Planning for the new year
I am a planner. I love taking the time to intentionally sit down and refocus; to rethink what I am doing and to feel like I am starting afresh. I typically have two main planning times each year — one in the summer as I plan for our next school year and one at the start of the new year.
My husband often has a few days off between Christmas and New Year’s Day, which gives me the opportunity to get out of the house to plan. For me, this usually means sitting in a restaurant with my iPad and papers scattered all over the table.
I definitely encourage you to take some time to sit and plan for your new year. It can be as complex or simple as you want it to be but taking the time to slow down and reflect is important.
Carlos doesn’t have time off this year for me to get away and plan, so I will most likely plan on a Saturday in January. I will definitely share with you a rundown of how I plan for the year when that happens.
For those of you who really can’t find child care to get away and plan, this post from Quill and Camera has some great suggestions for making it work at home with your kids. It is a post about planning for homeschoolers, but the tips are just as relevant for non-homeschoolers.
In the meantime, here are a few links to resources for reflecting and planning for the new year.
20 Questions for a New Year’s Eve Reflection from the Art of Simple. If you are looking for a way to reflect on the past year either alone or with your spouse, this gives you some great questions to start with.
3 Steps to Efficient Yearly Planning from Intentional by Grace is a great blog post with practical tips to get you started.
Your Retreat: A Guide to Giving Yourself a Personal Planning Day is a $3.99 e-book with great information on how to have a planning day, as well as planning printables from the Humbled Homemaker.
I love Lara Casey for goal planning. 2016 Goal Setting is a great blog post on goal setting for the new year. If you are serious about goal planning and being intentional about how you live your life, her Power Sheets are amazing. The sheets cost $50, which is a lot, but you definitely get what you pay for and more. It is a year’s worth of planning your life with purpose.
I love goal planning and having focus going into a new year! My struggle is having too many goals and ambitions, so I am trying to streamline this year. Looking forward to following your blog! (fellow homeschooling blogging mom) 🙂
My struggle is that I start out very motivated, but then as time goes on I get distracted. I definitely need to take time to plan on a regular basis, so I stay on track!
I’m far more interested in planning in May. The new school year always seems like a fresh start to me, whereas January is more same old same old.
I definitely do a different kind of planning in the summer. My planning for the new year is more personal goals, instead of being school related. Also, this tend to be a good time to evaluate what is working well and what isn’t in terms of our schedule.