2020 shook loose all the pieces that we were barely holding on too and it forced us to look at our daily work in new ways. It made us braver in some areas because we had no choice. It made us look at our greed, our vision and relationship to growth, and our values. It took away all the distraction and forced us to deal with ourselves and the people in our life in a more straightforward way. For this I am eternally grateful. But it also left us in shock and grieving. The death toll is unfamothable. And there is very much a distinction from “the before times” and “the covid times” that would do us good to recognize in some meaningful way as the year comes to a close.
Though my brain capacity slowed down along with my personal life in 2020. I want to share with you how I end my years and begin planning for a new one. As I have done for the past two years, I will be taking most of January off to be in nature and to run through my self-directed planning retreat.
The three big things I do in December are:
1. Year in Review - 2020 was an odd year, so this year I’m only focusing on the things I’m proud of, which include prioritizing my employees safety and comfort above all profits. We made bold decisions as a team and we pivoted in a way that made sense for us. I’m not going to analyze sales trends this year or list out the things that didn’t work. I just can’t see the point. We did a lot right when everything went wrong and that’s what I’m going to acknowledge.
2. 2021 Planning - Over the past month I have sketched out a week long self-directed retreat for planning 2021 and 2022. In the summer, I hired a consultant that helped us map out a new direction for the business. One that wasn’t tied to how many people come through and sit inside the shop everyday. The reality is we don’t know when that business model is going to come back and we need to maximize our space to make as many sales as we can today. Now that we have a few months under our belts in this new direction, I’m ready to plan it out in greater detail.
My retreat has four sections:
Meditation: I open and close each day with meditation and some kind of hands on visioning activity. On the first day I’m drawing what success looks like for my business, throughout the three days I’m using some time to make some vases out of salt clay, and then ending the retreat with more detailed visionalizations. Studies show using your hands helps with memory and creative problem solving. So by building in some craft time I should be able to get through any problems that I can’t find my way out of during the retreat.
S.W.O.T: Prior to my retreat, I am doing a one page SWOT analysis for each area of my business. S = Strength, W= weakness, O= opportunities, T= threats. And then I add a research section that is full of questions on what I don't know and need to research further before making decisions. I can then go over these documents during my retreat to help decide budget allowances, how to break the projects down into smaller steps, and figure out how much time each step will take to complete.
TED talks: Yep, I scheduled in time to watch some ted talks and skillshare videos that add information I might not have. Specifically I want to evolve my marketing skills and these are good places to learn about a skill you might want some to freshen up.
Calendarization: The last part of my retreat will be to put everything on a calendar divided up by quarters and then break it down by months and weeks. This allows me to see the whole year and stay on top of the tasks that will move my business forward. I keep this calendar on a wall at least through January. But then I note it all down in a google folder that I keep going back to throughout the year and sometimes print it out to keep at eye level and make sure I’m staying on task. This allows me to update my daily calendar I carry around as I create the weeks by quarter.
3. Build a Daily Calendar - I use my phone calendar, a daily Bullet Journal, and a braindump notebook everyday. I used to only use an office depot by the day calendar. This only allowed me to know what I had to do and when I had to do them, but it wasn’t a system that moved me forward. It was a system that kept me where I was, doing only the things that needed to be done to keep the shop open.
Three years ago I switched to Bullet Journaling and it really does work for me. But I don’t really follow the Bullet Journal system to a T. I don’t do a lot of it and I added other things that work for me from research over the years in how to manage a difficult calendar.
You can learn more about Bullet Journaling by clicking here
Things I don’t do in my Bullet Journal:
I don’t make an index. I don’t make a monthly log by date (only by tasks that need to get done in that month). I don’t use washi tape, glitter pens, tabs, or make anything look fancy and colorful. I don’t use signifiers. I don’t braindump and list everything I should do that week or day and I don’t do collections. I use a second larger notebook that includes everything I’m thinking about. More on this notebook later. I don’t create a month worth of pages at a time. I don’t use one page for one day. I don’t migrate unfinished items more than two weeks. I don’t number the pages.
