AUTOMATE! AUTOMATE! AUTOMATE!

Posted by emma polley on

IT'S 2020 BABY!!! So far this year I can safely say that I am highly productive, organised and I'm hugely confident that it's going to be a great year! (Admittedly, it is still only day one but hey, it's looking great from over here!). 


I know perfectly well that being organised is not my strong point. Managing multiple businesses from my home office while my 1 & 2 year old are climbing up my legs & my 8 year old is begging me to watch just 5 minutes more of technology with him before it's time to get the next meal organised gets super stressful, really quick! 
One thing I'm not afraid to admit is that I am also embarrassingly forgetful. Let's be real here, if I didn't write down my kids birthdays they wouldn't have one at all. 

The back story is that about two years ago, on the way to my nephews birthday party, I stopped into the local cheap shop and purchased his gift and card. I don't even remember what I got him, most likely because there was more thought put into getting SOMETHING rather than something he might like. That was the last straw for me. 

From then on, the one word that saves my behind Every. Single. Year (and can help save yours too) is AUTOMATE! I sat down one year, got my calendar out and my tablet and set up my auto reminders in my calendar app to remind me buy all the presents BEFORE the event. The most important part of this is to tick the box that makes the reminder reoccur yearly - so you never have to worry about it again.

For example. My nephews birthday is on the 4th Jan (Same time every year, believe it or not!) I also know that the post is under a ridiculous amount of pressure around Christmas and the chances of my parcel arriving across the country in the normal time frame is unlikely so I have set an alarm to notify me of his birthday a month before. That gives me a whole 4 weeks to ask the important details about sizes, what they're into etc., wrap the gift and send it off. I also set a reminder on the day to give him a quick phone call to say happy birthday. Done, dusted, best Aunty ever for another year. 

For people that are a lot closer, the reminder goes off around 2 weeks before the event but it's the same gist. source gift & send. 
I can't tell you how much stress this has removed from my life & how more meaningful the gifts that I choose for my loved ones are. 

Em x 


Share this post



← Older Post


Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published.