Real Life E® » coach

Making Progress

reallifee — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:24:00 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Some of you may have already begun your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012, or may still be reflecting on what you have achieved in 2011. Below, time management coach, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, shares tips for making real progress on your goals– any time of the year.

**How to See Real Progress**

The key to accomplishing anything from finishing a project to going on a trip to climbing a mountain is consistent action in the direction of a goal:

1. Write down what you want to accomplish in a place where you will see it every day. (For instance at the top of my calendar, I have a list of the next places I want to travel. You can also put your goals on your to do list, tape them to your cabinet door, put them up as a screen saver. Whatever works for you.)

2. List out the next steps. For instance, if you’re planning a trip, write down these types of activities:

Look at calendar for potential dates
Call friends and/or family to see if these times work for them
Check out flight prices & set an alert to let you know when costs drop
Think through lodging/transportation options
Look up the prices online
Check if you can use rewards points
Browse the Web or go to the library or bookstore for ideas on activities
If traveling abroad, check on necessary paperwork/immunizations and start to schedule appointments
Buy travel insurance
Decide if you need to make any purchases & make a shopping list
Put up out of office messages
Etc., etc., etc.

3. Make note of anything with a very specific deadline or that needs to be done a certain amount of time in advance (like one month). Look over your calendar and set aside specific days when you will have a reminder to complete these activities on time.

4. Start telling people about what you’re doing so you have some positive peer pressure to keep moving forward (or get a coach to keep you accountable–in an encouraging way ;o)

5. Set aside a certain time each week when you will move forward on less time sensitive activities that need to be completed to move toward your goal. For instance, one hour on Saturday mornings. When you get to that time, spend that hour working on whatever is next. (It’s OK if you don’t finish a whole action item, you just need to be making consistent progress.)

6. CELEBRATE your progress! Give yourself some type of reward for moving forward such as a stop at your favorite ice cream place, a call with a friend, or buying a new book. (Whatever you find motivating!)

7. Watch as you accomplish your goal. It’s amazing how consistent action leads to results. Think of the little bulbs that put down roots and put up stalks and burst into flower. Seemingly “overnight” results come from consistent effort.

To stop feeling frustrated, get clear on what you want, plant seeds, cultivate them, and watch them grow!

Have a brilliant week!

Elizabeth

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, and many other media outlets.

Elizabeth’s time coaching clients have the opportunity to go through her exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM life transformation process through phone coaching and custom action guides or in-person training.

Why Even Your Surgeon Has a Coach

reallifee — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:35:10 +0000

That’s right! We all need coaches. Work/life balance coach and time management expert, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, describes the amazing physical and emotional benefits of coaching…

How would you feel if you knew your surgeon had a coach?

It’s natural if your first thought was: What’s wrong?

But according to Atul Gawande in his excellent article in The New Yorker about Coaching a Surgeon: What Makes Top Performers Better, you should be thrilled.

Atul found that coaching really helped him transcend a plateau in his surgeries.

I agree that coaching can absolutely help you move to the next level.

But I’ve also found that coaching can lead to brilliant results as a sort of physical therapy or occupational therapy.

Here’s what I mean:

Physical therapy: Sometimes due to our natural abilities or some major challenge that we’ve faced, our habits are too weak to support us in a healthy way. (For instance, many of my clients need strength training to “build” their planning muscles.)

Occupational therapy: A coach can help you when major life changes or increases in responsibility require developing new ways of thinking and acting. This is when your life went to the next level but no one gave you the instructions on how to operate in this new stratosphere!

In my experience, both with coaching others and with receiving coaching myself, it can feel a bit embarrassing at first to admit that you really are not sure how to improve. But once you are working alongside someone who understands how to navigate the territory and will encourage you to not give up when it’s hard, everything comes sooo much easier.

To your brilliance!

Elizabeth Grace

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth on Forbes: Do You Feel Like You’re Always Working?

reallifee — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:49:26 +0000

Even though you may love your job, sometimes the perpetual cycle of work, work, and more work can be just too much. You don’t want to be consumed by work, but somewhere along the way, it just happened. You need to find some balance. Pronto! Otherwise, you’re in danger of burning out.

Fortunately,there are a few simple adjustments to your mindset and daily schedule that can make a big difference. In her newest article, “Why Does it Feel like I’m Always Working?” featured on Forbes.com, expert time coach and work-life balance master, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, discusses simple solutions you can start implementing today. Overcome feelings of guilt, and tactfully stop over-committing by setting boundaries. You can work hard but still have time to play hard- every day!

