I remember so much about my first year with Stella. I remember the way she looked at me when I fed her, making faces at her while I changed her diaper, laying on the floor beside her cheering her on as she learned to crawl, sitting with her for hours as she played with her favorite toy, and I’ll never forget her first effort in trying to talk when she said, “agoo”. I loved oohing and ahhing over her. I loved to just sit and study her facial expressions. I will forever treasure that time. She was 15 months old when I ...
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After several newsletters about important topics like maximizing your workday, getting a grip on email stress, and making more time for your family, I thought it was time to write about something a little more fun, TRAVEL! A little background about me and travel - it is my favorite thing in the world! It’s why I work. I’m constantly planning the next adventure and no day is more exciting than when my new issue of Travel and Leisure arrives in my mailbox. For me, travel has been far greater an education than ...
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Last year, I was in a meeting with a client; she and her mother had a wonderful relationship with one another. They listened to each other. They respected one another. I could tell they had great admiration for each other as well. I’ve seen lots of different mother daughter dynamics through my years of working in the wedding industry, but this one was different. While the daughter completely respected her mom they also genuinely enjoyed being around each other. They were friends too. In one of our last ...
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Appointments on your phone are great, and I used to do that; but I found having EVERYTHING in one place helps my everyday productivity tremendously. I decided to buy myself an annual planner. I use Emily Ley’s simplified planner. I bought it keeping in mind it is going to get messy, but it’s a way to organize my life around the things that matter most! I learned a wonderful tip from Emily Ley: there needs to be plenty of white space in your planner.
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Remember when the smartphone came out? Remember how life changing it felt to be able to check your email anywhere? Talk about freedom! Fast forward to today - do you still feel that same freedom? Can I be honest for a second? Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong decade. I remember when I was a kid how the phone would ring and someone would yell, “I’ll get it!” I miss those days.
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The years 2011 - 2014 are a bit of a blur. I don't remember everything, but I remember the way I felt after coming home from work each day. I remember crawling in bed night after night thinking to myself, "I just worked my tail off, but did I actually accomplish anything? I worked hard, really hard for 12 hours today, but did I even make any money? Why am I working so hard and have nothing to show for it?" During those years, I could have won an academy award for my act. "How's business?" they would ask ...
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Hi! How are you doing with your quit time? Sticking to a quit time is much easier to do when you feel productive during your work hours. My next newsletter is all about making your work hours count - I’ve laid out for you what a typical work day looks like for me. I’ve listed several tips that will help you be more successful during your work hours and leave your work each day feeling accomplished so you can stick to your quit time! But before I send that one out - I need to speak to those of you who are ...
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Every single day I quit the same thing - I quit my work. Have you ever been home with your family and that little “ding” sound goes off notifying you of a new email? You immediately check it and feel the urgency to respond right away. While you are simply trying to get your thoughts from your head through your fingertips and onto the screen so you can press send, and your child walks over to you and says, “Mommy, look at…” only to be abruptly cut off by you with a response that resembles something like ...
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I’m Jessica Zimmerman. I’m the owner of ZIMMERMAN, a floral + event design studio. Brian is my husband and together we have a daughter, Stella, and twin boys, Perry and Zeke - a full home and even fuller hearts! Three years ago, I was drowning. I owned a rental company and I was working 12 - 14 hour days barely scraping together enough money to pay my bills. My daughter was six months old and I desperately missed her. Every single day I would wonder.. How did I get here? How is it that I’m ...
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