woman at laptop stressing over broken new years resolutions

Are you doing that thing where you feel super guilty about it, too? If you are, you're so not alone. SO. NOT. ALONE. Broken New Year's Resolutions are quite common, but there's something you can do about it now. [This post relates to side hustle and small biz resolutions, but can be tweaked to work for anything!]

I feel like I missed out, for sure. It almost doesn't even feel like it's 2022 right now, to be honest. What happened!?!? Broken New Year's resolutions happened. I really feel like there's been so much going on in my head that I literally forgot that Christmas and New Year's Even even happened. And for the past 2 weeks, I haven't been able to focus on the things I wanted to. Talk about guilt!

Maybe it's because of COVID. Maybe it's because my daughter's being homeschooled by me and the stress on her (and me) is too much for my brain. Maybe it's because as much as I adore her, I feel like both of us would make better use of time were I either able to just bang out the school stuff with her each day and then get to work… or if I were comfortable enough to send her into her public school (which is just not going to happen right now). Maybe it's because I really just have been feeling sort of lost in all of this.

Or maybe… I'm human. Go figure!

While it's only 17 days into 2022, for some reason I feel like it's March or October or something and I'm so far behind that I'll never catch up. Crazy, right? So what's the best way to get a grip when you're two weeks in and feeling like this?

You shake it off and get going.

broken new year's resolutions don't have to ruin your plans

It's why I'm here writing this post today. It's why I've got spreadsheets going and planning products and launches going, and no, it's not all pretty or even anything I want anyone else to see at this point, but it's happening. I'm taking several hours today to just do something.

I feel like moms get it. The guilt. We feel guilty for not keeping a spotless house, or we feel guilty for not playing with our kids enough so that we can make a spotless house. We feel guilty for working too much, and we feel guilty for not working enough because maybe if we spent more time on something we'd make more money with it.

So what are some ways I'm working on eliminating the guilt and getting back on track from those broken New Year's resolutions?

  • Gratitude Journaling
  • Accomplishment Journaling
  • Time Blocking
  • Kid Breaks
  • Getting Organized (Business Planning – but, it's not what you think!)

Gratitude Journaling

I've talked about this at length and even tried to get my 9-year old into it. But the thing is, it REALLY helps you to end the day with a warmth in your heart, you know?

It doesn't have to be some full-page diary entry about everything from the coffee you had that morning to the fact that you found $20 in your winter coat from last year and everything in between. One thing. Just write one thing in one line, every day. (And try to make it something different each day, but don't worry if the only good thing that happened half the month was that you woke up that day. It's okay. But try.)

Whether you're bullet journaling or using a composition notebook doesn't matter. Just keep it all together. Put the book by your bedside and just do this every night.

Accomplishment Journaling

Did you know that even when you think you had a “lazy” day, you actually still accomplished quite a bit? I mean, even if you didn't cook dinner, you still ordered pizza and threw away the paper plates, right? Right!

I mean, on any given “lazy” day… I've woken up at 7 am, made coffee for myself and breakfast for the kiddo, cleared up the counter, likely did at least one load of laundry, wiped down the countertop (at least once), watched a movie, made some kind of art or craft, sat down to write, and fed the family dinner of some sort.

Yes, all those ‘basic' things that we assume everyone does every day. But you know what? Even if all you get done in a day are the basic things, I bet there are things you do on non-lazy days that add up to so much more!

So, next to your gratitude journal page, make a page for accomplishments. List it allllll out there! Even if it's something simple and ‘basic'. It's really nice to see a list for every day.

Time Blocking

Okay so in order to help keep both my daughter and myself focused, I've decided to do some time blocking. It's where you create larger chunks of time that are dedicated to only one thing. Add to that, I use some other tools like Trello to build up my blocks with 20-minute activities, and at the end of a block, I've accomplished 3-5 tasks that I can add to my Accomplishment Journal! (See what I did there?)