So take a break from your work, and check out Elizabeth’s Forbes Article now.

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, which provides life coaching for individuals who struggle with time management.

Real Life E® empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM process. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.

Elizabeth’s time coaching clients have the opportunity to go through her exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM life transformation process through phone coaching and custom action guides or in-person training.

Ditching the Dread… Of Success

reallifee — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:04:02 +0000

We’ve all experienced that roller coaster of project-related emotions at some point in life. While performing at the top of your game is initially empowering and motivating, the pressure to continually outperform yourself can be debilitating. An activity that once filled you with joy, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment now fills you with dread. Well, it’s time to ditch that dread and gain your confidence back! In her recent newsletter, Elizabeth describes the inspirational turnaround of a wonderful client. Try out some of the tools and strategies in the latest client success story below.

Starting a new project in an area where you have excelled but almost killed yourself in the process is terrifying …

What if you can’t produce the same level of results?
What if you lose yourself and quality relationships in the process?
What if you end up feeling terrible the entire time you’re doing the work?

These are all valid feelings when your past experience tells you that the only way to get big projects done is to work at a frenzied pace.

Fortunately, there’s a better way.

Last winter, I worked with a successful, well-published writer who also taught in a university graduate school Masters of Fine Arts program. She was stuck.

“I am scattered and making erratic progress with this or that. I want to make solid steps forward. I want to reclaim my life and place in the literary firmament, get healthy and in shape, and have fun!”

She also had just been diagnosed with ADHD and was wondering how much of an impact ADHD had on her life-long frustrations with writing and other areas of her life. One of her most important goals was to move forward on her next big creative project–a collection of linked short stories. It had been a long time since her first book had been published, and she needed to regain professional momentum…

“My friends are mostly writers and successful. I have lots of ink in the New York Times that I have written and that has been written about me. So I have talent. I also need to know what I need to do, like a solid schedule? work impulsively? Okay I know the answer to that.”

She did know the answer, but turning the answer into practical action took time coaching… We came up with an initial plan of how she could get in a good, solid, writing time in the morning. Then each week, we worked on assessing the results and evaluating how to move forward based on what happened.

“I found the process very stabilizing because I tend to be all over the place with trying things. You were able to roll with the way I operate and yet be a strong force in your own right. It was helpful having you to run things off of, especially when I got stuck–which was about every week.”

We worked together on different morning writing routines. The first involved: drinking coffee, eating breakfast, taking the dog out, meditating, getting dressed, and then starting to write. The second involved just getting coffee and starting to write. The end result was a fusion of the two with pouring a cup of coffee, meditating a bit, taking out the dog and then writing.

The end goal wasn’t to have this creative writer crammed into a rigid schedule but to have something that turned writing (her top professional priority) from a dreaded activity to a peaceful part of her daily schedule.

Over the course of our work together, she found that if she followed her morning routine and put herself in her writing space for two hours (with a timer set), the inspiration came and the writing moved forward.

Writing didn’t need to be something that she dreaded.
Writing didn’t need to be something that took over her life.
Writing could be something she choose to move forward on each day.

At last! Freedom to do quality work without losing herself, her relationships or her sanity was possible!

“I’ve found that the actual schedule that I longed for would absolutely drive me around the bend so I have a flexitarian schedule and am getting things done.”

“Having and sticking with a schedule is the single most important thing I can do for myself as an artist, as a woman living a rather complex and exciting life, and as someone newly aware that many of my problems stem from having ADHD. Nothing, nothing, nothing will move me forward like following my schedule will. Period.”

The same could be true for you.

You can take away the fear surrounding moving forward on a big project by developing, practicing and adjusting your custom routines.

To your brilliance!

Elizabeth

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, which provides life coaching for individuals who struggle with time management.

In TIME: Confessions of an Accidental Entrepreneur

reallifee — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:50:02 +0000

Believe it or not, expert time coach Elizabeth Saunders never thought she would be an entrepreneur!

Now featured in TIME online, Elizabeth shares how her career journey has evolved. Best of all, Elizabeth divulges valuable tips and advice for budding entrepreneurs. Anything is possible…even if it’s not exactly what you had planned!

Read Elizabeth’s article, “Confessions of an Accidental Entrepreneur.”

