The problem is that when we start a new quarter, we aren’t just starting a new quarter with a fresh start. In reality, we’re inheriting everything that comes with it. The reporting, the resets, the loose ends, the new initiatives…all layered on top of the work we’re already trying to sustain.

There’s a lot of conversations out there about a new quarter feeling like a fresh start, a clean slate, and [ insert whatever other “new start, new me” story you see]. What if, you turn the corner of a new quarter and this is what you’re seeing instead:

• A stack of reporting and analytics
• Social content waiting to be developed
• Systems that worked at the start of *last* quarter, but feel harder now
• A pile of half-developed business ideas that you *swore* you’d get to this past quarter…yet here we are.
• Don’t forget to pay those taxes. You really don’t want to forget that one.

I’ve been there too. That’s probably not even scratching the surface of everything that’s on your list…if there’s even a solid list to begin with. Most of the time, these tasks and to-dos are just living in our brain, waiting to get filed under the category of “this was really important, until I forgot about it.”

That’s the thing about a new quarter. It IS a fresh start,but it also drags everything unfinished about the previous quarter into it, so we’re left to sort everything that comes with a new quarter and reconcile it with what’s left over from the last.

The start of a new quarter shouldn’t feel like a scramble. Let’s talk about how we can *actually* get that fresh start *without* feeling like we’re trying to stay afloat.

1. Brain Dump
   1. We are consumed with information overload. With more technology and access points than ever, we have to realize that we were never meant to hold, remember, and action so much information at once. That’s why one of my favourite things to begin with when I’m feeling overwhelmed is a brain dump. While you’re getting in the habit of this, you can set a 5 minute timer, grab a sheet of paper, and just write down everything that comes to mind – random information, to-do lists, places to be, & anything else that takes up space in your head. You may notice that a lot of the things that you may have in your brain dump may not relate back to business or quarterly planning at all, and that’s part of the point. How can we focus on what we really need to consider and get done when there’s so many other things that life requires of us that pull our attention?
      
2. Identify recurring quarterly tasks
   1. Think about not just the things you already do, but what do you WISH you did every quarter to make your life feel just a little bit easier? Write those down too.
3. Give todo’s a home in your workflows
   1. Where do these tasks live? What triggers them? Is there a part of something that you already do on a regular basis where these tasks could fit in naturally? Build them into what’s already working. Some of your tasks won’t fit into a nice little category of your processes. Those tasks go into a list I call “CEO day,” where I’ll schedule out a day as needed to knock out all of the things that don’t feel like they fit into my everyday rhythms. Now, everything has a place and a time.
4. Build for capacity, not the dream life.
   1. Let’s be clear: we DO build for the dream life. But, we can’t get to the dream life if we don’t think about the capacity that we have right now. What’s realistic? What will actually fit, and what ultimately needs to shift? Look at the hours in your day and be honest about how we can actually spend them.
      
      Have no idea where to start or what your real capacity even looks like? Take a day and time everything that you do in the day. You’ll quickly get an idea of how long something actually takes you versus how long you think it takes you.

Here’s your starting point. A new quarter isn’t actually the problem, you just need a plan that actually supports the one you’re walking into. When your plan works with your life instead of against it, that’s when a new quarter finally starts to feel like one.