So the benefit in this is that it keeps my homeschooled daughter focused too. She knows that when we're in a time block (usually 1 or 2 hours), she's to focus on her one topic (school, usually) and let me focus on mine. The reward at the end is a smaller time block where she can ask me whatever it is she needs to, we have a healthy snack together, or even just snuggle up and watch 20 minutes of goofy YouTube videos. (I mean… have you seen CelinaSpookyBoo and her sleepwalking or dad joke videos? Come onnnnn…)

So anyway, the point is that you need to first divide your day into large blocks of time, and then designate one or two activities to work on during that time. Bonus is that it keeps you more focused and attentive to the task at hand, especially if you use a timer of sorts.

For me, writing is a huge part of what I do. So I try to use my time blocking for that as a priority. I take 2 hours in the morning and then another hour in the afternoon. This is only writing time. No graphics, no social media posts, nothing but writing. Then I break down the time block for writing into where/what I'm writing. Emails, funnels, blog posts, freelance gigs, whatever it is, based on what needs to get done.

Routines are really helpful when you've got a lot going on, but remember to take care of your innate needs for breaks, days off, mental health days, and so on. Yes, you're side hustling with some big dreams and goals. Yes, there's a lot of work to be done upfront. No, the world will not end and you are not a failure if you wake up one morning and say, “Screw it, we're going hiking/to the beach/skiing/whatever today”. Listen to your own needs and honor them. Get back to the grind the next day.

Kid Breaks

I touched on this with the time blocks, but one of the most important things I do each day is eliminated any work-related or home-related distractions and just connect with my kid.

We are so used to living “busy” lives. Even with a pandemic, it's been effortless to find ourselves vegging out alone, with kids in the other room. It's something I noticed happening with me at times – just the pandemic exhaustion alone had me wanting to veg out with some Cobra Kai binge-watching, while my daughter sat on her tablet in the other room talking to her friends. Now, don't get me wrong, she needs to do that. The lack of social interaction is a gigantic issue for homeschooled kids who are only children, especially. Add to that the not having sleepovers or playdates or anything – the only real interaction she gets with her friends is via face time and Roblox. I'm good with that, to be honest.

But have you ever felt like sometimes you don't “get” your kids? Like they're into all this stuff and you have no clue what they're talking about half the time? I swore that wouldn't be me… and while I'm still not 100% sure I “get” why she gets so animated (and loud) while playing with her friends on a video game, one thing I have always stuck with is that we will spend time together doing non-tech activities.

Sometimes we paint together. Other times it's a few quick hands of UNO. Once a week or so we'll bake something together. And every day, we have snuggle time. Yes, she's 9. Yes, I know that soon enough she won't want to have snuggle time with me. So yes, I'm soaking it up as much as possible now. It's one un-broken New Year's resolution I made the year she was born. It's non-negotiable for us.

Plus, it makes me feel like a kid again… and we all need more of that!

Business Planning

Y'all, it's so easy to get so wrapped up in what program to buy, tool to check out, and yes, reading blogs and signing up for newsletters, that you never actually get to planning YOUR business out.

So I'm going to break it down real nice and simple here. You need a 6-week sprint. Maybe not now, but you definitely need a way to focus on creating something that will directly bring you revenue. To not buy programs, to not spend another dime until you've actually created something to earn you some.

Yes, I realize I sell programs and printables and have an email list. But I'm not saying you don't need those things at all. I'm saying you don't need 100 of them. You don't need 10 of them, all at once. You need to pick a few ideas and run with them to create a product. Period.

So, a 6-week sprint is something that really laser focuses your attention. You pick “the thing” and then lay out your plans for what you'll do each day for the 6 weeks to achieve the end result: A product.

And yes, you'll get to the point where it will no longer take you 6 weeks. Promise.

So pick the thing. And then work to create a plan to make the thing, get it up for sale, promote it, and then move on to the next thing. With 6 week increments, you're about to have 2 products per quarter (or better) this way! That means by the end of the year, you could have 12 products. I won't get into the fun math banking stuff here but think about it… If your products sold for $10 each. And you sold just 100 of them in a year, that's $10k. Heck of a side hustle for starting out. But then the next year, you create 15 products since you're on a roll with this whole thing, and now your old products are selling 100 and so are your new ones. That's $27k that year.

Keep ramping it up, and creating higher-end products, and before you know it – you could replace that full-time gig in no time.

What are you doing NOW to get back on track with your side hustle plans this year?

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