About Real Life E®

Day in the Life of a Time Coach: My Planning Routine

reallifee — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:23:07 +0000

Curious about how a work/life balance coach and successful entrepreneur organizes her day? In recent newsletters, Elizabeth has given readers the inside scoop on her own personal time management techniques. (Find out how she wakes up with an inside peek at Elizabeth’s morning routine!) Below, Elizabeth describes the second part of her a.m. agenda, her brilliant morning planning schedule.

I’ve had complete freedom over my schedule for more than half a decade.
During my first couple of years as a full-time entrepreneur, I didn’t set boundaries on when I worked and what I did when.

This lead to:

Frustration when I just wanted to take an evening or weekend off but felt like I couldn’t.
Guilt when I had any open time but wasn’t working.

Deciding to limit how much I worked and when I worked really changed everything. (I did experience withdrawal symptoms when I first started this process: Step away from the computer Elizabeth!) But I persevered in setting boundaries, and since then, I’ve been able to “let go of work” mentally and emotionally and enjoy free time without guilt.

One of my bedrock routines that gives me a sense of peace and control is daily planning and processing described in detail below. But first a few notes:

Like with my Morning Routine, this is an example for you to gain insight from, not a template for everyone. Some of my coaching clients plan in the evening, others have fewer steps in their process, others use more tech tools–routines should be your personal servant not your master.
This is my own variation based off of some of David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophies. I found that I procrastinated when I only tried to do a big weekly review but can consistently do a daily review.
Daily processing and planning does seem to take a lot of time, but it is the only way I’ve been able to keep on top of responsibilities with clients around the world and work 40 hours or less a week. It’s worth it.

See below for an inside look at how I start my work days…

Elizabeth’s Planning Routine

Confession: I read e-mail in the morning.

There are many time management ninjas who will tell you this is a bad idea. But this is why it works for me:

Going through my morning processing and planning checklist is totally mindless. I don’t need to wonder what to do first when I start my day–it’s always the same. (This really helps when I’m unmotivated, tired or down.)
My work is very dynamic and my priorities shift on a daily basis. I don’t feel comfortable making a final decision on my daily to-do’s until I’ve gone through all of my inboxes.
I really don’t like answering e-mail or doing other mundane processing. Before I made clearing out my inboxes part of my morning routine, I always felt guilty and behind. Now I effortlessly keep on top of e-mail, voicemail, mail, etc.

So between 8 and 8:30 a.m. my morning routine is done, and I sit down at my computer to begin daily processing and planning. As a rule, I try to avoid scheduling any calls or meetings in the morning. If it’s unavoidable, I make completing my processing and planning routine my first priority to complete before and after the meeting time.

When I start my day, especially if it’s a Monday, I don’t know what needs to be completed for the rest of the day. But I know that by the time I finish my routine, I’ll have found clarity and feel in control. I have many clients who are super techy (which is awesome), but I’m not. So my tools and methods are relatively simple.

On Mondays, I look over my Google calendar to make sure that there are no appointments from the prior week that I need to move or follow up on and that all of my current week’s appointments are in the calendar. Then I make a pdf of the current week’s calendar and print it out.

I know this may make some paper-free people shake their heads, but I find that having a custom printed out schedule of the week makes it much easier for me to visualize my schedule and priorities. So I do what works for me.

During my Monday weekly processing and planning, I also:

Review my Personal Projects List
Process all the mail from the past week that I collect in a lateral desk file.
Confirm appointments and anticipate any scheduling problems.
Schedule Facebook and Twitter updates on Hootsuite.com
Review my Google Calendar To Do Lists: Professional Priorities, Professional Someday/Maybe, Personal Priorities, Personal Someday/Maybe
Write out at the top of my printed out calendar my top personal and professional goals for the week.
Sketch in on the calendar when I should have time to get my goals done.

On a daily basis, I complete these items:

Review my printed calendar and if necessary, make alarm reminders for meetings. (I usually set them for 15 minutes before the start time.)
Review my calendar Word doc where I keep supporting notes/links/thoughts for daily activities organized by day.
Review my Professional Projects List organized by deadline.
Answer all my business e-mail. (If something will take more than a few minutes for a response, I make answering the specific e-mail a to-do item to be completed later that day.)
Answer the most important personal e-mail.
Organize papers from the past day and look at my Tickler file.
Listen to and respond to any voicemail or text.
Check Hootsuite.com for any Twitter.com @replies or DM’s and respond.
Comment on or share relevant time management posts.
Make a final decision on my daily priorities and the order in which I will complete them.
Ask myself: How can I bless my clients today? Then do anything that comes to mind.

