The short version of this post goes like this:
I have trouble planning in December so I usually call January Planuary and do my planning at that point.
For 2024, I am using some lessons from last year and just using Planuary to identify some really general goals/ways I want to feel and then I will take things month by month from there.
The long version of the post goes like this:
Some combination of ADHD, personality, and December busy-ness has always made it tricky for me to create any plans that are supposed to start on January 1.
In fact, in December, I am usually scrambling to finish things up and January is just a hazy time in the distant future.
For the longest time, I was really hard on myself about not having January plans in place when a given year started. Gradually, though, I learned to accept the way my Decembers usually play out and use January for my planning instead.
In fact, I even renamed January to Planuary so I made it clear to myself that I wasn’t behind or making a mess of things. Instead, I was choosing to plan in the first part of the year.
Last year, Planuary didn’t play out (my Dad was in hospital and my own plans were pretty far from my mind) and I kind of tumbled into February without any plans in place.
That February approach helped remind me how I do much better when I work in a relatively limited time frame and when I strike a good balance between structure and flexibility.
Deciding to finish 2023 soft gave me lots of time to think about how I might want to approach 2024 and I decided that I wanted to continue soft.
Part of that plan involves using Planuary a little differently than I used to.
I’m not making long-term specific plans for this year.
I’m not even going to try.
Instead, I’m using Planuary to identify how I generally want to feel – physically and mentally – overall during this year.
Once I have that figured out (and once I’ve done a little journaling about it) I’ll decide on some actions that will help me to amble in the direction of that feeling over the course of the month.
At the end of Planuary, I’ll see if I am closer to how I want to feel and that information will help me determine the details of my February activities.
This feels like a soft way for me to continue – no pressure but a bit of direction and a loose kind of structure.
And it feels doable and hopeful, two things that are always important to me but especially so at the moment.
Do you already have your plans in place for this year? Or are you doing a Planuary-type thing?
If you have plans are they detailed or are they fairly loose?
Are you keeping things soft like me or do you like a bit more intensity in your day-to-day?
