Laying the Groundwork in the New Year

It's here, it's here! The new year is HERE!! I had a great New Year's Eve - my husband and I chilled out for a few hours after work, then got dressed up, went to dinner at a local brewpub, headed to a party half a block from our house, and rang in 2015 with new friends and a bit of bubbly.
I am not a big resolution maker. I find if I want to do something or break a habit, I have to just decide on it and DO IT. However, I do believe in setting goals and making a plan to attain them. Following are a few of the goals I'm working toward in 2015 and beyond.

Writing and building my email list
In my research, I am finding that writing, whether it's a newsletter or a blog or a hand-written note, is the backbone of most successful businesses. My email list is the most important aspect of my business in certain regards, and one of my goals is to build it up by writing regularly about my projects and what I learn over the year. In 2014, I posted six times on this blog. I'm setting a reasonable bar-I'm going to double that number this year. That means one post per month, which is an entirely attainable goal. Heck, I might even post more (fingers crossed)!

Old fashioned and new fangled - both very valuable.

Of course, intentions are great, but how will I manage to write more? Again, I'm starting small. I am going to try to spend between ten and thirty minutes per day writing. This will probably mean I have to get up a little earlier, but since my office re-design, I have a lovely creative space to write, photograph, and design. Did I mention my office faces east, so I always get the morning light? I can't think of a better motivator than the morning sun (featuring coffee) to get my creative juices flowing.

Continuing to say NO to things that aren't a priority
In May of 2014, I hit a wall. We had inherited a dog, my husband was experiencing job fluctuation which led to financial instability, and I was working on my part of a collaborative art show, running my business, and singing with a few different acts in town. I basically had a breakdown, and decided that it was time to cut out some extracurriculars. Now, I have a much better handle of my schedule (sort of), and my resolve is firm in what I'm available to do. If it's a design project or photography, I'm all ears, but if it's another band project or a show in a gallery, I'm out. I have time to sing with Bill and his different incarnations, and that's about it. While I love showing my photos, it's incredibly time-consuming and expensive to put a show together. To read more about how I found my resolve, check out this post from last year.

A shot from the Very Entertaining Holiday Show. I love being involved with Bill's music.

Being present
We live in a society where being busy is seemingly becoming synonymous with being important. "Busy" is becoming a four-letter word to me, even though I do tend to be occupied for most of the time I'm awake. I'm making efforts to minimize the use of that word in my daily life.
That being said, my husband tends to get irritated with me when we sit on the couch to unwind at the end of a night and watch a little TV; I usually make it about five minutes into whatever we're watching before I pick up my phone and start Instagramming, shopping for work clothes or photo props, loading my Buffer for Twitter, or any number of things a person with a marketing job might do while having their entertainment spoon-fed to them. While I don't necessarily plan to entirely stop while watching TV, I am guilty of zoning out when I really should be engaging the people around me, especially my husband. I am actively working on using my time better to market, and not wasting so much window shopping or scrolling.

A photo from April 2009. This sums us up pretty perfectly, and I don't want to lose this joy.

This is just the start to my list of ways to make my 2015 the best year yet. Do you have any resolutions or goals? Share them in the comments!