January PowerSheets Recap
This past month was my first month ever using Lara Casey's PowerSheets. I honestly was hesitant to even buy them because I wasn't sure how they'd actually help me, but after hearing rave reviews from so many others, I decided to give them a try.
I have to say, after only one month, my 2016 PowerSheets have kept me on task both personally and professionally and given me the drive and energy to pursue those really scary dreams I never thought I'd be comfortable enough to put into action!
So what exactly were my goals for January?
Today I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and opening up my precious, private PowerSheets to share with you in hopes that you'll see how incredibly rewarding it is to take steps in the direction of the dreams, goals, and plans that matter to you most!
Ways I'm Going to Recharge This Month:
- Unplug on the weekends. I did my best to make sure this happened, but I have to admit it was not easy! At the very least, I stayed away from my email as much as possible on the weekends to allow for more quality time with my friends and family. This will likely be a goal I set for myself every month in order to build this habit!
- Schedule a lunch date away from my work once per week. I was actually concerned this one was not going to happen because when I get in my workday groove, it's hard for me to step away for a proper lunch break (funny, I didn't have any problems stepping away when I worked in the corporate world!). But...wait for it...I DID IT EVERY SINGLE WEEK! I am so proud of myself for this one. It means I spent quality time away from electronics with special in my life. Not to mention, one of my lunch dates was with one of the sweetest girls I met for the very first time, Stephanie of of Stephanie Scholl Events!
- Take one weekday off to learn something new. This one was a big fat fail for me. I knew it would be really difficult for me to take a weekday off to do something for myself, and I was right. I really want to make this happen once a month from here on out, though, so next month I'm going to plan ahead and actually schedule a learning activity that makes me put this one into action!
- Schedule a fun day date one weekend. This one was actually easy for me, but something I always want to remind myself to do. My husband and I are always looking for new weekend adventures, and in January we took a trip to Annapolis and had a double-date with good friends of ours!
Monthly Goals:
- One education day away. This goes hand-in-hand with my "weekday off" mentioned above, so it didn't happen, but it will continue to be something I strive for each month!
- Read two books. Yes! Done and done. I read one book for fun and one educational book. Not only do I enjoy learning something from the books I read, but I also love that it really makes me step away from work, technology, and the hustle and bustle of life to slow down and get absorbed in something else.
- Create streamlined templates and processes. I did this one right away, and I had to ask myself why I hadn't done it sooner! It's really made my workflow so much less cumbersome and has created a clear vision for both my clients and myself so we're always on the same page. This was something I kept telling myself over the last year that I needed to do but just kept putting off, so I'm thankful to finally have this done!
There are three other monthly goals that I can't share with you just yet because they are works in progress for future projects! As a general update, though, these three goals were met this month, and I'm well on my way to being able to share them with you!
Weekly Goals:
- Email-free weekends. I did pretty good with this one! There were very short instances where I glanced at my email, but for the most part, I unplugged and spent time with my family!
- Lunch date each week. This is also listed in my "Recharge" list above, and was a huge success this month!
- Draw/paint for fun. I spend a lot of time drawing and painting for my clients, so I really wanted to spend some time each week drawing and painting for myself. This one was a success and it was so fun to spend time with a pencil (or paintbrush) and paper creating nothing in particular.
My daily goals were pretty generic, because I wanted to make sure I was able to accomplish them each day without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.
After just one month of using my PowerSheets, I've also created some tips for ensuring you get the most out of them, too!
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your PowerSheets:
- Find common themes. You'll notice some of my items in the Recharge list are also listed in my Weekly and/or Daily Goals. Find these common tasks and themes to prevent overwhelm and also to see how that one simple task is affecting multiple areas of your life!
- Think small. I have goals in my January Tending List that were BIG. Apparently, I thought I could capture all my dreams and goals in one single month. After just a couple of days, I realized I needed to break those goals into smaller, bite-size pieces, so I scratched through them and made them more manageable. The goal for these PowerSheets is to feel empowered and accomplished - not frustrated and overwhelmed.
- Don't worry about filling every single blank line. I thought I needed to have a new goal on every. single. line. That's simply not true. Just because it's there, doesn't mean you need to pull a new goal out of thin air. Come up with a few really good, concrete monthly, weekly, and daily goals and use the extra spaces to brainstorm or take notes on those goals so you can review them later.
- Do a check-in a few times a week. I, admittedly, did not plan on "checking in" with my PowerSheets each week. But I found when I did not check in, I lost sight of my goals and intentions for the month and year. Just a quick 5 minute check-in a few times a week is all it takes to make sure you're on track to make the important things happen. It's also a great way to refocus your energy if you feel stumped, frustrated, or off-track.
Now I want you to tell me how you use your PowerSheets to work for you! Do you have any other tips for making sure you stay in line with the goals and ideals of your PowerSheets?
I'll be doing a monthly recap of every month's PowerSheets in 2016, so stay tuned to see how they pan out! (I'm really interested to know myself!)