Some Important Notes:

I don’t give myself a choice in whether I do these steps, but I have complete freedom in choosing what order I complete them. I bounce all around within these possibilities depending on what I feel like doing next.
Not everyone needs this many steps–this is just what makes me feel in control and on top of life.
All kinds of online and paper Calendars and To Do List systems can work. The important thing is that you stick with one consistently.
This can take a long time: On a daily basis, I’m usually done by 10 a.m. at the earliest. On Mondays, it’s closer to 11:30 a.m.
But… I have the whole afternoon free to execute without worrying about my priorities or what to do next.
These routines are the magic cure for almost any type of ailment. I can start the day tired, listless, crying–whatever!–and by the time they’re done, my brain and heart are in gear and ready to take on the day.

One of my time coaching clients shared these thoughts with me, which I’m sharing with his permission, about why initially adopting these planning and processing habits is so hard:

“I’m getting more disciplined about time blocking (progress!).

But one of the things that good time blocking does is make you aware of how little discretionary time you actually have. So, then I started thinking about “Where can I cut back on something I’m doing?”, and immediately I thought of exercise. Most of my workout sessions (when you include travel, changing, showering, etc.) are 1.5-2 hours. But then, almost instantly, I said to myself, “No, that’s not negotiable. I’m not going to cut back on exercise, because it brings me so many benefits in terms of my energy level, my long-term health, and even the emotional value of the assertion of self-worth.” Then it hit me — I’m struggling to “find the time” each day to purge my index cards, time block my day, and to do good weekly reviews. But I’m not talking about hours a day:

I find the time for exercise. Why not time management?

I thought of a few reasons:

1. At some level, I’m still not convinced that I’ll see the deep benefits. Rationally, I believe there will be benefits. But since I haven’t experienced the higher state, I don’t have enough evidence to have a deep emotional connection with the benefits.

(Note from Elizabeth: I hope my deep emotional connection with the benefits encourages you in this area! They will come with experience.)

2. I’ve worked at exercising for years, and seen the benefit of exercising, and the negative results of not exercising. I know how big the benefits are of exercising because of the contrast at various times. I haven’t had the same history and experience.

3. I know how to exercise, and I’ve done it enough that I’m good at it. It feels good, and I feel good about being good at it. I’ve got lots of things down to a routine, and set up to make it easy. I own enough exercise clothes that I don’t have to worry about laundry. I’ve had my workout routines designed by a fitness center trainer so I’m confident I’m doing things that will work. I have my checklist for packing my exercise clothes, and it’s part of my daily routine. I know what times of day I can usually fit it in, and part of looking over my daily landscape is figuring out when to fit it in. I don’t really question whether or not I want to fit it in; it’s a “given”.

With time management, in many ways I’m still a novice, don’t feel like I’m really good at it, and just don’t have enough history and experience as to how to respond to the various challenges.

Therefore:

I need to focus on simple things I can do, make them very concrete, and keep practicing until I get good.
I need to be patient and gentle with myself, not set an extremely aggressive goal and then beat myself up when I don’t reach it. It’s the equivalent of starting to exercise by walking around the block once, then twice, then working up to where you can do 20-30 minutes of intense aerobics. It takes time, you need to be patient with yourself, and you have to have the belief that the benefits are there if you keep going, and holding on to that belief is one of the key challenges.
Another thought from Drive was “Mastery is painful.” To get really, really good at something, you have to have extremely disciplined practice over an extended period of time, like the NBA player who shoots 500 foul shots at the end of every practice.

Doesn’t he do an awesome job of describing the process of lasting behavioral change with time management?! I’m so happy for and proud of my clients when they share these ephiphenies with me.

I hope that seeing how someone whose mastered daily planning and processing gives you insight in how it could happen for you.

Your time coach,

Elizabeth

P.S.-If you need help in making this happen, reach out to me and we can set up a time to talk.

P.P.S.–Thanks so much for all of your fabulous feedback last week! Feel free to send me your thoughts on this week’s newsletter and to comment on last week’s morning routine posted on my blog.

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM process. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, and many other media outlets.

Making Exercise a Realistic Part of your Routine

reallifee — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:27:48 +0000

Exercise: You know you should do it. You even want to do it. Despite good intentions, it can be all too easy to skip this healthy activity for “more important” commitments. The reality is, exercise is one of the most important things you can do for physical and personal balance. The below routine is one person’s strategy to help you power down at night so you can power up in the morning and get your day started out right! Let the balance begin!

