How to Get Your Shit Together

You know the saying ‘when it rains it pours’?

Well, it’s one cliche that I know to be very true. So, how do you prepare the downpour before it begins? My team and I all have very busy lives, both within the office and outside of it- so even though we’re all a constant work-in-progress, we wanted to share how we manage to keep our shit together.

Keep scrolling to read how the CINCteam and I keep it all under control no matter how much we have going on.

1. Digital Detox

Like I talked about in this post here, having time away from it all keeps me sane. Taking a step back and completely unplugging keeps me creative, energized and prevents me from burning out! You’ve got to hit that hard refresh button every once in a while!

2. Get Your Inbox Under Control

For me personally, my inbox has caused me more stress than I can put into words. There’s a constant flood of emails, random newsletters that I’m signed up for and beyond. The alerts would always wake me up, contribute to my crazy sleep schedule and really played into my tendency to be a workaholic and I knew I needed to get it under control. First, I did a purge and unsubscribed to emailers that I was no longer interacting with, then I basically started fresh with a whole new email address.

The only people that know about my secret email are the CINCteam employees and anyone who really needs to get a hold of me. I’ll still check into my original email periodically, but this has really helped me.

So, if you can’t get a whole new email, give yourself a purge and unsubscribe to things that no longer interest you. It feels great, I promise.

3. Slack

This app has totally changed how my team organizes and communicates. Once upon a time, it was a mess of long email chains and too many group chats. If we wanted to reference something from a while ago, I had to scroll through a mile of texts on my phone- it was a mess. With Slack (not sponsored, by the way, the CINCteam and I just LOVE this app) we’re able to completely organize every aspect of communication. With different threads/folders for all of the different aspects of the company. From the blog, video, the CL collection, CINC Studios, sponsorships and deadlines- even a thread called ‘Shits + Giggles’ where we essentially throw shade at each other and send random memes we find on the internet, this app has totally helped streamline everything and has been a total game changer. If you work in a company or a group of 5+ people, I would highly recommend getting on Slack!

4. A Place for Everything

There are so many ways to stay organized. Notebooks, different apps, and calendars… you can do so much! Sometimes it can get overwhelming with all the options out there so for me, I just want everything in one place. That way, I know exactly where it is and I’m not shuffling through a million different things looking for one piece of information.

To each their own, of course, so stick to whatever works for you- but for me, the Notes app that comes pre-downloaded on your iPhone or Mac is my favorite! You can have different notes, different ‘notebooks’ and if you need, you can lock certain notes too! Plus, thanks to the cloud, everything can be simultaneously synced on your phone and laptop!

5. Reminders

Have you ever had the sinking feeling where you know you should be remembering something but you just can’t? Then by the time you remember what you couldn’t remember, it’s too late? Being pulled so many different directions means I have to remember a lot of things… which is not an easy thing to do. Enter: reminders. Schedule yourself an alarm, or schedule yourself a reminder on the reminder app that’s already on your phone! And, schedule it as SOON as you can.

Can’t begin to tell you how many times this has saved my butt!

6. Save Save Save

A rainy day fund, saving up for something special, a vacation… taxes? Having an efficient way to save your $$ is huge. Either have your bank automatically put a certain amount of money into a savings account or use an app (the CINCteam loves Acorns and Qapital)… just set it up and let it do its thing.

7. Just Do It

We all have things we don’t want to do, or bigger picture things that we keep putting off, or things you think won’t take any time at all so you put them off. So sit down, write it down and start knocking things off the list. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel.

8. Have a Routine

Having a good morning routine can set the right tone for your whole day. If it’s something simple like making up your bed or having a cup of coffee, or something more involved like having a 10-minute meditation session or time to journal, something consistent helps get your mind right and ready for the day ahead! So, even if your life can be a little crazy, having a good routine can be an oasis.

Like I said before, we’re all a work in progress. So do you guys have any tips for getting your shit together? Let us know in the comments below!

Photography by Karla Ticas | Hair & Makeup by Leibi Carias
Suit: Self Portrait | Location: La Peer Hotel