The 4 Step Process That Will Save Your January And Keep Your Brilliant Ideas Alive

Image by Kursat Ozenc and Margaret Hagan

“It’s only a few weeks holiday! I’ll remember to get on with this brilliant idea in January. Why wouldn’t I?…It’s consuming my brain right now…how could I forget?” — 2024 Me

2025 Me — “WHAT THE FRICK IS ‘Activate network strategy’ MEANT TO MEAN?!?!”

Sound familiar?

I was inspired to write this article by a series of posts and comments online that got me thinking. Not necessarily because this is something I struggle with, but because it’s something that I used to struggle with and have forgotten that others still do.

For the past few years, whenever I’ve taken holiday, I’ve gone through a simple process that allows me to clear my brain, completely unwind, and yet hit the ground running, refreshed and renewed, when I get back.

The ability to forget seems to be heightened at this time of year. There feels to be something much larger at play that goes on during an annual transition. Where our unconscious conditioning goes through a chronological portal that wipes our memories. Just like entering a different room, or a file on your computer, and completely forgetting what you went in there for.

Here’s how to avoid that January confusion.

I’m going to share my simple 4 step process, that really works for me. And I hope it does for you too.

4 STEP PRODUCTIVE TRANSITION

1 — CATEGORISED TO DO LIST

The first thing I do is write my mega to do list of all the things swimming around my brain. This really is a brain dump of all tasks and ideas great and small. As a business owner, this can cover a vast range of areas in my business or projects. So in order to easily scan and navigate through this I organise these under categorised headings.

I also make sure to include a section called Networking, where I list all the people I had said in passing I’d catch up with in the new year; and people who strategically, I know it would be good to connect up with to get project ideas going. Make sure to write a reason next to each name for why you are scheduling a meeting with them. Bold or star the names of the most important people to book in first.

If you want to go a step further, once you’ve completed this full to do list, put each section into a rough prioritised order of importance (not urgency). What tasks are more likely to ‘move the needle’ in line with your loosely understood goals you currently have for next year?

I like to do this digitally so it’s easy to reorder.

2 — FIRST WEEK PRIORITISATION

Now this is the first secret-sauce step that even if you were only going to get to step two…you’ll be thanking yourself.

This is where we take the prioritisation from important to urgent.

Looking at the first two weeks in your diary:

• What deadlines, meetings or milestones are already booked in that need particular focused energy and work done beforehand?

• What strategic project is really important to get going with next year?

Select 3–4 of the most important things to focus on in the first two weeks back, and stars next to the 2 things to focus on in the first few days back,alongside admin catch-up and orientating back into it all.

I have these items bolded, or in red, in their own categorised section at the top of the to do list.

I explain these priorities to myself in the next step…

3 — LETTER TO MYSELF

I’m assuming that this is where many would want to tail off. But if you want to truly give your mind a break over the holidays, I find that this step is critical.

I write a letter to myself that describes things a bit more strategically and explains some of the potential ideas I have going round my head. I always think I’m going to remember this stuff but it’s always a surprise. I try to write this in as human a way as possible — this isn’t a business presentation or report. This is me writing a full on letter to myself as if I was another person; a best friend who is obsessed with knowing all the intricacies of what you have going on and what you hope for the next year.

I’ve even been known to print this out, sign it, and put it in an envelope to myself. Then blocked in my diary for my first morning back at work, is a coffee shop date where I open the letter to read, scan my to do list and calendar and day dream my mind back into work. This really is a life-giving approach to orientating back in. Plus the prep work of prioritisation of the few things to focus on first, really helps to manage any feelings of overwhelm, leaving space for some hope and excitement for new year goals.

4 — LEVEL UP WITH TA DA’S

So, still in the pre-holiday decompressing phase. I often do the above over a nice coffee, with lots of looking out the window as I scan the horizons of my mind for every task on my plate that I don’t want to lose.

But I’m a transformation expert, not a self-help productivity guru. I’m seeking opportunities to grow, expand and develop as human beings — not just get more done in a hyper productive, capitalist system obsessed with flow states.

We need to ebb as well as flow as we travel through life. By ebb, I mean to slow down and take stock. It is in these times that we can identify our emotions of what feels worthwhile and meaningful, and also assess what worked well, what were we good at, and what can we build upon going forward.

This is why I then swap the coffee for a wine or whiskey (pick your tipple or sweet treat of choice) to mark a shift to celebration — and I write a ‘Ta Da! List’.

Yes that’s right. Not a To Do List.

A Ta Da! List.

I list all the things I’ve achieved that year, the ways that I’ve developed, the new things I took the uncomfortable steps to start, and the important epiphanies I had that helped direct me closer to the more authentic life I secretly dream for myself. And I celebrate them.

TRANSITION WITH TRUE SELF AWARENESS

All this means that when I do down my tools I feel more positive overall, and can more easily let go of any pressure towards myself for all the ‘should-have-dones’.

True self awareness means we are able to acknowledge all the things we are good at and are proud of, not just knowing all the aspects we can improve on — otherwise that is just self criticism and unworthiness disguised as self awareness.

So that’s the simple process: Categorised to do list, Prioritisation, Letter to myself, Ta da list.

Designed to satiate the doer mind, calm and quell the emotional, and inspire the future you.

I hope it helps, and let me know how it works if you give it a whirl.