Things I do do in my Bullet Journal:
I prepare by the quarter. I write out three months of priorities at a time with each month on it’s own page. I write in my habit trackers on these pages too. I write out two weeks of daily squares at a time. I write out six days on one page into equal squares. I do write my daily appointments in the appropriate square, even though I also keep a calendar on my phone. I divide the second page into one and half columns of that week’s To Dos, Writing To Dos, and a weekly Mantra. This frees up ⅙ of the page for whatever comes up. Extra notes, an idea, a comment to the weekly mantra, a doodle, a 7th day, whatever. If a To Do item doesn’t get done within two weeks I look back into my Month page and make sure it’s attached to a priority. I will either rewrite so it’s more attuned to the priority, put it into the next month, or I let it go. But I don’t just keep moving it to the next week because it wasn’t a priority.
Things I’ve incorporated from other calendars:
I draw a square in front of each “To Do” item so I can check off a box. I use a circle to measure 20 minutes, then I estimate how many 20 minutes increments I think each task will take and I check them off as I do them. This is highly motivating for me. 20 -25 minutes has been shown to give your brain enough time to work through something and then rest for 5 minutes. It has given me a lot of brain power in a day. Don’t just work until you’re tired. You will get tired way faster that way.
Habit Tracker. I firmly believe that it is through our discipline to the small consistent habits that we expand into the person and CEO we want to be. You don’t just start going to the gym 5 days a week with a perfect workout. You don’t just start cooking healthy meals everyday. You think about doing those things, then you find a way to include them into your life little by little until they are just part of your lifestyle. You become a morning gym person over a long time through consistent action. A habit tracker is how I switched up my morning routine. I thought through how my morning would bring more peace and comfort to my day and then I tried it out for a week. I put a check mark in pink next to the date in my Bullet Journal each morning that I did that new morning routine. And it really did help me get grounded and more present throughout the day. So when the alarm went off earlier than normal again, I choose my morning routine. I keep putting check marks by the date as a little pat on the back to myself that I am dedicated to the small consistent action that helps me evolve.
I also started writing out little bubbles on the Monthly pages of my Bullet Journal for all the other things I want to track. Like going to the gym 4 days a week, reading at night instead of falling asleep to the tv, and doing 30 minutes of something out of my head and into my hands each day, like coloring or collage. I just check each bubble off each day.
I’ve posted some photos at the bottom of the post of my Bullet Journal so you can see what I’ve been talking about.
That’s it! That is how I’m ending 2020 and beginning 2021. Dedicated to my small consistent action, being present through preparation, and going after my big crazy goals. After the past year we had, I’m prioritizing my peace and my values above all else.
Wait. . . . a couple more things.
Braindump notebook - Ok, so I mentioned this idea above. I don’t use a lot of the Bullet journal tricks of the trade, but I do have a second larger notebook that I carry around with me. I’ve been doing this since high school. I start a new page for each topic. (Sometimes pages stay blank and sometimes they continue non-sequentially throughout the notebook) This notebook started as a sketchbook in an art class but as my responsibilities grew over time it’s now a way to get everything out of my head so I can be more present at the task at hand. It includes meeting notes, fleshing out ideas for marketing and new products, notes from books I'm reading, ideas on menu items and whatever else comes up for me. I get it out of my head and into this notebook. This allows me to go back and continue brainstorming and thinking through an idea or write new data on the idea. I always keep a notebook that fits in my bag and I just dump everything in it with a date at the top.
Journal - I journal each morning for an hour. This is part of my new morning routine. Between 530 and 630am I sit at my desk and I move between a book and my journal. I read books that fuel my spirit. Many people read the bible in the morning and I think that’s very close to what this time is for me. I have a stack of spiritual books that I pick up and read. Sometimes I read the same one until I’m finished. These books help me process the big things that are happening internally for me. I also journal in the evening but only for a few minutes usually. My evening journaling is to get out anything that is weighing on me so I can sleep more peacefully.
I use journal prompts, cry over heartbreak and write out all my intentions. The usual personal journal stuff. All this stays out of my work calendar and braindump notebook. It’s the stuff I don’t want anyone to see and I’ve been doing it since I first learned to write. It tells my life’s story and maybe one day all these stories will conspire into a novel. Or someone will throw them all away when I die. Who knows? But they help and I have probably 30 years worth of journals in a closet in the hallway. I also have all my moms journals in there with mine and that is somewhat comforting to be connected with someone who came before me and struggled just like I do and wrote it all down.
