A Plan For Your Year

Last week, we talked about how “cleaning house” can set you up for a super productive month (and year ahead).

Another critical piece to having a fun and profitable year, is to create a plan. I’m a self-confessed major planner, but I know not everyone is.

If you find planning stressful and anxiety producing, this is totally NORMAL!

You don’t have to know exactly what your entire year is going to look like, but it’s important to know where you’re heading and what you want to achieve in the year ahead. Otherwise, chances are you won’t achieve your goals.

When I don’t have any sort of plan, I find that I take too much on.

I’m not realistic about what I can accomplish in the time I’ve allotted. By doing some basic planning, I’ve been able to reduce my stress and improve my results.

When I commit to too many projects, I can’t put 100% into everything I’m working on. This means that either my clients suffer or my results (and revenue) suffer. Can you relate?

While working long hours is sometimes necessary when building a business, when you are working, you want to be as efficient as possible. And, you want to be working on the things that are most important in helping your business grow.

One of the things that I’ve found to be helpful is to map out a plan for the year – but also the week and the month, so I know what I want to focus on. This keeps me clear on my priorities, so I actually accomplish the things that are most important in helping me reach my goals.

And because I always have new ideas of things I want to create or do, this also keeps me honest about whether I can take on new projects at any given time.

For example, if I am in the middle of launching a program and I get excited about a new idea to help grow my list, I simply slot the project in after the launch, when I can fully focus on it.

This way, I’m not saying “no,” I’m just scheduling it for a later date.

Creating your plan for the year

Like I said earlier, while you may not know your exact plans for the whole year, it’s helpful to lay out a tentative plan. As you think about the year ahead, consider what programs you want to launch and what other larger projects you want to accomplish.

When you lay out your plan, give each month a focus. This doesn’t mean that this will be the only thing you’ll work on that month, but it will be the main priority.

Here’s an example of how you might organize your year:

January
Creating a talk & lining up speaking engagements

February
Promotion to bring in 1:1 private coaching clients

March
Preparing to market/lead a Spring Cleanse/Detox

April
Marketing/leading a Spring Cleanse/Detox

May
Creating a free gift and adding to your website

June
Connecting with possible referral partners and/or affiliates

July
Promotion to bring in 1:1 private coaching clients

August
Revamping your website

September
Preparing to market/lead a Fall Cleanse/Detox

October
Marketing/leading a Fall Cleanse/Detox

November
Working on systems to help you be more efficient and effective

December
Bigger list building project

Creating your plan for the week

If you want you to achieve your goals for the year, it’s important to create a plan for your week. I find that it’s much too easy, at the start of each day, to get distracted by emails in my inbox, social media, and my personal to-do list.

What I find helpful is to be clear about what my main priority is for each day. And because I’m most productive in the morning, it works best for me work on the main priority at the start of each day.

To create a plan for your week, make a list of the most important tasks you want to accomplish each week. I find that these tasks typically break down into three main areas: marketing, client calls, and creating content.

By block scheduling your time into each of these areas, you’ll be more focused and efficient.

Your focus for the month will determine what you work on during your marketing and content creation days.

Here’s an example of how you might organize your week:

Creating your plan for the month

For some people, it works better to have a focus for each week of the month. In this case, instead of seeing clients every Tuesday and Thursday, you would only see clients during two weeks of the month. You can then focus on marketing and content creation the other weeks of the month.

Here’s an example of how you might organize your month:

Week 1
Client week

Week 2
Marketing week

Week 3
Client week

Week 4
Content creation week

As you consider how you want to organize your week, month, and year, think about what you’d like to accomplish this upcoming year – or at least in the first quarter. Will you focus on getting 1:1 clients, creating a new online program, or growing your list?

I’d love to hear from you.
What works for you when it comes to planning and organizing your time? Share your thoughts and questions below.