Earlier this month I finished one Best Today® Guide and moved to the next and I realized that I haven't talked to you about what it looks like when I end one Best Today® Guide and start another. That ends today! Let's talk about it!
Quick note: If you're reading this and have no clue what the Best Today® Guide is, click here to get all of the details. In short, the Best Today® Guide is our 14-week undated guided planner that goes beyond the limitations of traditional planners helping to center your humanity and well-being in your daily life as opposed to living your life from one to-do list to the next. Amazing right? Click here to see inside and learn more!
How I transition when ending one Best Today® Guide and starting a new one:
(1) Review & Reflect
The first thing that I do when I finish my last week in my Best Today® Guide is turn to the Getting Started Pages and review what the "14 weeks ago" me said was most important and what I wanted to work on pruning.
I use my Getting Started Pages to define what matters most over the 14 weeks that the Best Today® Guide covers. So when I think of what I want, what won't get me there and what's in my way (all covered in the Getting Started Pages), I'm thinking about the next 14 weeks ahead. The Getting Started pages help connect me to my big picture vision and goals but in a way that is grounding by focusing on a short period of time.
Side note: I do not intentionally start my Best Today® Guide at the beginning of each quarter, the timing just works that way that it is usually around that time when I start/end a Best Today® Guide.
What was most important Q1 of 2022?
- Writing. I wanted to find something to do before bed that didn't involve screens. I also wanted something that would help me to remain calm and process anything that was going on in my head and heart. I took to writing. I started with writing every night before bed and then moved to writing at any time at least once a day. It's been so cathartic and has helped me to process things that are going on. I experienced grief and loss in March and the writing was so helpful to me in processing it and reflecting.
- Phone away at 5:00. I didn't do this one as consistently because I didn't create a written plan for it. This is where I have room for improvement over the next 14 weeks in my next Best Today® Guide. I have decreased the time I use my phone but I would like to actively put it away at 5:00 each day and not touch it again until mid-morning after my morning routine the next day. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
- In bed by 9:00 p.m. so that I can wake up by 5:00 p.m. I want to get back to my 4:00 a.m. rise time and the looser schedules that came with the pandemic and me and my children being home took over my rise time. I want to get back to it so I'm slowly inching my way back. You can see how #1 and #2 above help me with this one. I'll likely get back to the 4:00 a.m. rise time by mid summer. One today at a time!
Those were my non-work focuses for the first three months of 2022. The remaining two things were work related and I won't share them here because it'll give away something exciting coming later this summer/early fall! *eek!!!*
Once I'm done reviewing my Getting Started pages I asses my progress and carry over anything that I want to continue in my new Best Today® Guide!
(2) Forward Looking + Thinking
Now it's time to turn to my new Best Today® Guide! And where do I begin? The Getting Started Pages yet again!
What do I want to happen, what do I want to do, who do I want to be/become, those are the questions I'm asking myself. Well, the Best Today® Guide is asking me in the Getting Started Pages. How do I want to use my time? What is important and what isn't?
Here's some of what I've written down:
Prune: what do I want to prune?
Screen/Phone time. I use technology with great intention but I want to decrease my overall time even more, especially as we enter into warmer months and there's more time to get outside and travel with my children, friends and family! I use Instagram for work and I want to batch more of that and spend less "in real time" time on Instagram. I want to put my phone down after work and not pick it back up again until the next morning (work ends at 3:00 for me on most work days). These are the things I'm refining and pruning over the next 14 weeks.
What's most important?
Inside of the Getting Started Pages you're asked to name what's most important. I want to prioritize trusting that all things are working for my good. It's so easy in the midst of parenting and growing a company to get so focused on the hard, the challenging, what you don't have, what isn't going your way, and the like. What's most important to me over the next 14 weeks is seeking God diligently, trusting Him fully, living in every answered prayer and walk as though every thing is actively working for my good. That's what I wrote in my box and it's what I will prioritize!
What am I working on?
- Continuing writing. See above!
- Continuing with being in bed by 9:00 and up by 5:00 as I work my way down to 4:00 a.m. with some upcoming changes we will have to our family schedule/routine this summer and fall.
- Relationships (which is one of the main focuses of my year). I want to get back to in-person time with the people I love and with cultivating my relationships with other business owners. This is both a personal and professional focus.
This sets the tone for how I live out my time each day, each week. And I love that I have it all contained in one place, my Best Today® Guide!
So there you have it. The Best Today® Guide connects me to what matters most to me, to who I am and who I want to be on a daily, weekly and monthly level all in one product. If this was helpful or you enjoyed reading it let me know and I will be happy to share and even do videos to walk and talk you through how I use the Best Today® Guide. Either leave us a comment below or text us at 404-737-1002 and let me know!
