Welcome to 2012!  I love January! There is such high energy here! Before us lies an entire year – 12 months, 52 weeks, 363 more days and in that time anything can happen!  January is a big beautiful blank canvas! The only question is; what are we going to paint on it.

How do you hit the ground running in January? You get excited about the possibilities. You decide want to make of the New Year then roll up your sleeves and get to work! You set intentions, plans for organizing, new work habits, new routines to maintain balance in your life while achieving your goals.

Here is one idea I developed late last year to keep me organized and on top of my game. I created a chart to plan the week’s activities.  On the chart are all the activities I want to engage in for the week. I don’t schedule each activity- I do them whenever I want with the intention of completing them all by the end of the week.  I do the things that require the most thinking early in the day and early in the week when my energy is highest. When something is finished, I cross it off and focus on the other activities.

Working with a chart like this:

1) Reminds you to work both on your business (planning) and in your business (executing). If I put enough thought into the creation of the chart before the week begins, focusing on how the activities will lead to my goals, then all I have to concern myself with during the week is the completion of the activities, one by one.

2) Gives you a visual of what you’re accomplishing. Do you ever find hours slipping away and though you’ve been “working” you can’t see what you’ve accomplished? Putting check marks on the chart shows me my activity for each day.

3) Shows you when you’ve reached your goals. If I don’t plan how much time I will allow for reading blogs, commenting, studying, tweaking my site, etc., I never know when I’m finished and I never feel finished. It’s gratifying to know I’ve finished something and to put that check mark on my chart! (If you’d like a copy of my chart, contact me and I’ll send it to you.)

Do you love January? Have you set your intentions and drafted a plan to accomplish them? How do you hit the ground running in January?

photo credit: Shane Gorski