally written, but as I re-read them, it hit me how much her life had changed in the last four years! I thought about how I would love for her to revisit the same topics, and then realized that they dovetailed perfectly with the most-requested topic from my reader survey last year: rhythms, habits, and routines. How do I make space and time for what matters most in all areas of my life? How do I get things done? How do I do it??? Well, I most certainly do not have all the answers, but one thing I have been given is a confidence in the decisions we make for our family and a willingness to share them. So here we are! Nancy was totally game for a revisit when I proposed the idea to her, and what I love most about this is that throughout this series, you’ll get to hear from two people who have similar hearts but different ways of living them out. There is no one right way to do things! Instead of a prescription, we hope to offer you inspiration, ideas, tools, tips, and encouragement. I am so excited. I also have WAY too much to say on each topic and am already having to rein myself in, ha! Let’s start at the beginning: with time

Emily Ley is one of the loveliest friends I’ve met in my working life. I’ve long been a fan of her and her products, and am thrilled that she had me over to participate in her Simplicity Series! Go take a peek at my “pick six” – tips and tricks I use to add margin and meaning to my life. P.S. Have you purchased your 2015 Simplified Planner yet? I have a Weekly in my hot little hands (they’re sold out!) and am excited to start adding dates to it! P.P.S. I mention it in my post for Emily, but this is your yearly reminder to sign up for eBates, if you haven’t already! Earn some money on those online purchases, people!!

The first section in my planner is actually for Em for Marvelous. It’s pretty simple, as there’s really only one thing in it: my monthly blog planning sheets. Though they look like one of Emily Ley’s offerings (she has a fabulous free printable library!), I actually created them myself, because the one she offers didn’t mesh with my workflow. 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, Monday through Friday. I generally schedule posts in pencil as my posting schedule changes often (just look at my plan below!). 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. It’s funny — when I first started blogging, in college, more than five years ago (wow!), I tried to blog five days a week. I usually succeeded; my biggest problem was finding enough topics to blog about. Now, my problem is the opposite — I have more than enough things I want to write about, but not nearly as much time as I’d like to do so! At least having a place to store ideas until they can see the light of day makes me feel a bit better about my erratic posting schedule. This system has worked great for more than a year now — I hope y’all find it helpful, too! Click here to download the EFM Blog Planning

I ordered my Emily Ley Simplified Planner last September. Over the last year, t’s become an essential part of our household, so I thought I’d give you a little tour! But first, a brief note on nomenclature: Emily has changed her product offerings in the last year, so what was known as the Simplified Planner is now being marketed as the Simplified Life Binder (I like the pool stripes in the new version!). If you’re interested in a more traditional day planner, that’s the job of the new Simplified Planner. I have to say, I think this change-up is a good move on her part, because as you’ll see, it’s much closer to how our family uses this product! Along with the Simplified Planner itself, I started with Emily’s monthly calendar pages, tabbed dividers from the Martha Stewart line at Staples, and some of Martha’s lined paper (my favorite — very thin lines in a pretty turquoise color). In our house, Emily’s binder is command central. It travels to and from work with me every day, and when I get home, I generally set it on the bar in our kitchen so John and I can both access it. Currently, we have sections for our calendar, Em for Marvelous, meal planning, household maintenance, and the community garden I work with. As you can see, not all the tabs are marked, because some sections are still awaiting a final purpose! Each of the dividers has a pretty reminder taped to the front: This one is courtesy of the lovely Kelly Cummings. I love flipping open the cover and seeing it greet me every day! One of the main reasons I choose to use a paper calendar instead of an electronic one is that it is most helpful to me to see