Planning for the year as a working mom
It is the fifth of January as I am posting this article. My socials have been filled with ways of how to end the year, how to reflect, how to be grateful, how to plan for the new year and how to best start it.
If you haven’t finished your planning for the year, don’t worry. The new year officially starts on January 6th, when we all go back to work. Besides, it’s a rolling forecast and we have to re-visit our planning as time progresses and things change.
Earlier, we received our family calendar. Since Globy has been 3 years old, I have been getting this kind of family calendar to get a better overview of our family life. I let the girls participate in the process by e.g. choosing the calendar design (this year it’s Winnie Pooh, last year it was Disney babies). Since Globy can already write a little bit, I let her participate by filling in the calendar with what she can.
At the same time I am still waiting for my first ‘Full Focus Planner’. It’s been recommended by many corporate executives and I’m excited to try it. Even though I don’t like that it seems to be for only three months and is more on the expensive side.
With our calendars and planners in hand, what are actually the important things to plan for the year? And how do you plan?
What To Plan
Calendar & Events
What events does the year ahead hold in store? E.g. a change from kindergarten to a new kindergarten, change from kindergarten to school, a graduation, a 70th birthday? Look at your family members life to see if any events are on the horizon that will take more time to prepare and plan for. This will be energy that you have less to spend on the other regular tasks so if you can pre-pone any planning, distribute the load of the planning and preparing etc, do it.
Are you going back to work after maternity/child care leave? What and how will that affect in your daily and weekly routine?
Are you or your partner planning a business trip (abroad) though? How will that affect family logistics and other on-going activities or events? Do you have a big event coming up that will require more of your attention? If your child’s start of a school and a big company event fall around the same date you likely won’t be able to change that. But you can plan for it. Prepare things in advance, find the support you need to make both work.
Finances
Are you currently aware of your regular spendings and income?
What are big ticket items coming up this year? The start at a new kindergarten or new school could mean a hefty sum of registration fees.
Attending a family event abroad that requires intercontinental flights for the whole family is another big expense you want to budget for.
Are you expecting a new baby and to go on maternity leave for some time? This will likely change your income situation and should be properly planned. At work, Don’t forget your performance and salary review on maternity leave .
If you are having a baby in Japan, read The cost of pregnancy and birth in Japan, Complete List of Financial Benefits for Pregnancy, Birth and Child Care
Can you afford to outsource any activities that would take work off your hands and free up some time?
How is your investing journey coming along? There are a lot of women sharing their investing journeys on instagram and the like. If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late. Check out Girls that Invest, Your Rich BFF or Female Invest which can help you get started, keep going and improve.
Structure of the week and logistics
If you are in the same job as the previous year you will more or less know your weekly schedule.
Are you or your partner starting a new job? Will the new job have a new address and therefore change the logistics of drop off? Will the new job have different scheduling requirements? More or less office work required? How will that affect your daily and weekly routine?
If your child is starting at a new kindergarten or new school, how will that affect your family organization? Will there be a new route with additional drop offs? Is the schedule of child care the same, shorter or longer that could affect your working hours?
Is your baby at the age where you should potty train? Everyone manages to do this somehow but I’ve experienced how you as the parent need to focus on it or it slips your attention and all of a sudden your child is 3.5 years and still in diapers. (It’s not a problem either and no one will ask about when they were dry later but I have been a fan of my kids being diaper free at the age of 2.)
It’s the same with riding a bike. Unless you make time to take your kid outside with the bike and practice, they’re not going to learn it.
I recently read the book ‘Family Firm’ by Emily Oster which is a great resource for all the topics and issues a family is considering for pre-school children until their early teens and how to approach the decisions necessary.
Outsourcing and Support
Having looked at all the items above you can also discuss support and whether you want to outsource any tasks. If you don’t have a cleaner, is it time to get one? If you had one, are you really satisfied with it for the price you pay or should you look for a new one, or do it yourself?
Do you need further support with child care because your job will require more time? If there’s family around can they support or would it mean you have to hire someone.
How are tasks distributed between you and your partner? Do you have to review the share of the workload of your family firm?
Health
Last year, I watched the Netflix documentary ‘Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones‘. In the documentary, they explore why they are more centenarians in some places in this world than in others.
They conclude that what contributes to their longevity are four major aspects in life:
- Natural movement (walking, doing things by hand, gardening)
- Connections (Family First, Right Tribe, Partnership)
- Eat Wisely (Plant based, wine, moderation (until 80% full))
- Outlook (Unwind, Faith, Purpose)
Instead of chasing the next fitness trend, a certain body weight or shape, I’ve come to like the idea of working on your health for your longevity. Especially when you have kids and older parents, you realize that longevity really is the goal.
How to plan
Now that we know all the items to consider in our planning (and please tell me what category you would add) it is time to actually plan. If you’re working in corporate you are most likely familiar with planning goals for the year to come.
There are probably thousands of blogs out there that are talking about how to plan to make it the best year of your life, for the most successful year, etc. which is why I won’t go into too much detail.
Step 1: Review
Look at your past year. What were your wins and what were your EBIs (even better if)?
Make sure you write your ‘Brag Book’ or fill you ‘Wins Folder’ because I am sure there were many good and positive things and milestones. Keep it handy for when you’re feeling down to remind yourself that you are good. You got this!
Now for your EBIs. What didn’t go as planned and why not? Where have you not lived up to your expectation? What do you want to improve? We win or we learn. I like to keep a positive mindset even about the things we want to improve.
Step 2: Set Your Goals and Calendar
Based on your review of the last year and your preview of the upcoming year, start defining your goals and map out your calendar.
If the Full Focus Planner is too pricey for you, the yearcompass if providing a free booklet to do both steps 1 and 2.
Step 3: Define actionable Steps
You can’t eat an elephant. You need to cut it down into pieces and then eat it. I really wonder where this analogy is coming from that seems to be circulating among corporate executives world wide.
I’ve seen a beautiful illustration of this idea by the NewHappyCo.
Step 4: Systems and Routines
Once you know the individual steps you have to take, it seems easy. But in a life with kids there are always unexpected turns so I really like the idea of setting up systems, routines and habits that can support you taking those individual steps to achieve the overall goals.
James Clear’s ‘Atomic Habits’ is a great resource if you want to learn more about it.
Step 5: Monitor and Review
You should have checks in place to see if you are making progress towards your goals to make sure you will actually achieve them. Give yourself some check points throughout the year to review how you are doing and whether you need to adjust any of your planning.
Between Step 4 and 5, there should obviously be the step of ACTION, you actually doing those steps. Everyone can talk but implementation and getting things done is what will differentiate you from the ones who only talk.
Recently, I listened to a podcast episode from Mel Robbins about how to achieve any goal in 6 simple steps. With the six steps being 1) Decide if it is a dream or goal, 2) write it down, 3) find the formula, 4) do the reps, 5) make it fun and 6) don’t quit. I can find ways to related each step to the ones I slayed out above. I anyway would highly recommend to listen to the episode as it’s well narrated, funny and contains lots of little gems on the way.
