Just Three Things – January 2009

By Selene M. Bowlby in Goals on January 16th, 2009

With it being the beginning of a new year, there is no surprise that my primary focus for the month is to get organized

Time management and productivity are at the top of my list – and for all the right reasons… after all, we’re already half-way through the first month of the year, and I am only now posting this month’s goals!

1. Fininalize My 2009 Game Plan

This item carries over from December’s goals – I got a good start, but still need to pinpoint a more specific timeline for all of the major tasks I want to accomplish in 2009.

Since it’s so early in the year, I’m sure this initial schedule will be subject to change, with more fine tuning as the months go by. But to have a general set of deadlines will help steer me in the right direction for the year.

2. Create a Daily / Weekly Schedule

In an attempt to better manage my time and get organized, I recently purchased a new FranklinCovey planner book, complete with shiny new 2009 daily calendar pages. This is something that will work MUCH better than notes on random sheets of paper, post-it notes, Google calendar, etc.

My plan at the moment is to use a combination of Google Calendar to mark down all major deadlines, and use the planner to (also record deadlines) and plan a daily line-up of what specific projects I need to work on in a given day, outlined by time-slots in as many as 15 minute increments if necessary.

I just got the planner last week, so I’m working on figuring out the best schedule for myself and how best to utilize it. My goal is to have a set schedule by the end of the month (for example, use the early morning hours for marketing tasks, mid-morning for client work, afternoons for phone calls, etc.)

3. Create a Blogging Schedule

One of my major goals for the year is to improve upon this blog, which means that I need a more regular posting schedule. Right now, I often go 2-3 weeks without a new post, and with my RSS subscriber base increasing, I need to be sure to provide quality content on a consistent basis.

I’d like to devise a plan of setting aside 1-2 days a week where I will just sit and write for a couple hours. I have a ton of half finished posts in the Drafts folder – some are complete and only needing a final read-through for proofing.

By the end of this month, I want have a posting schedule planned out at least two months in advance.

P.S. You can subscribe to all the great new posts coming up this year either through your RSS Reader or via Email. It’s quick and easy, just give it a try!

What Are Your Goals This January?

Now that we’re half-way through January, what are your goals to help grow your business this month? Have you already started on fulfilling these, or do you need to rush to complete them in the next two weeks? Please share in the comments below!

Did you share your goals on any of the previous “Just Three Things” posts? If so, I hope you’ll go back to the comments and update everyone with how you did!

About the Author

Selene M. Bowlby is a web designer and front-end web developer with over ten years of professional experience in the design industry. As the owner of iDesign Studios she specializes in creating custom web sites for other businesses. more »

Did you enjoy this article? If so, please subscribe to updates and share!

8 Responses to “Just Three Things – January 2009”

Stuart Thursby says:

January 16, 2009 at 3:23 pm

Some pretty good ideas there for organization – seems to be a huge thing this time of year, but with the resources available, it’ll be hard NOT to stay on top of things! Google Calendar is perhaps my favourite little keep-track device – for now.

Like yourself, I’ll be using mainly Google Calendar and a desktop planner to keep things organized. Goals for this month was to have a set and organized self-promotional ‘feel’ created and established, and with a logo, resume and portfolio (mostly) out of the way, with half the month left I only have my website and other web bits and pieces to go – right on track!

Looking forward to more postings.
Vito Corrado says:

January 16, 2009 at 3:23 pm

Like your “2009 Game Plan”, and I was wondering if I can become a sponsor for you as well. If interested please let me know via e-mail contact info is also on my site http://www.totaltrinkets.com

Thankx

Vito
Geeee says:

January 16, 2009 at 6:14 pm

You’ve listed really inspiring things for me to do as well in 2009 and that I need to be more organized and write down my plans for my projects .. thanks for your post and waiting for more
Tracey Grady says:

January 18, 2009 at 7:10 am

Bearing in mind that we’re already more than halfway through January, my goals are:
- get through a very heavy workload with pressing deadlines in the next week
- set a blogging schedule for 2009. What you wrote about this goal is an accurate description of my situation (right down to writing posts every 2-3 weeks and the need to do better for my rising subscriber numbers)
- Plan my weekly schedule, working out dedicated times for marketing, bookkeeping, working on personal illustration projects and blogging
- Map out a timeline for redesigning my website, which will happen in 2009. It’s a big undertaking, so I know I will need to set specific goals and attach deadlines to them.

Good luck with the work on your own goals, Selene – especially number 3.

Tracey Gradys last blog post..More Fantastic Illustration Resources
Andrew Kelsall says:

January 27, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Great article Selene.

It’s great to have resolutions, and I made one of my own about 2 weeks ago that I haven’t fulfilled as yet ― to design my own printed marketing campaign for local business’s. Think I’ll start tonight!

I, like yourself, often go a couple of weeks without blogging. I’ve found that 2009 already is a demanding year.

Andrew Kelsalls last blog post..The Professional Designers Guide to using Black
Selene M. Bowlby says:

February 9, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Thanks to everyone who shared your January goals! I hope you’ll come back to post an update!

As for me… I’m happy to say that I got all of my planning done for the year (obviously to be reviewed and updated on a regular basis – at least monthly).

The trick now is sticking to the plans and following through!
Matthew Lloyd says:

May 21, 2009 at 7:00 am

From my point of view, goals are great. It’s personally motivating to see other people get goals as well as achieving them myself and I love seeing people get goals.
lynnscott says:

August 18, 2009 at 4:54 am

Selene…You’re inspiring, and your posts are well wrighten
love the goals and time management I am going to plan my time better…that is what I have to work on, work in progress…I will visit and read you’re inspiring posts again….Thanks…