I left my job in IT in 2015 and started working on my own as a freelancer. I was happy and elated to finally be my own boss. However, the honeymoon phase after leaving my job soon ended and my life became a mess.

All my life, I had been told what to do. I was always taking instructions from others (read: in my school, college and work lives). One phase started after the other and there emerged a new set of people to take instructions from and to obey. However, once I left my job, I was not accountable to anyone anymore. I didn’t have to update my work at the end of the day or email someone about what I had done all day long. I became my new leader and I let myself get away with anything. I did not know how to tackle my newfound and overloaded independence with no one telling me what to do next. The structure was gone and with it my productivity.

To solve my own problem, I researched and read every article available online, watched almost every single video on YouTube and read a plethora of eBooks and books about productivity. I did online research into the lifestyles of entrepreneurs and successful people around the world. How do they do their stuff? How do they get so much done in a day? What are their secret strategies?

After a lot of trial and error, and months later, I created a system for myself that worked just right. I learned that independence is not that chaotic; I just needed a little structure. Maybe a few self-imposed rules and that’s enough. I know how difficult it can be when you are trying to figure things out all alone. I can totally relate to others who are in the same boat because I wished someone had helped me out during my difficulties; I wanted to be that someone for others going through the same thing. Why not help each other along the way? Maybe it will help someone shorten their struggle, and they won’t have to reinvent the wheel.

So, I went ahead and decided to share this planner based on all the amazing productivity hacks people have discovered throughout the last two decades. Yes, that took a lot of hard work, but at the same time it gave me a deep sense of satisfaction to create something valuable. And now that the planner is done, I feel honoured to share it with you.

I have also been working on two other projects, but they are not yet ready to be launched. However, they will be coming soon. I created Inspiredawe as a "roof" that will cover these three projects.

- Priyashaa Ghos