organization Archives - My Inner Shakti

Review – 2020 Passion Planner

First and foremost, it may sound like it, but this post is not sponsored in any way. I found and bought this planner on my own. I love it so much (already!) that I just have to share.

Ok, a little context. I found this Passion Planner after researching unique planners online. I’m a huge paper planner person, but for 2020, I knew I wanted something different. Something to not only help me plan my days/weeks/months, but also something that allowed me to document my habits, my intentions, my dreams, etc. I also wanted something that would help me reduce the number of notebooks I use – blogging, personal, and planner.

The Passion Planner is honestly everything I could’ve asked for and more. Let’s get into why…

The monthly view

Look at this monthly view! I got the large planner, so it’s pretty huge. I have big handwriting, so this is super helpful. There’s also space for your monthly focus, people to see, places to go, and things to learn. I also love how you can list your personal as well as work projects. And the large whitespace at the bottom would be perfect for notes, accomplishments, goals, etc.

The weekly view

I’ve never used a planner with such a detailed weekly view before, but I’ve already started filling out appointments, events, etc. for 2020, and I love it. I think I’ll continue to use my virtual/online calendars as well, but I think this view and level of detail will help keep me uber organized. Like with the monthly view, I love the weekly focus + good things that happened spaces. Your to-do list space is built in, and again, the white space at the bottom is perfect for additional lists, notes, etc. And the quote lover in me loves having 52 awesome quotes to ponder on in 2020.

Monthly reflection questions

This monthly reflection section is completely new for me, but I love the idea of it. You can only improve and do better by reflecting on your past actions and the results. I’m going to make it a priority to sit down at the end of every month and answer these questions.

Extra blank pages

There are 24 big blank pages in the back. Personally, this will mostly be a blog notebook replacement for me where I jot down my ideas and plans for MIS. If you think about it, that’s two pages per month, which given the size of the planner itself, is a lot. Even for those of us with big handwriting!

So if my review doesn’t give it away, I LOVE this planner and am so ready to really use it in 2020. I feel like it’s setting me up for success and is going to help me capture everything in one place.

If you decide to get it, let me know. We can be Passion Planner nerds together!

P.S. I ordered the LARGE Forest Green Passion Planner with a Sunday start (you can also opt for a Monday start). It doesn’t look like the Forest Green option is available on Amazon anymore, but there are quite a few other ones in different sizes and colors.

No portion of this post is sponsored. However, affiliate links are included. There is no extra cost to you, but I do receive a small commission on anything you buy through my links. Thank you for reading and supporting My Inner Shakti!

Saving and Organizing Recipes

written by Parita Leave a Comment

The idea presented in this post is not groundbreaking. Nor is it anything new. In fact, I’m probably taking us back like 20 years, especially given how technologically savvy tools rule the world now.

With that, I present to you my recipe binder!

I decided that enough was enough when it came to saving and sorting through recipes. In the past, I would find a recipe and either save it in IG, email it to myself, or Pin it (although it’s been years since I’ve pinned recipes). Then when it came time to meal plan, I would be all over the place because I couldn’t remember where I saved what.

But now when I come across a recipe I want to make, I print it out and file it away in my organized binder! Then when it’s time to meal plan and make food, all I have to do is pull out the recipes from my binder and voila it’s all there for me to see!

Another reason I was desperate for an old-school binder is because going back to look at the recipes on my phone while cooking created a hot mess. Literally my phone was disgusting. Also, picking up my phone would lead to checking apps and email. Which when you only have a set amount of time to cook is a WASTE OF TIME!

In terms of how it’s organized, I have sections for appetizers, sides, soups, Indian meals, entrees, dessert, healthy stuff (i.e. my treats made from beans), and miscellaneous. This works for me, but you can obviously organize your recipes in a way that makes most sense for you.

Like I said, this is a simple idea that started in our mom’s kitchen, but I’m all about bringing it back because I need my recipes in one place. Also, the idea of having all of our household favs in one spot makes meal planning a lot easier and less stressful.

The few things I bought to create this nifty binder can be found anywhere, but in case you want to order from Amazon right now, here you go!

1.5″ binder | Dividers | Sheet protectors

Let me know if you give this a go and how it works out for you!

Organizational Tools for the Home

written by Parita 2 Comments

You wouldn’t always know it from the look of my home, but I love organizing, purging, cleaning, etc. I find true joy in thinking about things like organizational hacks and tools. You should’ve seen the look on my face while brainstorming for this post!

Since having Kaiden, my desire to keep things as organized as possible has only increased. But guess what hasn’t? The size of our apartment! And now that Kaiden’s crawling all over the place, we really can’t keep our crap lying around. This kid will grab anything and everything within arms reach!

I thought I’d share some of my top organizational tools in the hopes of helping others who may be in similar situations or anyone looking for a new/different way of keeping things organized.

Please note the following pictures are not staged in any way! I told you my love for everything organization doesn’t truly shine through in all parts of our home. Ha!

Functional furniture
By this I mean furniture that serves more than one purpose, namely storage. For smaller living spaces, this is a must.

Bench – We bought this bench at a furniture store called Far Below Retail. I loved it from the get go because of the three decently sized built in drawers/bins. If you’re going to buy a bench, might as well get one that provides extra storage space. Here are a few similar options – Ameriwood storage bench, Better Homes and Gardens organization bench, and Simpli Home ottoman bench.

Toy Lockers – Vishnu had his heart set on getting the Ikea storage lockers for all of Kaiden’s books and toys. This particular set up happened to fit perfectly in one of our little nooks and really is a space saver when it comes to Kaiden’s ‘fun’ stuff. The best part is you can purchase however many lockers you want and arrange them according to the space your looking to fill. One of the best baby investments we made if you ask me!

Crib – Boy did we go back and forth when researching cribs! Ultimately, we decided on the Davinci Fairway crib, and one of the reasons why we loved it so much is because of the built in drawer at the bottom. This is where I keep all of Kaiden’s bedding and blankets. While it’s not a large amount of storage space, it really does make a difference for us.

Bathroom
My bathroom cabinet could still use some work…but baby steps, people, baby steps!

Rotating makeup/skincare product organizer – I’m obsessed with my new Eloki 360 degree rotating organizer…OBSESSED! Now all of my daily use products are in one place, including makeup, skincare, brushes, etc. While this is a pretty large organizer, it serves the purpose. I love how I get to choose the spacing in the different sections. So as/if my products change, I can rearrange the organizer to fit everything accordingly.

Closets/cabinets
I’m sure there are so many ways to organize closets/cabinets and make them more functional. For now, as you’ll see, I’m resorting to bins to help keep things as neat as possible.

Medicine cabinet bins – As my mother-in-law likes to say, Vishnu and I pretty much have our own pharmacy at this point. So many different medicines, thermometers, band-aids, etc. Before I bought these small plastic bins, our ‘medicine cabinet’ was a HOT MESS. Every time I reached for something, something else would fall out. So annoying and hence the bins. Now our cabinet is much more organized, and it’s so much easier to find what we need.

Baskets – Our closets serve their purpose for now, and while they’re not super organized, we’re still ok. Things like these larger bins help with storing our winter gear and random knick knacks we don’t have the heart to get rid of.