I haven’t been sewing much in March. I’ve been watching other people sew, reupholster, remodel, and restart projects.
I’ve also been solidifying a set of new habits around my health and so I’ve been busy. But I grabbed a pile of my favorite sewing pattern books over the weekend and just looked at the pretty pictures. I’m feeling the pull back into the sewing room.
But I’ve been thinking about habits and how much I’ve been influenced by this book, THE 12-WEEK YEAR. I read it for the first time late last year and while my first quarter sorta went off the rails, I’m back to plan my second quarter and the more you utilize time and task management planning tools (such as are in the 12-week year), the better you do each round.
First quarter, I got a ton done and set up some lifelong dream habits that I’ve been seeking for a while. I’m EXTREMELY proud of that. I didn’t get to so many other things because of how hard I worked to get these new plans to solidify. I’ve been going for nearly three months on the first of those habits and goals, and now a full five weeks on the second half of those habits and goals and I feel powerful! Ha.
It makes no sense for me to beat myself up about what I did not get done (this is the brilliance of the 12-week year; you just go back to your planning tools and try again). Each 12 weeks is a new year (instead of planning once a calendar year, you plan four times a calendar year). This allows for incremental fixes at multiple set times in a calendar year. This is EXTREMELY important. This comes from the evidence-based data about how salespeople can turn in massive numbers just before the end of their fiscal year, or college students cram to prep for finals week. When there is a pressure of time, humans pivot.
And working by quarters, I’m pivoting more easily. I’m not fast. I’m not perfect, but I’m focused. And I know that in just 12 weeks, I’ll have a chance to reconfigure my workflow, my goals, my tasks, to tweak anything that isn’t working to make sure it works better the next round.
It’s planning week over here for the second quarter! What are you planning?
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