If there’s anything I’m an expert in, it’s planning. I plan my days, weeks, months and year and it’s a hobby for me. Whether it’s digitally or on paper, I live for my weekly reset as well as my monthly, quarterly and annual planning sessions. My systems might be overboard but I have so many areas in my life to plan for. I’ve slacked off a little in quarter one so here’s how I’m planning everything in 2025 from now on.
CLIENT WORK
This is probably the area that needs the biggest overhaul. Right now, I write some stuff in my daily planner, some on Notion and some on Google Sheets. Both of my main clients use Google Sheets to organise their own content and I have access to those. However, both clients are very different.
For my main client, I’m actually a sports journalist for a rugby league website. I’m trying to book my days off for the month two weeks before the month starts if that makes sense. However, the hours on those days can be anything from 8am to 11pm. tend to only find out the hours during that week so it can be a little harder to plan. Knowing which days I’m with them means that I can at least block out the other four days of the week.
For my other client, I work ad-hoc whenever I can fit them in. They have a Google Sheets with a list of article ideas and I just pick and choose whichever and whenever. I’m going to aim to work at least one day a week for them, getting through at least two blog articles in that day, hopefully three. If I can, I’d love to up it to two days a week but I have other stuff to fit in instead. In a perfect world, I’d spend a whole day doing research and writing up drafts and then another writing. However, I’d rather just plan, draft and write in one go for now.
In fairness, I don’t think there’s a lot of planning with these clients to do. I know I could streamline my processes a little but for now, it’s working. I don’t want to over-complicate it all!
RUNNING A BUSINESS
The only time I have for my business is a quick 15-minute CEO morning, usually on a Monday or a Tuesday. All I do is update my accounts and analyse my website and social media stats. I could definitely use this time for business marketing but I often work with my main client on Mondays. When I first started my business, I would use all Monday morning to plan and write my social content for the week as well as a blog post. Now, I need to do this just a some point during the week for the following week. I’m aiming for a blog post every fortnight and two Instagram posts per week. It seems doable but I have to carve out the time.
From Q2, I want to block off a couple of hours per week to get that content written. Whilst I’m close to full capacity with clients, it doesn’t hurt to keep marketing your business. You never know what could happen and I could definitely still add another client for one day a week.
BLOG POSTING
This is a focus of mine but it differs slightly from my original 2025 goal. At the start of the year, I wanted to post once a day to any of my three blogs, ideally three times a week to my main blog and twice on my other two. Now I’m thinking of dropping it to three times on my main blog but once a week on my other two. That still means I need to find the time to write and plan them.
Planning is the easier part as I tend to do that on a monthly basis. As you’ll see below, I do a bit of UK travel and see a lot of theatre shows. That means those content ideas, such as reviews, packing lists, travel prep etc can automatically go onto my calendar. I also do monthly goals, monthly watchlists, monthly spending diaries and monthly reviews as well as quarterly book round-ups, quarterly capsule wardrobe content and quarterly reviews on this blog.
Then it’s about plugging the gaps around those ideas. I try to have a running list of blog post ideas so definitely use that when I need to. However, I have lists in multiple places so definitely need to streamline this into one list in one place (probably Asana)
When it comes to writing, I’d love to sit down and write just one or two days a week. However, because I write for a living, I simply can’t be bothered. Instead, I’m carving out two hours every weeknight to write the post for that day. I’d love to get to a point where I work further in advance but for now, it’s better for my schedule.
ROUTINES + RESETS
Whilst I love my routines and resets, my freelncing schedule doesn’t allow for them to be a set date or time every single week. I know I need to work on my morning and evening routines but I also like to reset them quarterly. For example, in winter, it’s darker so I like to sleep in more. Now it’s nearly spring, I like to get up a little earlier, get some fresh air and start my day quickly.
I’m pretty sure I do some kind of reset every Sunday but I do think I can do more with my time. I’ve done it before but setting a timer for however long really challenges you. Previously, I’ve done it by using the washing machine and using that hour or so to do housework or finish writing a blog post. I just need to do a little more research and take inspiration from other resets and routines to edit my own.
TRAVEL (THEATRE + MUSIC)
This is an area that has to be planned! In fact, I’ve got theatre trips booked in for next year already. Again, doing this quarterly definitely helps me to see what days I’ll be unavailable to work or how to edit my budget for that month or week. For example, I’ve booked all of my train fares for theatre trips up until the end of May.
This is an area that I can’t get much more organised with. I have a spreadsheet with a list of everything I have booked and plan on booking, I add everything straight to my Google Calendar and it also goes on my content calendar as I review most shows. The only other way I can plan my travel is by setting up a sinking fund so I have money ready pre-trip as well as during it!
HEALTH + FITNESS
This is the area that I basically need a transformation with. I’ve tried and failed multiple times at various health and fitness challenges yet I do okay focusing on daily healthy habits. For the umpteenth time, I plan on starting (and finishing) 75 Soft tomorrow. I’ve got a handful of must-do habits as well as a few nice-to-do habits to focus on. Basically, it boils down to moving my body every day, eating healthier, drinking enough water, journalling every morning and reading every night. Those five key habits should help me to feel healthier, give me more energy and maybe lose a bit of weight in the process.
In terms of planning, I want to include workout and meal planning into my Sunday reset. I tend to do the food shopping on a Friday so could change this into a Friday afternoon or evening task. I’d say I eat pretty similar meals every week so that part of it is pretty straightforward. When it comes to workout planning, I have to first look at my calendar and see where my spare time is. In Q2, I’m going to try working out first thing in a morning. I used to do this when I worked in retail and it always set me up for the day well!
SELF-CARE + HOBBIES
If I can set up everything above and improve how I’m planning everything in 2025, I should be able to find more time for my hobbies. Some of them, such as watching a film, box set or sports, can be done at the same time as other tasks, such as blog post writing or my Sunday reset. For others, such as reading, I want to use it as a way to reduce my screen time in an evening. I also want to make a start on my theatre scrapbook and junk journal, which is another screen-free activity.
I consider self-care to be a hobby, especially now I’m 32. Carving that extra time out to do my skincare, refill my vitamin organiser and journal for fun should definitely help to improve my moods and properly relax.
And that’s how I’m planning everything in 2025 starting now! It seems like a lot but most of us, especially as women, balance so many different areas. I’m lucky in that way that I’m a homebody and don’t have tonnes of social plans. I’m also a single woman with no kids so my life looks very different to other people’s! This is just how I want to plan so you can take inspiration if you want to.
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