Notes from A Cottage Industry

Weekly words to live by.

Weekly words to live by.

Weekly words to live by.

A potential Action plan for 2023.

After the rush of the holidays, I can't help but want to slow down, cuddle up on the sofa, and write out my plans for the new year too.

I have yet to follow these plans, but everyone talks about the value of intention, and I keep thinking this just may be my year.

A girl can hope so, anyway.

So.

Action plans. Do you have them? Plans for home organization, laying out my day to be more productive (and hopefully stay out of a few rabbit holes) and healthier choices? Do you make a list or a chart, or a graph, or whatever, to achieve goals and inspirations for the upcoming year? Or months, weeks, or maybe just for tomorrow?

One of my best friends keeps a tablet by her bed. She makes her to-do list for tomorrow each evening, and often times adds to it during the night if she wakes up with an idea. She says that, for her, it creates a sense of calm and security that she won't forget something. I've tried this, but I get going on that list in the evening, and I get all hoopty-do'd and excited about the things I think I might be able to accomplish tomorrow. The next thing I know, it's after 1:00 a.m. and my list is unrealistically long, filled with totally unachievable pipe dream items of a semi-imbalanced person.

So, anyway.

This year I'm at it again, trying to lay out rough plans and goals for home projects, business crafty creations stuff, a healthier lifestyle, and things I want to make more time for this year. This time I'm attempting to lay out my plans and goal month by month on a big ol' google doc, with the idea that I will can hope to remember to print out the current month to work on.

I've tried paper planners (Love the pretty-ness of them and all the hope they hold, but I misplace them, and forget to write in them...) and I adore a good vision board. (But I forget to look at the board, let alone update it)

I've tried monthly calendars on my wall. (I like the esthetic, and feel mostly inspired to sit and enjoy at how nice it looks on the wall, as opposed to actually filling in the months with activities...)

I've tried plain notebooks to bullet-point out to-do lists, and I am considering attempting again in conjunction with my year layout in google docs. (But there is that concern that I will forget about it or misplace it as I already stated...)

Anyway, I am feeling enthusiastic and full of hope, as so many of us do each early January. As Oprah said, "It's a new year, and another chance for us to get it right". I love the pure optimism and idealism of that quote, and each January I believe it more than ever.

Oprah also said you do not need a new year to start anew, that any day, any moment can be a fresh start, so there's that.

All of this being said, for me, there is just something about a fresh new year and all the hope and possibility it brings.

I'm wishing us all good luck in getting our acts together a bit better in 2023, both organizationally and in our intentions. I'd love to hear how you start your new year; do you feel that exhilaration of a new page in the book of your life, or did you just do an eye roll and a tiny chuckle while reading this post?

If you do make new years plans, what is your method of carrying them out? Are you a digital document type? A doodler-in-a-planner paper kind of person? If you don't buy into this, how is it going for you? Were you just born focused ad organized? ( I so envy those folks!) or have you, like my friend, already discovered that best-process-method that works well? I truly want to hear.

Whatever method you use, (or don't) I am here, cheering you (and me) on, and looking to take full advantage of using this chance to get it more right. Happy New Year, friends!

Weekly words to live by.