January To-Do’s for Successful Working Moms

Call me crazy but I love January. I love the feeling of renewal that comes from a brand new year. I am energized and motivated to take on the year.

Every January, I try to capitalize on this energy and motivation and knock off some tasks that help me start the year off right as a working mom.

Here are January to-do’s for successful working moms…

Declutter

We have a large family so our children get so much stuff for Christmas. To top that off, my daughters birthday is in January as well so even more stuff. Yay. During January, I try to get rid of as much stuff as possible. Old clothes, toys, magazines that have piled up, toys, old makeup, anything and everything that is not nailed down. Check out The Life Changing Method of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Kondo provides very practical tips on what and how to get rid of your clutter.

Deep Clean

You can either outsource this or do it yourself but one to-do that should be on every working moms life is to deep clean your home. Once you have decluttered it is the perfect time to clean. I’m talking clean that you never have a chance to get to like baseboards and washing walls. This will allow you to start the year off with a truly fresh and clean space. It will also take some away some of the mental load that can eat away at you.

Set a Budget and Savings Plan

If you are like me, you are experiencing a spending hangover in January. I am so sick of spending money by the end of December, I am just ready to get back to a budget and start saving again. Take advantage of this feeling and sit down and set a budget. Start by reviewing your spending for the last year. Where did your money go? Reflect on where you could have saved more and spent less. Now set your budget for the next year. Make sure that you are paying yourself first and setting aside money in your budget to save. Start the saving program as early in January as possible either through your employer (via a 401k) or your bank (IRA or a traditional savings account).

Set a Goal

Every year I set a personal development goal for myself. Motherhood can be so daunting. When you are working, raising children, taking care of a home, taking care of a marriage, etc. it leaves very little time for you. It can be easy for moms to feel like they have lost themselves. Each year I set a goal solely for myself. This gives me a reason to do something that I enjoy and gives me fulfillment and satisfaction as I march towards achieving it. A couple of goals that I have completed are reading 100 books in a year and learning Spanish. Find something that you enjoy doing and set a stretch goal for yourself. Make sure that you keep that promise to yourself and make a plan to achieve it. And remember, a happy mom/wife/employee is a good mom/wife/employee!

Organize Your Schedule

The end of the year is a free for all. There are so many demands on your time with the holidays, school events, and work deadlines. After all of that, now is the perfect time to reset and organize your schedule. Go through your calendar and block out time for everything that you need to get done. Make sure that you are carving out time for your goal and for just doing nothing. I make sure that at least one day out of each weekend we block out our calendar to do nothing. Those are my favorite days (and my kids) and would likely not happen if I wasn’t intentional on blocking out that time.

Now is also a great time to grab control of your work calendar. Go through each meeting that is on your calendar for the new year and make sure that it needs to be there. Meetings tend to stick around a lot longer than they are actually needed. Now would be a good time to trim the fat and get rid of non-essential meetings. You should also schedule time to actually do the work. I work in a corporate environment so I sit on conference calls all day. If I don’t block off time to actually do the work, I would be bringing that home with me today. Block an hour or two a day during your MOST productive time of day to do deep work.

What are your January To-Do’s for Successful Working Moms? What do you do in January that helps set up success for the remainder of the year? Leave a comment below!

 

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