Now What? 6 Hacks to Help You Answer Now What
Now what?! The holidays are pretty much over, the new year is right around the corner. Now what do I do? You’re in luck! I have a plan for you.
Tomorrow is the last day of the year! Are you thinking, “Now what?” You are not alone. Many times after the holidays people can be a little lost. They may find they have more time on their hands or not sure what to focus on.
I am here to HELP YOU! I am going to give you some answers to your now what questions. AND I have some free printables just for YOU! To help guide you as you start a new year.
If you have been around long enough then you know that last year I started do to monthly goals. Usually at the beginning of the month I put out a post detailing my monthly personal and work goals.
I talk a a bit about my goals from the previous month. A few things happened. I was putting my goals out there and this helped me to be more accountable about my goals.
I also broke up my goals into smaller, more attainable goals. Which also helped me to get more done. So with that in mind let’s talk about our first Now What Hack.
Now What Hack #1: Make a Few Bigger Goals
You might think I’m crazy because I just talked about making smaller goals. I promise this has a point. š Last year one of my big goals was to declutter and organize my WHOLE house.
That alone is so daunting. But it was s starting point. For 2020 I want to organize and declutter my life on screens (pictures, important info, etc.) and in paper.
For work I have some big goals but I am keeping them to myself, for now. They are kind of HUGE and I’m not sure I need or want the pressure of putting those goals out there.
Now What Hack #2: Break Your Big Goal into Smaller Goals
Last year I took my big goal of decluttering and organizing my whole house and wrote it down. I used my simplify printables to help me write in detail what I wanted to do in each room.
Each month I picked a room (or sometimes two) to focus on for the month. After a whole year of doing this my house is decluttered and organized. It’s an ongoing project because I have 5 other people to train and to “help” me.
This year for each month I am going to have one area that I just look over and make sure it’s still decluttered and organized. And you bet that I get my kiddos and hubby involved in that.
This year I have written my big goal down and started to write down alllll the little goals to make my big goal happen. Instead of saying, “now what?” I will have it all laid out in an organized way.
Now What Hack #3: Make a Plan and Write Your Goals Down
So now you have your major goal (or a few, don’t have too many! It will overwhelm you.) and mini goals within your major goal. Now what? You make a plan and WRITE IT DOWN!
Use my free printables to plan out how you will accomplish your goal. Write down ALL the steps. Don’t leave anything out because it is all important in order for you to be successful.
Decide what will be the first step and start from there. You can plan do to certain things in certain months. Or you can just start with the first step and go onto the next step when you have finished the first.
However you choose to tackle your mini goals, you need to get started and…
Now What Hack #4: Be Accountable
That’s right, you need to be accountable for your now what major and mini goals. Tell a friend, get an accountability partner, tag me on social media and share with the world (or your little corner of it), or think of a way that will help you to be accountable.
This is how I stay accountable:
- I blog my goals each month
- I write my goals down and usually post them in my bathroom
- Tell Eddy my goals
- Lists! I love to cross things off. Every little thing I do gets crossed off. And on man it feels good!
- Having a time frame (of a month) helps me have a start and end date
- Breaking my goals into mini goals makes it easier to achieve
- Write down what I want to do on a certain day on my calendar
What do you do to help you stay accountable? Share in the comments so we can all learn from your wisdom. š
Now What Hack #5: Recap and Plan
Since I break my mini goals into monthly intervals it is easy for me to recap on my last month. What went well, what didn’t? What did I finish vs. what needs to still be done?
After I have taken a few minutes to think about last month I then know where I am going to go next month. At the end of the year I didn’t get as much done in a certain month. I ended up having the same personal goals for three months.
Was it ideal? No. Did I eventually meet my goals? Yes. Sometimes things do not go as planned and you have to modify. THAT’S OKAY! Life happens. Just take a step back and breath. Or say, “so what!” and move on.
Now that I have thought about last month I’m ready to plan for next month (or for the next goal). Planning is such an important part of being successful at meeting a goal.
If you build it, they will come.
Same thing applies! If you plan then you will be more successful. Notice I said more successful. You can’t just plan. You need to…
Now What Hack #6: Get To Work
Get up and get to work! You have to put forth all the effort to make things happen. You can do this! I hope this will help you to be more successful with accomplishing a big goal you have for 2020.
Please let me know what your goal is. And click here or the picture below to get your FREE Now What bundle. Happy planning and MEETING your goals!
I have a gigantic now what,not because it’s the beginning of another year by because it’s also the beginning of another chapter for me. I have no idea where to start from yet. But after reading your post, I guess I’ll2just start from drawing out a pls. Thank you.
Thank you! Good luck in your new chapter! I truly hope the best for you. š
I love the idea of mini goals!
Thanks Leslie! š
Awesome tips! Iām a perpetual planner that rely son goals, Iām going to incorporate some of this (already do some) into my goal setting routine.
Oh awesome!! Iām glad I could help out a planner. š Let me know how it goes.
I needed to read this. I’ve got some major goals for 2020, but I’m incredibly disorganized in my planning!
Oh Iām so glad it was helpful! Thank you so much! Iād love to hear your goals. Itās fun to see what otherās goals are. Good luck! š
I absolute love this idea!! Maybe this would actually help me stick to something and not forgetting. Having a 3 year old and 1 year old twins life gets chaotic and I often feel like screaming. Lol. I am definitely going to try this and keep it somewhere I will see it daily.
Kids can make life hars! I canāt imagine twins… way to go mama! Thank you so much! š„° Good luck! You can do it.
Great information for setting goals and achieving them..thanks for the printables! I’m going to get to work.
Aww thank you so much!! Iām glad you found them helpful! š
Great hacks! I like the idea of picking a room each month to declutter. This is going to be .my first goal on my list. Thanks@
Oh Iām so glad!! Thank you! š Iām doing a monthly decluttering and cleaning goal this year. Each month Iāll send out the new calendar with that months challenge. By the end of the year you can have your whole house done! I have a post coming out tomorrow with all the details, stay tuned! š
I don’t usually get into the whole New Year’s resolution thing, but this week we’ve managed to carry out 9 trash bags of stuff to donate, sell, and throw away. It’s very freeing. My kids have even cleared out their own rooms and cleaned them.
Thatās awesome!!! So cool that your kids are helping. Iām glad itās been freeing for you. š
I have been setting monthly goals for the last several years now and it has definitely makes it easier to actually accomplish that goal.
Itās been such a better system for me. Iām glad itās been helpful for you!!
This is a great way to break it down I normally just list everything under one big goal. I cn definitely try this method.
This has been key for me in getting things done. It has laid it all out in smaller, super attainable steps. Good luck! Iād love to hear how it goes. š
I love the idea of organizing your pictures! Oh, how I need to do that! The printables are fantastic.
Thank you! Itās out of control for me! š
Keep following and hopefully I can be of help with your pictures as I go through my journey of figuring it out.
This is very similar to my system! I completely agree with breaking it down like this!
Yay!! Glad Iām not the only one. Thank you!! š
Great hacks AND I love the printables!!! Planning is the key to success.
Thank you Annette!! š I sure thing planning is key.
Love this! Im definitely a planner!
Yay Amber! Planning makes my heart happy. š
Some helpful tips for goals and productivity. Love it.
Thank you Mamie!! Hope you find them useful. š