Business Down? Maximize this Time!

“Slowing down is sometimes the best way to speed up.”

-Mike Vance

If January brings you more time and less business, then use it to build out systems now so that during your busy season you are more efficient. From personal to business life, there are activities you can do now that can set you up for a more successful year. 

Business Life:

• Company Retreats 
• Mass Batching Social Media
  • Create a Social Media Calendar so you know what you’ll post and when
  • Research what has worked well in the past for your SM posts 
  • Research and document what hashtags to use 
  • Find the photos you’ll use, sort and tag them 
• Create your E-newsletters months in advance 
• Networking
  • Coffee with your vendors 
  • Beers with your sphere
  • Attend more business meetings or other networking events 
• Lead Generate for More Business
• Browse & Research Your Industry
  • FaceBook groups are great for this. Join different ones for your industry and learn what others are doing from systems to networking to everything in between. 
• Continuing Education Classes
  • It’s not fun, but get it done now! 
• Pursue Professional Development
  • Take online courses
  • Listen to podcasts
  • Read books 
  • Watch videos 
• Review Profit & Losses 
• Improve Your Website
• Clean Up & Declutter
  • From notes, to inboxes, to journals-either do something with them or get rid of it. 

Personal Life:

• Declutter:
  • File cabinet
  • Email inbox and folders
  • Clothes
  • Toys 
• Organize:
  • Recipe boxes/folders/apps
  • Closets  
  • Pantry
    • Make it a game with the kiddos- What’s the oldest expiration date you can find in your pantry? 
• Connect:
  • Dinner with the friend you rarely see
  • Phone calls to friends and family in other states 
  • Mass complete birthday cards (or heck, even Christmas cards for next year!) 
• Pursue Personal Development
  • Have you ever wanted to learn to do something? Well now is a great time! From learning a new language, to taking classes on hobbies you want to sharpen or learn, research it now and get it setup. 
• Journal
• Atomic Habits
  • A great book that I suggest you read. But for now, think about what habits to create and which ones to break? 
• Mass Batch Freezer Crockpot Meals 
• Deep Clean
• Do Those “Someday-Maybe” Activities 
• Volunteer
  • If you need an organization to join, Central Idaho Mountain Bike Association (CIMBA) is looking for people to volunteer for 2024. You can do this remotely too!! Contact me if you’re interested! 🙂  
• Gift Cards & Presents
  • Are you like me and you have a stack of gift cards laying around for various businesses? Make it a goal to only eat out at one of those places. 
  • Go get that massage you haven’t made time for! 

Plan Your Year:
If you didn’t do any planning yet for what you want 2024 to look like, then take the time to work on that now. And even if you did plan out your year, take the time to do the research and planning for what you have on your calendar. 

• Trips:
  • Research everything you need to for your trips you plan to take.
    • Flights, lodging, transportation
    • Best restaurants to eat at
    • Which activities you’ll do
    • What gear you’ll need for the trip and where to get it (buy, borrow, rent). 
• House Projects
  • What projects will you tackle this year?
    • Make a list
    • Time block it into your calendar
    • Work on researching now what you’ll need; paint colors, what tools, any design inspiration, book contractors, etc. 

Also, Relax:
As my daughter has once told me, “we’re not resting people”, so it’s real hard for me to just rest and relax. But I try to remind myself this time right now is a time to enjoy the slowness and just breath and be. Because the spring selling season (for Real Estate) is right around the corner, the deep powder runs are coming (hopefully more than what we just got), and then my favorite hiking trails aren’t that far away from being unburied by that snow, so while I’m waiting on these things, I’m trying to enjoy the slowness, so I hope you do too!