Nowadays, we are so connected the idea of living in the moment is foreign. The summer spark is a welcome addition each and every year, and then, without warning, summer comes screeching to a halt. You’re thrown back into the real world, with work deadlines, back-to-school prep, and before you know it, the holidays.
So what to do when the real world roars back with a vengeance? As a parent to a toddler with a full-time job, aging parents, and a very attention-craving Boston Terrier, I need to get ahead of what fall has in store in order to keep my sanity and see glimpses of the spark I chase. To do this, I turn to Bublup, what I like to call “my personal assistant,” and is really Pinterest + Google Drive + Notes, all rolled up into one.
So how does this pocket-sized personal assistant help? Read along, and maybe you’ll be inspired to give it a try yourself.
Get the Party Started with Organized Planning
My fall kicks off with my son’s birthday in early October. This year we decided to throw an ice cream party for family, friends, and 14 children under the age of 7. With a wide range of people and personalities to cater to, I knew I’d only be successful if I started organizing my ideas. To begin the planning process, I made a “Birthday Party Planning” folder in Bublup to house theme inspiration, notes, venue locations, etc.
To keep my ideas organized, I made subfolders for the main planning elements. Subfolders are hugely helpful in compartmentalizing tasks. I can rearrange the folders based on the order of importance or completion. For example, once I locked in the party’s venue and activity, I moved these folders to the end of the row as I won’t be accessing them much more. I then moved RSVPs and party favors up to the #1 and #2 spots in the row, as I’ll be focusing on those tasks next. Being able to designate the order of folders and content within the folders allows for quick visualization of priorities. As a visual person, this ability saves me tons of time.
I also like to use the main folder to save items that I need continual access to, like the link to the e-vite, or more temporary items, like a food shopping list, which I delete after I use to reduce clutter in my folders. Saving these items in the main party planning folder means I always have easy access to them when I need them.
Experiencing Spooky Season One Folder at a Time
Once birthday celebrations are done, I quickly pivot to Halloween. What will my son (and dog) dress up as? Where can we do pumpkin picking? How will we decorate? How many different recipes can I make with pumpkin? All these questions become folders I share with my husband so we can be on the same page.
Group Folders are the perfect way to keep us in sync. We use comments and reactions to communicate with one another and signal to the other we saw the recipe or pumpkin farm recommendation. Our Group Folders become a centralized hub for our family and serve as an inspiration source when planning our weekend activities, meals, or home projects. Before Bublup, we would send emails or texts with links that would ultimately get lost in the thread. Now, with Bublup, I enter the weekends knowing we have a plan that will help wrangle our terrible two toddler.
Simple Gift Lists for the Holidays
From party planning to an ongoing inspiration hub, it’s no surprise that once the malls start playing holiday music, I turn to Bublup again to make gift lists for both the gifts I have to buy and a wishlist for myself.
Like the other projects I use Bublup for, it all starts with the main topic folder. Within my “Gift Ideas” folder, I have a subfolder for each person we need to buy gifts for. Once I start adding ideas for family and friends, I tag my husband using the @ mention and ask him to weigh in using reactions. A 👍🏼 or ❤️ means the gift is a go, a ❓means I need to go back to the drawing board. We’ve been using this method of gift buying for years, and the amount of time it saves can’t be measured. Once a gift is purchased the ✔️ is added to the item to give me the visual reference that the task is complete.
The same goes for my personal wishlist. Because Bublup makes it so easy to save with the “share to” mobile feature, I add items to my wishlist all year long as I stumble upon them. Having a curated list that I can share with others makes the question “What do you want for the holidays?” stress-free, which is really what I’m going for.
Conclusion
The end of the year always sneaks up on you and immediately becomes something to endure. But with Bublup by my side, I can enjoy the change of the season, make holiday memories, and keep an eye out for that elusive summer spark, all because Bublup provides an easy way for me to organize the many moving parts of my life.
I know you may be thinking, “another app to learn, no thanks,” but believe me, it’s worth it! Once you see your folders come to life with a note, next to mood board inspiration, next to an Amazon link, you will wonder how you ever planned your bathroom remodel, the trip to a National Park, your client photoshoot, child’s birthday party, or whatever you’re into without Bublup!
Bio:
Jessica Cornell is a marketing executive with 15 years of experience working with consumer goods brands, such as San Pellegrino and Chiquita, and currently is the Vice President of Marketing at Bublup. She loves to travel and taste-test local food. She lives in Brooklyn NY, with her husband, 2-year-old son, and dog, Cookie.
