Hey friends! Coming to you with a productivity hack I wanted to share. I am sure you have heard about choosing your word of the year. I always loved the idea of this, but I always have the hardest time choosing just one word. So I decided to start creating a word of the month instead. My word of the year is my overall theme of the year and the word for each month acts as a way to reinforce my goals for the year.
I’ve been doing it for the past few years and have seen a drastic improvement in my productivity and focus. Especially at the beginning of a new year, there can be so much pressure to do ALL THE THINGS. With the tasks from the previous year, as well as the added goals you have for the new year, it can be overwhelming to sift through and find your focus.
As I begin to plan out the year, I like to segment it into 4 quarters. I don’t have every word for every month right away. Sometimes I decide on day 1 of the month. Or sometimes I plan out 3 months at a time. Choosing a word of the month can allow you to let go of all those pressures and focus on the tasks that are aligned with that word. Or it can be a word that challenges you that month. How do you choose just one word? Well, that’s the best part, it’s only for the month and you can plan out your future words for the following months. It’s best to look at each month at a glance, analyze all that you have going on, and decide what you have time for.
Brainstorming time:
As you look at your month at a glance for April, if it’s a month that is filled to the brim with social events, maybe make your word – socialize or self-care – as a reminder to add self-care into your calendar. Or if it’s a month filled with travel and work, but your overall goal for the year is health. Make that word of the month: routine, strength, well-being, mindful. In doing so, these words act as a reminder, that while your schedule may be busy, you need to remember to make time for your daily routine that helps you feel in sync and in control.
You can work in 3-month intervals or just do one month at a time – that’s the best part about this. It’s you taking control of where you want your focus to be. It’s all up to you. No rules. No restrictions. If a word isn’t feeling right for that month, find a new one! In all self-care and productivity practices, you have to find what works best for you! Try it out next month and let me know what you think!
Want to see it in practice? Here’s how I navigated January 2023. I chose RESET. After a busy wedding season, things can get unorganized or I tend to find gaps in my workflows. Organizing after a busy holiday season feels natural and refreshing to me. I went hard this year. Here’s what it looked like in both my personal and work life:
Personal:
- Purged and Donated Clothes in my closet
- Purged and Donated Products in my bathroom and threw out expired products
- Canceled Subscriptions I wasn’t using
- Organized the entire Kitchen! Our spice rack, pantry, utensil drawers and even our junk drawer all got a little refresh to make the everyday tasks more manageable
Work:
- Cleaned up Workflows
- Organized Templates, Files, Images, Hard drives
- Planned out the first Quarter of 2023
- Financial Planning for 2023
A lot of these tasks had been constantly pushed off last year so I had a long list to pull from. It definitely helps to have a designated space to brain dump all tasks throughout the year. I use Notion for both my personal and business and it’s been a game changer. Everything is all in one place so it takes no time to find what I’m looking for! It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but here are a few templates to get you started:
Needing some words to choose from? Try looking up a values-based worksheet to get you started. More words will come once you start brainstorming.
Hope you all increase your productivity this month! Remember to give yourself grace. You’re doing your best! Cheering you on!
xx,
Angelica
Related Reels:
