As we begin a new year I highly recommend preparing for yourself or if you are a VA, preparing your client. Setting the tone for what needs to happen each month will guarantee you can do all that you are hoping to accomplish!
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
Let me get you started…
Grab a piece of paper, a pen and download my “year at a glance” freebie.
1. Commitments - Write out all areas that you are involved in. Most entrepreneurs I know don’t just do ‘one thing’. They are involved in many places. This would be your business, your podcast, your blog, or groups you are a part of, or things you lead. Anything that you have tasks and responsibilities for. These are areas that should have recurring tasks or meetings every month. What is your main area of focus as well as your second and third if you have them?
2. Tasks - What is required in each of those areas? These are the big buckets of responsibilities that make up your areas of focus. Write these down. Now think about how often you would like to or need to do each of these tasks. Set goals for how many times you want to post on your blog or record a podcast guest. For example, if your main area of focus is your podcast. How many episodes are you going to record next year? How many does that come out to each month? This will help you gauge how many you need to record each month to have an episode released weekly.
3. PR/ Marketing - This is another area of focus for your year. What’s your plan for getting your brand out there? This is where you will decide all of the marketing strategies for your year. How often do you want to post on your socials? Do you want to do speaking engagements? Do you want to get on other podcasts once a month? Do the same thing you just did with your main areas of focus - come up with your tasks and how often you want to engage in them.
4. Set your ideal week. - As you look at all of your responsibilities think about the best days of the week to do these tasks. Monday might be a good planning day for the week and working on your business. Tuesday might be great for all outside meetings. Friday might be a good day to do all of your marketing. Decide on your days off, time with family, and creative time too. Set themes for each day. This will be your guide for accomplishing your areas of focus.
5. Personal Commitments - Do not forget to make time for your family and friends. Think about all of the things you like to do outside of work. This is your hobbies, your workout plan, and volunteer opportunities. This is essentially another area of focus. What do you want to make sure you fit in. For me, it’s bi-monthly date nights, twice a week workouts, and church every Sunday.
6. Now, put it into a yearly plan. Check out my free download to make sure you can fit everything you want to in your year. This is an easy way to see how busy your week is and not overload weeks when you have big projects due or speaking engagements.
I created this spreadsheet using a SmartSheet spreadsheet template. They are a wonderful resource.
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