An unfair thing happens every September: you start feeling stressed out by two different years at the same time.
First, there’s the stress of Q4. Just a few months remain in the current year. The pressure is on to complete your annual goals and wrap up everything that needs to get done before year-end. So you’re navigating all the same time management and productivity problems that overwhelm you every autumn.
You’re also thinking ahead to Q1. What’s next year going to look like for your business? When are your big events and deadlines going to be? What didn’t you get done this year, that you want to try to get done next year? How can you be more productive, raise revenue, grow the business, and still have time to enjoy your life on the personal side? What steps will you take to ensure you get everything done that you’re hoping to accomplish? How are you going to handle all the unpredictable things that life throws at you?
Here’s the good news: if you can do some strategic time management planning right now, you can move into January feeling ready to conquer everything. And you can actually enjoy these next few months because you’re able to get the most important stuff handled.
Keep reading for strategies to maximize your time in the remaining months of this year, and set you up for a productive and fulfilling 2026.
Q4: Time Management and Your Annual Goals
The last few months of any year feel pressure packed. You’re reflecting on all the things you wanted to get done this year and noticing the things that you haven’t gotten to yet. If you have kids at home, getting everyone into the groove of a new school year can be a huge time management challenge. Coordinating everyone’s schedules gets complicated and puts restrictions on how you’re able to schedule your own day.
Time always seems to speed up as we move into Thanksgiving and the winter holiday season, so you know it’s going to be New Year’s before you’re ready.
This is the season when it becomes really clear that there are a limited number of productive work hours left in the year. You can’t keep pushing off your annual goals and promising to get to them “later,” or you’ll run out of time.
But how can you actually make progress on those big, looming, unfinished goals when you’re already so busy?
Three Clear Steps for Completing Key Goals Before The End of Q4
- Take a look at your annual goals. Get really clear about what you want to accomplish between now and Thanksgiving. The time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day tends to be slower for a lot of professionals, especially if you take time off in December. So look at the days between now and Thanksgiving as one bucket of time that you’re planning for.) But don’t overwhelm yourself with a list of six or 10 things you “must” get done. Instead, hone in on just two business goals you absolutely want to accomplish before the end of the year. You set yourself up for success by setting manageable objectives.
- Focus on those two goals. Break them down into actionable steps and build time into your daily plans to progress through those steps.
- Once you complete one goal, go back to your annual goals and choose another one to focus on.
Q1: Building the Scaffolding for a Productive New Year
An upcoming year feels like a blank slate. It’s full of promise. You go into the new year full of ideas for things that you’re going to do and (hopefully) full of optimism.
The challenge then is, how are you going to capitalize on all that energy and optimism? What’s the plan for making sure you’re actually able to follow through on your ideas? How are you going to set yourself up in a way that lets you stay on top of things through January and beyond?
If you have a really good system in place for managing your time, you’re going to be able to think clearly about what you want to accomplish.
- You’re going to be able to build on your accomplishments and keep your productive momentum going.
- You aren’t going to waste time feeling stuck and debating what to do next, because you’ll know what to do next.
- It’ll feel like you’re in control of your life, no matter what kind of uncontrollable chaos is going on in the world around you.
- You’ll be able to create a business and life that you love, on your own terms.
Wouldn’t that be a relief?
I believe it’s possible for you.
Ready to build the time management system that actually works for you?
You’re smart, you’re ambitious, and you work hard… but you can’t stop struggling with the same time management problems.
If that resonates with you: Join me for Time Matters Boot Camp! It’s a 90-day program I created for lawyers, financial planners, realtors, and busy professionals. You’ll gain a time management system that’s built just for you, and start using your customized system until it becomes second nature. No more reinventing tools every few months. Take small, consistent steps with expert support that lead to big, lasting change.
The program kicks off on September 29, which means that relief is right around the corner. Get the tools you need to create a profitable business and fulfilling life in 2026 and beyond.
This year I’m celebrating 20 years in business! To mark the milestone I’m offering a $500 discount on this program – the first time I’ve ever done this!
👉 Here’s the link with full program details – https://www.truefocuscoaching.com/tmbc/
👉 Click here to schedule a no cost time to talk with me and learn more – https://go.truefocuscoaching.com/time-matters-consult
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