How To Incorporate The ‘An Edited Life’ Worksheets Into Your Life

You know I love a good print-out PDF. I first dabbled with them about five years ago when I tweaked and shared packing lists for different types of holidays on my blog and YouTube channel. They took hours to put together and although the design was lacking thanks to my inability to use any kind of editing software aside from the copy and paste tool, tonnes of you downloaded them and even I returned to them each time I packed up for travels. Even Mark asks fo them and uses them when we go on holiday! 

WELL. I have a treat for you today. Because we’re not just talking about one print-out PDF here. Oh no! We’re talking about six. Six worksheets that run alongside topics covered in ‘An Edited Life‘, that will hopefully help you to clearly organise all parts of life admin; from budgets to meal planning. Perhaps you use them as a starting point and adapt them over the coming weeks into templates that fit your lifestyle just right? Maybe you laminate these and update them weekly? Or you’d just like to see how I lay things out and then draw up your own planning tables in your notebook or Bullet Journal? There are options for sure. However you’d like to use them they are available to download for free now HERE, and today I thought I’d share with you my tips on how to get started with the AEL Worksheet Bundle and how to incorporate them into your life in the most speedy and fuss-free way…

‘PACKING GUIDE‘

I’d suggest starting by downloading the packing guide, even if you’re not planning on heading anywhere anytime soon. Download it and file it away so it’s easy to find next time you do, or print it out and keep it safe in your suitcase so packing will be a breeze for your next holiday. This time round I’ve delivered two lists: one for short-haul travel and one for long-haul. The short-haul one is an edited list devised so that it covers everything that you can pack into a cabin bag-only; less toiletries, suggestions for a capsule wardrobe of clothing and tips for how to cut down on chunkier beauty items. The long-haul list is perfect for flights over five hours and trips that last around a week or more and splits into a hand-luggage section and a checked-in bag, so you know what to pack and where.

‘WEEKLY PLANNER‘

Go for the weekly planner next as it’s a quick and easy one to implement. It’s Monday so give it a download now and use it to plan out your week. A big part of my weekly planning is to try and stick to giving myself just three large tasks a day (ones that require about 2-3 hours to complete) and leave errands and smaller tasks out of the equation. So this template will force you to do exactly that, by giving you the space to note down three high-priority tasks to set yourself for each day. There’s also space for additional tasks (things that will take anywhere between 5 minutes to an hour to complete) but I’d suggest trying not to go too overboard here, and a space for notes if you’d like to keep track of meetings and deadlines.

‘CAPSULE WARDROBE’ 

Maybe for today you just download the two worksheets I’ve mentioned above – save this one for the weekend. While ‘An Edited Life‘ really breaks down the steps to creating a capsule wardrobe, this worksheet provides a quickie guide which will definitely suffice, especially if you watch it along with one of my capsule wardrobe creation videos – like this one with Mark. If you already operate a capsule wardrobe then the second page of this worksheet is the one that you want to focus on because it’s an evaluation form to fill out at the end of each season. For us in the northern hemisphere the spring section won’t need to be filled out till March-April time, so file it away for now or draw out your own chart in whatever planning medium you use. It’s a great way to check in at the end of each season and see what worked, what didn’t and what you need for next year, which comes in so handy for informing future purchases.

‘MEAL PLANNING’ 

Perhaps for this week you aim to incorporate the weekly planning PDF into your life, and maybe you save this one for next week. Meal planning and creating a system for our food shopping has meant that it’s something that just happens now with minimal thought and effort. This is a great place to start. I think printing this out and filling it in the old skool way is the best way to use it and then pin it somewhere in your household so that everyone can see what the plan is for the week and is on the same page. I’d suggest keeping breakfast and lunches the same – Mark and I both have pretty much the same for both meals, week in-week out – and then note down your dinner plans, including how many people you’re cooking for and what time-ish it will be served. This will help you factor in leftovers which are great for lunch or dinner the next day if you’re struggling for time the following evening.

‘FITNESS ROUTINE’

I’d suggest incorporating this one at the same time as the meal planning PDF as they both go hand in hand and if you decide to workout in the evening then it might re-jig your dinner timings a little, plus you need to make sure that you’re properly feed and watered in order to complete whatever exercise you decide to do, without feeling like you’re going to pass out. This is a two-part PDF; the first part is a place to note down your fitness goals – what they are, the weekly steps that you fancy putting in place and when you’re going to complete them by, the second part is a schedule in which to slot in your weekly routine. The latter includes a space for notes on how you felt during/after the workout, any new ideas or moves you’d like to try and a spot for rest days too, because we all need those as part of our fitness routine as well.

‘BUDGET’ 

If you’re new to any/all of these topics and didn’t previously have any planning frameworks in place for any of them, then leave this one till last. It’s the meatiest and it requires time and patience and some solid organisation in other aspects of your life. However if you have planning down and budgeting is the final piece of the puzzle then feel free to download the packing guides for future keeping, ignore the rest and scroll straight down to this one. This worksheet is split into three parts; the first detailing the basics of how to run a budget, the second providing a framework for a basic monthly budget tracker and the final one a framework for a detailed monthly tracker. In total a proper budget can take around six months to fully implement, but take time to marinate the figures a bit – slow and steady wins the race here and if in doubt the budgeting section of ‘An Edited Life‘ is the second longest in the book and should provide all the answers you need.

Photos by Emma Croman

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