4 Easy Ways To Bring Balance To Your 2018 Goals
Happy New Year! 2018 is here!
And while it is exciting to start a new year, it can also be overwhelming as we try to bring in new intentions and goals.
For instance, did you set a goal of getting fit? Losing weight? Getting new clients? Starting a blog? Posting daily on social media? Spending more time with your family? Keeping your house clean? Writing in your journal every day? Seeing friends more often?
Okay maybe those are maybe just my intentions, but I bet you can relate! And like me, you are exhausted already!
As a small business owner, the juggling game can be intense. And the first person to lose out is usually me. This year my goal is to figure out how to balance it all so I can meet all my 2018 intentions yet still managing the life / work balance.
This is the system I’m going to try and make work:
1. Make everything into bite size nuggets
Everything in life seems so much more manageable when put into bite size nuggets. So rather than looking at the big goal (ie. losing 20 lbs or finding 10 new clients or getting 100 new Instagram followers), it is important to break this down. While 20 lbs isn’t going to happen this month, 4 lbs a month for 5 months can and is so much more psychologically manageable.
Making this work for social media – Wanting 100 new Instagram followers won’t happen tomorrow, but 10 a week for 10 weeks is something to strive for. Plan out your daily posts in monthly calendar. And set a goal for how many people you will follow each day to help increase engagement.
Every goal can be broken down and hopefully this will help you stay on track for 2018.
2. Use a project management tool
When you are juggling business and life, a great project management tool is extremely useful. We use Asana at 365 Day Media Group and it is a wonderful way to keep all those task lists and bite size nuggets organized. You can keep personal and business tasks all in one place and check it off each day when accomplished.
Making this work for social media – As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Asana is how we organize all our social medial posts, and we highly recommend it. Write up a week or two of posts or ideas in one sitting and then your content won’t seem so overwhelming each day. We put the post, the hashtags, the image and more in our task list.
3. Put everything in your calendar
Scheduling everything in is key to success. So put your workout in your calendar. Put all your tasks. Your grocery shopping. EVERYTHING! If you use Asana, sync the tasks from there to your calendar.
Making this work for social media – Fill up your content calendar as far in advance as possible. Put what time you want to post so that you don’t forget. If you already scheduled it using Facebook or Hootsuite, etc, still put it in your calendar so you make sure it posted correctly and you are watching the engagement.
4. Don’t over promise yourself
Things may not all go as planned. Don’t get discouraged. Just get back on track as soon as possible. System isn’t work for you. Then change it!
Making this work for social media – Did you miss posting for a few days? Did people stop following you on Instagram? Did no one comment on your Facebook posts? Fear not. Just keep going!
Most of all, take time for yourself, your friends and your family! Because that is what will make your 2018 the most enjoyable!
This week’s blog was written by our CEO Tami Tate. A small business owner since 1998, she loves working with entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes on their marketing.