by Jessica Ehler
I debated how I wanted to tackle this subject because it’s easy to say “just do less” and “live in the moment,” but our reality as professional women is that the end of the year is extra chaotic. This is our last quarter which means it is our last opportunity to make sure we hit our yearly goals as well as create new ones for next year. Our lives are thrown in a thousand directions, and all of them require us to give, give, give and if you’re anything like me, you want to make this time extra special which requires even more give. The good news is, after 10 years of owning a business and getting through this chaos while adding more and more kids, I have come up with a fail-proof system to thrive instead of surviving.
I do not want to toot my own horn, but “toot-toot” I have become a master of getting it all done (for the most part) and doing it efficiently. I may or may not be a little type A, but now this system will benefit you even if you are not. Being chronically short on time and not wanting to do things more than once is also the key to my insanity… I mean success.
Plan to succeed
This may sound a little hokey, but the first thing I want you to do is go somewhere quiet, close your eyes, and visualize what is most important to you during these next couple of months. What makes you happiest during this time of year? What moments are most precious to you? Write them down and center everything else around them. For me, it’s taking time to serve others with my kids and see how happy they are to be giving back. It is having my family over for Thanksgiving, doing craft projects with my kids, and my Christmas day tradition. It is also sitting down with my husband/business partner with a bottle of wine and brainstorming what we want our next year to look like personally and professionally. This is what makes my holiday season special, so all of those items will go on my calendar and the rest can fit around it.
Which leads me to my next tip, make those lists! And I am not talking about the naughty or nice kind. There is so much going on that your lists might need lists, but it’s easier to sit down for an hour and map out the next couple months than to try to wing it and be all over the place. I have six lists. Yes six, do not judge. A calendar to mark the dates, to-do list, weekly grocery list, gift list, and to-buy list where I mark the store down next to it. Finally, if I am hosting an event that requires a separate list. Lists = organization and sanity.
- What big events are happening on what days? What do you need to bring? Mark your calendar, highlight what you need to bring and add to your to-buy list what you need to purchase. Does it need to be wrapped? Add that to your to-do list with a date by which it needs to be done. What outfit are you going to wear? Write that down too and set it aside in your closet. There is nothing worse than getting ready to go and realizing its dirty or something is missing.