For more information on achieving a brilliant life of balance, and to learn more about award winning life coach and entrepreneur, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, please visit ScheduleMakeover.com Elizabeth’s unique Schedule Makeover™ process can help you feel peaceful, confident, and in control of your life in this fast paced world.

Example of a Comprehensive Exercise Routine

Important Mindset:

Taking time for myself and particularly for exercise is a good and necessary use of my time.
Exercise plays an important role in maintaining my health and sanity.
It’s worth going to bed and getting up earlier so that I can work out on a more consistent basis.

Action Strategy:

Start to wind down around 8:30 p.m.
- Wrap up with e-mail
- Put away dishes
- Get ready for bed
- Set out exercise clothes upstairs
- Set out water bottle and magazine you’re looking forward to reading downstairs
Decide not to start a show that will run past 8:30 p.m.
If it’s helpful, set cell phone alarm to remind you it’s “wind down” time.

Goal: To make this a habit so that exercising at least three times a week becomes a natural, effortless part of your daily rhythm.

A Few More Motivational Thoughts:

It is more important to me to exercise consistently than to spend extra time reading or watching TV at night.
Following this routine will make me feel like I’m in good shape and able to keep up with the kids.
This can help with losing a few pounds.
I will be sore at first but that’s normal, and I will be over that phase soon.
This is something important that I want to do for my personal health in the short-term and is also important long-term.
I’m worth it!

To Your Brilliance!

Letting Go of Negative Associations

reallifee — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:17:17 +0000

The thought-provoking advice and down-to-earth encouragement in Elizabeth Grace Saunders’ Schedule Makeover™ newsletter (recent issue below), is an example of the positive feedback you can expect to receive from Elizabeth in your personal quest for work, life, and organizational balance. To receive regular updates on fresh time management strategies and to learn more about her unique Schedule Makeover™ process, please visit ScheduleMakeover.com.

Your associations with “organized people” may make time management advice hard to swallow.

Let me explain…

When I go to a new restaurant, or I’m in a new place, I try to eat new foods. Some cuisine I find delicious. But other dishes I literally can’t swallow because I’m so disturbed at the thought of what’s in them. Objectively, the food might be tasty, but I’m emotionally repulsed by the mental association.

The same power of association holds true in other areas.

If you have negative associations with organized people or with the results of good time management, like having free time, it will be really hard for you to swallow any advice that will lead you toward something you find SO distasteful.

To uncover whether any of these biases may be holding you back from success, ponder these points:

When I imagine an “organized person,” who comes to mind?
- What type of feelings do I have toward this person?
- What adjectives would I use to describe him or her?
- What do I like and dislike about this individual?
- Do I want to be like this person? If so, why? If not, why not?
When I imagine myself being organized, what images come to mind?
- Are there any feelings other than peace and joy?
- Is there any sense of guilt? of fear?
- Is there any worry that I’ll lose my worth if I’m not serving or sacrificing or doing enough?
- Is there any resistance to letting go of daily drama?

Let your mind turn over these questions a bit… then think through how you could create new paradigms that free you to feel at peace with being organized.

Life can be Radically Different!

Elizabeth Grace

P.S.-Don’t feel bad if you uncover any prejudices against organized people! It’s not bad to have the feelings, just a problem if you don’t process and release them correctly.

About Real Life E®

Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life

reallifee — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:13:22 +0000

“With the magical, perfect job, my life will be fulfilled.” While this is certainly a beautiful ideal, when it comes to achieving work/life balance, such a philosophy rarely leads to peace and satisfaction. In fact, such a mindset can actually make feelings of career dissatisfaction and anxiety even worse.

In Cal Newport’s article, “Zen and the Art of Investment Banking: When Working Right is More Important than Finding the Right Work,” Cal explores the benefit’s of redefining one’s passion. Rather than becoming a victim of circumstance in one’s job, feeling as though there is nowhere else to run, one must change their mindset. This piece includes insightful and encouraging advice from time coach, Elizabeth Grace Saunders. She gives surprising and practical suggestions in regards to small, easily obtainable changes that can improve one’s balance and well-being: You don’t have to change your job to change your life.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover ^TM process. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.
Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council that includes HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes and Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich fame.

Comprehensive Travel Check List for Preparing for a Trip

reallifee — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:28:30 +0000

I help my Schedule Makeover^TM time coaching clients break down multi-step

Elizabeth in Bogotá

activities into lists so that they can move forward on them without feeling overwhelmed. (David Allen does a great job of explaining why this technique is so effective in Getting Things Done.)

