Prepping for a New Year
Hello friends! It’s been a while since we posted here, but a goal for 2024 is to make this blog space a little more active (although in a new location so stay tuned…).
We always take two weeks off during Christmas and New Year to spend time with family and rest. We completely check out of email, and it’s so nice to come back fully refreshed and ready to start the new year with a bang. I highly recommend taking some time off at the end of each year - most business are super slow during this time anyway so it’s the perfect time to close your laptop and step away.
Before I head off to eat alllll the Christmas cookies, I wanted to share with you guys a few things that I’m doing to wrap up the year and start 2024 off right.
Balance all accounts and set the budget for next year
I just went through and finished categorizing all of our expenses in Quickbooks (I had neglected it for a while with our move and travel, oops), and made sure all bank statements are uploaded for our accountant. I then make sure our budget is set for next year and set up our tracking so we can make sure we know where we’re at throughout the year. It feels really nice to know how much we need to make and how much we have on hand. While I was doing this, I also gave us a Christmas bonus because we deserve it. 😉
Clean out your email inbox
Ok, this is a confession, but I never ever have a completely unread inbox. Ever. I have a bad habit of leaving emails unread as a sort of to-do list or to remind myself of things, and I have a goal to change that this year. I want to actually put tasks into Notion where they belong, and keep an empty inbox. I think this will help me stay more organized throughout the year. I cleared our main account today but I still need to clear my account - there’s over 3050 unread emails there so wish me luck LOL.
Clean out your laptop and back up all work
Another confession: I am terrible about cleaning out my laptop and backing up work. You would think that the Great Coffee Fiasco of 2023 would have changed me, but nope! I’m just the same. 2024 will be a new me though (I hope) and I’m going to start it off right by deleting the 203 screenshots I have on my desktop, organizing my hard drive so I can actually find what I need, and making sure that everything is backed up so I don’t lose work again. I want to make this a weekly (or maybe monthly if we’re being realistic) in the new year.
Clean your desk
While we’re at it, let’s clean our physical spaces as well as digital. We just moved into our new studio, and I’m still getting organized, but it helps me SO much to have a clean space while I’m working. I’m going to put things away and clear clutter off my desk so I can come back to a fresh space in January.
Review goals from last year and set new ones
Finally, it’s time to look at goals for next year! You know we’re big on goals, we’ve set them every year of our business, and they really are our guiding light throughout the year. We make sure that our goals are measurable and specific so we can track them each month and see our progress. It’s motivating to see that the small things you do add up to big things, and it also helps you to pinpoint problem areas throughout the year and then course correct as needed.
We love goals so much, we have a goal setting guide that we created to help others think through their own business goals. We talk about your business mindset, how to decide what goals to set, how to track them, and much more. It comes with a printable version as well as one you can fill out on your computer, and tons of resources as well! If you’re looking for a way to track your own goals this next year, you can get a free copy with any purchase from our shop now through December 31!
2023 has been a pretty weird year TBH, and I’m hoping for a little more stability and structure in the new year. We went through and updated all of our processes, and I’m excited to think through how we can save ourselves more time and be more efficient. It’s tough when you wear all the hats in your business, and I want to get better at keeping things in order so I spend more time creating and less time cleaning up messes that I let get too big.
Anyway, I hope this was motivating for you! Thank you all for being a part of our year, and we can’t wait to share the things we have up our sleeve for 2024!
Is it the new year yet?
Elle