Happy 2023! Today, I’m sharing my entire process for yearly planning with you. I’ll be honest, I’m actually a big fan of planning quarterly but I do like to do a full year overview so I know how to break up my quarters. The year overview is a great time to sit down and review our goals for the business, as well as make sure we know what’s going on both at home and at work. Here’s my process for planning a productive year! 

WALL CALENDARS

Each year, I use two calendars by Kat Schmoyer in a 24×36” frame to hang on my wall. I tend to use the quarterly calendar more, but I think it’s helpful to use both and see what’s going on. Kat has a variety of color options available and then you can print them in the size that you want for your own office! I put my calendars in the frames so I can use a wet erase marker to write on the frame. If you’re someone who benefits from writing out your calendar and your schedule, these are a must have. I personally hang my quarterly calendar over my desk, and it helps me stay motivated when I sit down to work. 

YEARLY PLANNING

I keep my yearly planning pretty basic and add to it as the year progresses. I’m focusing mostly on what won’t change or big goals I have for the year. Again, I much prefer quarterly planning but this is a nice place to start and get an overview of my year! Being flexible is one of the most important things when it comes to yearly planning – things aren’t always going to stay the same and we need to be aware of that. 

QUARTERLY PLANNING

At the beginning of each quarter, I’ll sit down and write out what’s going to happen in the next 3 months. This includes our personal time off, sales, promotions, and product launches for the brand. It’s important to include our family and business travel – like speaking engagements – so I know what else is going on. I fully expect things will change as the year goes on, so being able to plan quarterly helps me pivot a bit easier. 

NITTY GRITTY PLANNING

In addition to planning the overview each quarter, I sit down and work on the nitty gritty planning details. I consider team meetings, appointments, and other things along those lines the “nitty gritty” details. For me, I’ve found that putting all of this in my Google calendar is the best option.  I LOVE using Google calendar for my week-to-week schedule because it syncs across our devices – both mine and Michael’s – which makes it easier for us to stay on top of things. 

‌TRELLO CALENDAR

When it comes to the nitty gritty for my business, I use Trello. It’s great for both business and personal planning, but I use it to plan most of my work stuff. I love using Trello to plan my week (see my template here!) as well as promotions and sales. It helps me communicate with my team about what’s needed each week to keep us moving forward. Trello is easy to use, easy to move around, and allows us to be flexible. I’ll work with my team to plan out our promotional periods (and all of the work that goes with it), especially. Using the calendar feature, I can easily make sure we’re not overloading ourselves. 

I hope my breakdown was super helpful! This is exactly how I plan out a productive year to keep crushing my business goals and I hope you’ll be able to use some of these ideas going into 2023! 

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