Here are some Tips for Planning your 2021. How do you even start planning? Have you already started? Do you use the quiet time over Christmas to look at planning your 2021?
Tip no. 1 - How did your 2020 go?
2020 put pay to a lot of people’s plans, either celebrations, holidays, or business goals. Things do not look like they are going to change for a while, and it has become a bit normal working from home or reduced working in an office. The first tip of planning for 2021 is to look back at 2020. What went well, what did not go so well, what needs to massively improve or what can you change going forwards. This will give you a basis to start from.
Tip no. 2 – Schedule breaks/holidays/lunches
Start with good intentions going forward. Go through the whole year and book out what you need to. Bank holidays to start with, if you will not work them, you need to block them out in your calendar. Time off, if you have planned time off, book it in. Do you want a lunch break and do not usually take one, book it out – go on, I dare you. Book a whole hour for lunch every day. You do have the ability to move this out slightly if needed, but if it is in there, you are more likely to book around it.
Important dates – partner’s/children’s birthdays/appointments you cannot miss. Holidays if you have taken the chance and booked any, book them in your diary. It prevents you to have to re-arrange things and saves you time in the long run.
Tip No 3. – Block out your calendar for checking e-mails/social media/work
I am sure you have a routine but blocking out time in your diary for checking e-mails/social media each day makes you stick to it. It will hopefully stop you checking social media regularly. You will have 1 (or 2) defined slots per day to check you e-mails/social media. This prevents you from being tied to your e-mails all day. Then you can book slots in for working. When are you most productive? If it is in the morning, put a big block in the mornings so you get your to-do list cracked early in the day.
Check out my post on the Pomodoro technique I wrote on LinkedIn.
Tip No 4. – Goals – break them down into 90-day chunks
At the beginning of the year or whenever you write your goals, they may seem impossible to reach. Break your goals down into smaller chunks e.g., 90 days. Say for example your goal it to hit 1000 followers on a certain social media site. This may seem like a huge goal to some. However, if you cut this goal into bite sized chunks it becomes more achievable. 250 extra followers for each 90-day cycle. Then you could even cut down to monthly chunks and some it becomes even more achievable.
Tip No 5. – Choose 3 goals
Having a list of more than 3 goals can be totally overwhelming. Again, if you cut these down to 3 or your biggest goals, you can concentrate more on your 3 top goals, if you do this, each 90 days, you could reach 12 goals in 2021!
I hope these 5 top tips for planning your 2021 help you a little towards getting yourself organised for the year ahead. Another way I could help is to take some of your admin off your hands. Think about the top 10 things on your to do list. I expect half of those jobs you could outsource to a Virtual Assistant. Whilst planning for 2021, have a look at your to do list and see if there is anything you could outsource. Take a look at my services here, if there is something else that you’d like to outsource, book a discovery call with me here, as it is maybe something I could help with.
Good luck with your planning for 2021.
