Short month? Big success

February may be the shortest month of the year, but with some planning and forethought, we can still make  it a successful time. 
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The start of a new year always brings with it some pressure to plan out your perfect year! Social media is awash with mini-courses to help you organise your life and plan for
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​Resolutions abound – new year, new you and all that! 

But, research shows that by mid-February 80% of these resolutions will have failed. 

January may also just not be ‘your’ time so don’t feel like you have missed the boat completely if you didn’t work out a 12-month plan, perfectly colour coded. The start of the year can be a challenge after the holiday period, and it can take work life some weeks to get fully back to normal. 

Many businesses also have seasons and January just may not be a good time. 

People have seasons too. And for many, January is a time of ‘hibernating’ and boosting batteries.

If you are thinking of using the second month of the year to kickstart some planning then, here are some ideas we have gathered from around the team which may inspire you: 

• Start of by getting all your ideas down onto a white board, white wall or a big piece of paper. 

• Then see if you can group the various ideas and tasks together. 
• There will also be regular jobs throughout the year which you have to do so make sure these go into the mix. 
• Now start to prioritise. Look at those jobs which you can see need to be done quickly. 
• There will always be some things which you will put off – we all have them! But, getting those done as a priority will get them out of the way and you’ll feel better immediately. (For more on this kind of approach try 'Eat that Frog!'.
• Split the rest of the jobs into batches and you will start to see a plan coming together. 

• If you like nice pens and notebooks as we do, now is the time to indulge yourself! 
• When you have done your first draft, give yourself a pat on the back and have a break. Your plan will evolve and grow but getting this first draft down on paper is a good step to making this a successful month. 

If you do decide to do some planning this month, we wish the best of luck.  

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