#getorganised

TIPS ON HOW TO PLAN AND ORGANISE YOURSELF FOR THE YEAR

It's a brand new year and with every new year comes the pressure to have your goals, plans and some sort of direction for the year figured out. While "new year's resolutions" or the "new year, new me" slogan may be things of the past, it's important to set key intentions and commit to holding yourself accountable for your growth as the year goes by. We've got 5 major notes, tips and excerpts from the #MusicUnscripted Twitter Space featuring ByLwansta hosted last week to get you started in the right direction.

1. Focus on a key theme for the year

Setting a subject of focus as the year starts will help you streamline what you want to ultimately get out of your year. According to Spokenpriestess, theming your year gives you an overarching rule or mantra to live by. For instance, "the year of execution", which means that your sole focus in the whole year is working on executing your ideas, plans and everything else you usually never see to the finish. ByLwansta mentioned two words he intends to live by in 2022 and those are "intentionality" and "readiness" which will drive how much conviction he puts into everything he does all year round. Things that can help you pick a theme of focus can be reviewing the previous year to see what you were unable to achieve and what is still a burning desire to get right or execute against. We all have ideas, wishes and "what ifs", be honest with yourself and be brave enough to put yourself out there by tackling that one thing you have been putting off for years.

2. Write it down and keep it in sight

It's one thing to decide on what you're going to focus on at the top of the year but it's another to actually see it through. Once you have set your theme for the year, make sure to write it down somewhere where you can see it constantly. While we all believe in different things, it is no secret that there is a special power in writing things down that gets you started with the process of realising your desires. Put down your idea and then put reminders within visible view to keep you motivated to achieve your goal or execute your ideas. The more you see something, the more your mind becomes conditioned to it being your reality. Subconsciously you start to either draw yourself towards that thing or become proactive in achieving it because it's always top of mind. Things you can use to write things down are journals (available at PNA, CNA, Typo or any other stationary store), whiteboards (available at Makro, Parrot, Takealot), light boxes (available at Typo and Takealot) and the Notes App available on every mobile device. A more creative way to visualise what you want is by creating a vision board where you can put together images of what you want to see happening in your life from the car you want to drive to businesses you want to work with, artists you want to collaborate with and so much more. It can be as specific as you want it to be - it is after all your life. Keep that vision board close so that you can always see what you're dreaming of and working towards.

3. Get organised in your thinking

When it comes to creativity or artistry there is always some sort of beautiful chaos involved in the process, but there are benefits in being a little more organised. For instance, keeping track of time is one advantage of being well planned. Deadlines, objectives lists and execution plans are important in making sure that your beautiful work gets the tender love and care it deserves before you share it with the world. We're not saying you need to be as precise as the personal assistant of a CEO but some sort of organisation will help you curb the procrastination, teach you to be productive, and nudge you to celebrate the small wins when you tick off your tasks. Tools you can use to plot out important dates or plan a content calendar throughout the year are readily available to you.

- Consider buying a big block calendar (available at Typo, Parrot or Takealot) that you can keep against the wall to write down dates, ideas and deadlines for each month.

- Set reminders ahead of time on your cellphone calendar so that meetings, appointments and activities pop-up as notifications on your screen. This is one of the easiest ways to stay organised without much effort.

- There is an app that ByLwansta cited called TODOIST (https://todoist.com/). It allows you to set tasks, reminders and also helps you organise your tasks or days.

- Use the Google Drive system to type your documents, create presentations as well as spreadsheets online. These documents are downloadable in the Microsoft Office formats of word doc, excel sheets or powerpoint presentations once you're done. The Google system is also very helpful for collaborating with remote teams through file sharing and direct input on the same documents with trackable changes plus live chats or comments.

- Get the OTTER TRANSCRIPTION APP (https://otter.ai), it's a mobile app you can use to voice your ideas, notes or even record meetings and it will turn then into text paragraphs. You can then categorise or arrange your boards in the app to help you organise your thinking. Just remember to execute on your ideas and follow up on everything you write down okay?

4. Share your goals with trusted friends or family members

Keeping track of your progress goes hand-in-hand with being accountable for the things you said you're going to achieve. We're human, things get blurry every now and then, plus we're still navigating a pandemic so things will definitely go off-track. This is why it's important to appoint "accountability partners" to help you check how far you are with writing that book or recording that EP for example. Having a non-judgemental or neutral friend who will ask, "Did you manage to write that proposal for that brand?" is a good way to keep nudging you in the right direction. Try to take responsibility for your own growth as much as you can without completely relying on your support system to remind you of the things you promised to do for yourself. There's nothing like the victory of keeping the promises we make to ourselves, it encourages us to do better and to continue making ourselves proud. Some ways to connect with your accountability partners are through a regular coffee date - be realistic about how often you can meet, scheduling virtual calls, or setting up celebration dates close to your deadlines to push you to stay within your time frames.

5. Take it easy and look after yourself

When all is said and done, it's important to remember that life happens and with that comes challenges that might throw you off course. Aside from that, it's also okay to miss a personal deadline here or there when things don't go according to plan. What matters most is never giving up on what you're trying to do, no matter how much longer it's taking you. A healthy way to check in with yourself is to always ask these three questions:

a) Did I do my best?

b) Is what's happening out of my control?

c) Can I start over and try again?

If you answer "yes" to all these questions then you allow yourself the grace to move through curveballs without beating yourself up over what ifs and disappointments. In addition to this, you need to to take care of yourself in order to maintain a good amount of energy and strength to give your best all year round. Here are some key strategies for self-care and maintenance:

- Visit your friends or family as often as possible. We often get lost in the rut of hustling, working, creating and securing the bag that we become isolated from our loved ones. It's important to make time to go see that friend that brings out the best in you, visit your parents or your favourite uncle and niece/nephew. We underestimate the power this small gesture has in nurturing us emotionally. These people often remind you of who you are, how great you are and how much they believe in you and this will surely rejuvenate you, boosting your confidence especially when things are tough.

- Eat well and stay active. This is a sore point for many of us but there's no escaping the fact that better eating habits and some exercise contributes to us functioning at our best. All the fatty foods in takeaways added with the sugars in our snacks or the excess caffeine we take to stay energised ultimately affects our moods and health in the long run. You don't need to become a fitness bunny but you can take simple measures like ensuring that you eat fruit and vegetables daily, drink lots of water (there are apps that help you track your intake) and reduce the amount of fast foods you eat in a week. This along with stretching daily or doing some kind of weekly exercise routine will help you feel more energised, giving you better endurance all year long.

- You have to get enough sleep my friend. We know that there'll be peak periods where your deadlines are looming, pitches are demanding or you're trying to wrap up that album. However, running on 3 hours of sleep and high levels of caffeine in your system paired with excessive junk food is not the best way to function at your optimum. A good night's rest has the advantages of improved concentration along with feelings of calmness throughout the day. You won't create your best work from an empty cup. So make sure to plan ahead, give yourself time to do the work you need to do, ask for help so that you're not completely overwhelmed, and then get some good rest after you've given it your all.

We hope that these tips will come in handy with getting yourself all geared up for the year. Above all else, it's important to remember that you are in control so if anything is not working in your favour feel free to try something new. If things are not going the way you want them to, don't feel pressured to press on without reevaluating your strategy and getting yourself back in the swing of things. While we want to be organised, we also need to be kind to ourselves and accommodate any kind of circumstance - no matter what happens, you can always start again at any given time. Stay tuned to the #MusicUnscripted Twitter Spaces happening bi-weekly with @spokenpriestess and @16BarsRELOADED as we will be walking the creative journey with you all year round.

Till the next blog, each one teach one.