With the approaching new year people usually try to start new things. Set goals for the new year, making time for the gym or just be more organized in general. The new year means new things and always feels like the time to set yourself up for success.
Success means a lot of different things and is usually very individual. To me, as an Enneagram 3, I get a lot of success from achieving goals. This means that each December I am setting goals for myself, the family and for the blog. I like to make a vision board of what I think the next year will hold. To me I have had a successful year when I am able to check those boxes off.
Goal Setting
I think goal setting is extremely important. You cannot achieve things if you don’t know what you want to achieve. Visualizing what you want to accomplish allows you to set up a path to the goal. In years past I would set goal that were specific items such as…
- date night once a month
- gain two new blog sponsors
- go to the gym three days a week
- individual night out with each child once a month
Last year I changed my goal structure. It ended up being perfect for this crazy year that we had. Rather than looking to a single goal I decided to do a weekly check in with myself on things that were important to me. This was how it looked…
- Did you meet your weekly gym goal? If not, why?
- Did I drink enough water this week?
- Did I feel like I stayed on my daily work tasks or did I feel distracted?
- Do I feel satisfied with the state of our home?
- Do I feel like I got intentional time with each kid this week and with Justin?
- Did I stick to my daily skin care routine?
- Is there something outstanding that is making me feel overwhelmed that it is not finished?
- Was I able to respond to emails in a timely manner?
Goals are important but if we aren’t checking in on why we are or are not meeting them then we are setting ourselves up for failure. This year, doing this weekly check in, has helped me in a million ways. Not only was I more attentive to my own needs but I was better at refocusing myself with each change that we navigated this year.
Tiffany the Organizer
In what feels like a former life, I used to organize for people. I would help them organize their houses and closets but I also helped them organize their life. Organization is something that so many people struggle with. Especially after adding kids into the mix it isn’t easy to keep it all straight. I am the perfect example of this.
At my core I am not organized. It was something I struggled with as a kid and even into college. As a child my room was always a mess. I realized in college that being disorganized made me so frustrated and I focused my energy into making myself come up with a system that worked for me. I have always referred to this as running my life like a business.
I am in no way perfect at this. I missed something for one of the kids last week, even though it was on my calendar and my daily schedule. For me being organized is less about being perfect and more about getting the mental load out of my brain.
Virtual Calendar or Paper Calendar
I used a paper planner for years. My absolute favorite is the planner pad. When I was an event manager this planner became my favorite because it is easy to manage multiple projects at a time and move items from one week to the next. It was also bound so everything was in your calendar for that year and you could use it for reference.
I switched to a Google Calendar this year. I was hoping to get everything in one place where I could assess it at all times. The issue with a paper planner is if you forget it then you are out of luck. I can pull up my google calendar on any device with a simple log in. I can also color code things more easily without having to have multiple colored pens.
I also prefer the Google Calendar to the calendar that comes preloaded on your iphone for a few reasons. The most important being that I cannot access my iphone calendar on my computer and I like to see it on both devices.
Schedule
I have done a few different schedules over the years. I like to make one in the summer for the first few weeks just to keep me on track of things we need to do and things we want to do. 100% of the time writing things down and keeping them out of my brain reduces my mental load. It seems silly but writing down that I am going to go to Target every single Tuesday makes it easier on me.
Another reason I utilize a schedule is to make sure that I am finding time to work. If I don’t write it in on the schedule then I find myself scrambling throughout the day to find time to work. When I schedule it I feel like I have made a commitment to myself so I carve out the time. It is also easier for me to set expectations with the kids. I can easily tell them that mom is working from 9 to 10 and then we will do whatever they want to do after that is over.
This was also absolutely the thing that kept me from losing my mind the first few weeks of the lock down. It helped me to know what the kids needed to do each day for school and also kept them on track. We were also able to outline fun activities each day and I think that helped all of our mental health.
I purchased this schedule from ETSY a few months ago. I love that you can print it and color code it if you want to.
Family Calendar
As a mom I am always looking for easy ways to instill in my kids good work ethic and organization skills. Since it was a struggle for me I want to reinforce good habits now. The family wall calendar is one of those things. I put all things that pertain to the kids or the family on that calendar. Birthdays, sports, fun activities and school holidays. For one it is a visual for Justin and I to see things that are coming up for the kids and it helps me not to answer, how many more days till my birthday or when is my soccer game, one hundred times a week.
Bonus it has helped the kids with their numbers and counting too when they were little.
If you are looking to purchase one this is great!
Meal Planning
When I meal plan we eat better meals and I save money. I am not great about keeping up with it but I go through spurts and I am always happy when I do. It is easier to use what you buy when you are planning out what you will eat. If you are looking for a way to save money meal planning is a great way to do it.
I use a few different apps when I meal plan. My favorite is Mealime. It is easy to look through their recipes. You can save a weekly meal plan in the app. The grocery list is also easy to compile from the list provided.
Content Calendar
I call my work calendar my content calendar because that is my job. This is easy to utilize in any profession. I simply write down the items that need to publish on their specific day. Everything is color coded red and when it is finished and scheduled I color code it green. If I am working on sponsored content that needs to go up on a specific date or I have a deadline I also include that on my content calendar.
Remember the key to any plan is to set goals that are achievable with the plan of action you put in place. The best laid plans don’t mean anything if you don’t have a clear way you will accomplish them.
XO,
Tiffany
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