As a special holiday gift to you, I’m sharing my personal travel check list, including bonus tips for international trips. Bon voyage!

Elizabeth’s Preparing for a Trip Check List

If Driving:

Make sure oil changed and any car maintenance done.
Make sure up-to-date auto insurance in wallet and car registration stickers on license plate.
Confirm address.
Get directions or check that comes up on your GPS device.
Book hotel and confirm check in time.
Put gas in the car.
Grocery shop for snacks and/or bottled beverages.

If Flying:

Book flight.
Book hotel and confirm check in time.
Coordinate pick up or transportation after arrival.
Confirm flight time.
Confirm when you will need to leave for the airport.
Get directions or check that comes up on your GPS device both to the departure airport and from your arrival airport to your final destination.
Coordinate rides or look into parking options.
Grocery shop for snacks. If desired, bring an empty water bottle to fill up once inside the security checkpoint.
Check luggage number and size (dimensions and weight) restrictions and fees
Decide whether you will check baggage
Make sure you have a quart-size Ziploc bag and 3-oz. or less size containers that fit in that bag.
If desired, check in 24 hours in advance

Packing Strategy:

If driving:

Determine how much luggage space is available if you are taking large objects and/or have many people in the car.

If flying:

Decide whether you will check in luggage.
Follow all airline standards for size and weight and items you can carry on. (An easy way to check the weight is to weigh yourself and then step on your home scale holding your bag.)

2-7 Days Before Your Trip:

Decide what you will want to wear and/or bring
Do any last shopping: food, clothes, toiletries, items to bring on trip
Do laundry and/or dry cleaning

1-2 Days Before Your Trip:

Check the expected weather conditions.
Pack up all of the items in your bags to make sure that they will fit inside.
Put liquids into a quart-size Ziploc bag.
Go through your purse and other carry on items to make sure that you don’t have any prohibited items (sharp objects like scissors or liquids like lipgloss).
Do online check in 24 hours in advance and print out boarding pass.

Morning of Your Trip:

Do final packing of toiletries, food, books, etc.
View from my window seat
Double check the flight status and that you have your boarding pass and government id (passport if you are leaving the United States).
Give yourself some “buffer time” so if you’re running late or hit bad traffic, you’re still OK.
Enjoy!!

Packing List:

Clothes:

Use the weather report and any schedule events/activities to help guide your packing.

Pants, shorts, dresses, and/or skirts
Shirts, including one that would be nice for an evening event
Sweatshirts or jackets
Underclothes, socks, nylons
Pajamas
Work out clothes
Shoes: dress shoes, workout shoes, informal shoes
Swim suit and cover up (and if necessary, towel and goggles)
Accessories: scarves, hats, gloves, jewelry, and watch
Plastic bag for dirty clothes

Toiletries:

Floss, tooth brush, tooth paste, mouth wash, skin care, moisturizer, deodorant, glasses, contacts, contact case, contact solution, and perfume
Hair brush, curling irons, flat irons, gel, hairspray
Makeup
Vitamins and/or medicine

If not staying at a hotel or have particular preferences:

Soap, shampoo, conditioner, razor, shaving cream, face wash, blowdryer

Miscellaneous:

Wallet and government id
Cell phone
Camera (including extra battery and if applicable, device to upload photos to the computer
Calendar/Planner/Notepad
Books or other reading material
Gum or other snacks or necessary foods
All chargers for phones, computers, cameras, other electronic devices
Print outs of insurance policies and all other travel documents
Umbrella, boots, hats, gloves, scarves, sunscreen, etc. (depending on the weather)
Computer
Pens, paper, stamps
Emergency contact numbers and addresses
Any school work or other work materials
Gifts and thank you cards for anyone who is hosting you
Collapsible bag that you can use to bring home extra items

International Travel:

Exchange money
Double check passport up to date & visa OK
Tell credit card company that I will be abroad
Cell phone, calling card rates
Access code for the country
Give contact info to parents and roommates
Go to travel clinic for immunizations, medicine and food precautions
Ask about local customs in terms of acceptable/unacceptable dress and activities
Ask about converters for electronics–voltage and/or plugs
Buy travel insurance & emergency medical insurance
Check that your carry-on items are allowed in each airport where you need to take a flight. (Restrictions can be different for different countries.)

I hope this helps you to have a Happy and Stress-Free Holiday Vacation.

Feel free to leave your tips!

Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council that includes HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes and Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich fame.