8 things to do before the end of the year for a calm new year

There’s so many things to do before the end of the year, including planning for Christmas, juggling work and family life, endless to do lists, and so much more.

Then there’s that sweet spot in between Christmas and New Year that feels a little calmer, and gives us some breathing space to think about the year ahead, and how we want to tackle it.

If you’d like some ideas on how to best tackle the year ahead, here are some things to do before the year ends, so next year can be your best year yet!

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The benefits of planning ahead

As well as helping you to start the new year fresh, planning ahead also has the following benefits:

• It provides a clear direction for how you want your year to go
• It helps you prioritise what matters
• It allows you to be more organised
• It reduces stress because you can better handle the unexpected
• Planning ahead saves time because you know what to do, by when
• When you’ve got a plan you’re more likely to achieve things that are important to you

Things to do before the year ends

Here are some things to do before the year ends, so you can start the new year feeling organised, productive, and calm.

Record special memories

A great way to enter the new year on a positive note, is to record the memories that made the past year special.

You can do this by making notes on:

• What made you happy
• What made you unhappy
• What you want to leave behind
• What you want to start doing more of

You could also use journal prompts to help you think of memories, and you can record your answers in a gratitude journal, a memory journal, or on your phone’s notes app.

Set your priorities

Setting priorities for the new year helps you to focus your time and energy on things that matter.

When setting priorities for the new year, write a brain dump of what made you happy over the previous year.

Then think about whether you want to prioritise more of these things in the next year, or if you want to prioritise other things.

Once you’ve identified what matters, narrow down your responses to 3-4 priorities that you will focus on in the next year, and think about how you can integrate them into your daily life.

For example, if you want to prioritise family time, make it a priority to have as many weekly family dinners as possible, or plan one family outing a week.

Prioritise self-care

An example of a priority that you may like to set for the new year is to start some self-care activities, so you’re taking care of your own needs, as well as everyone else’s.

This could be reading more, moving your body, taking time out each day for a hot beverage, or anything else you enjoy.

READ MORE: Simple self-care routine ideas for busy mums

Set realistic goals

Another thing to do before the year ends is to set realistic goals for the year ahead.

When setting goals, set goals that are important to you. For example, if you want to be more productive then setting a goal to wake up earlier and tackle 1 task on your to do list may help you achieve this.

A great way to make goals feel less overwhelming is to break larger goals into smaller tasks, or you may like to focus on a word of the year if setting goals feels too much.

Do a home reset

Resetting your home at the end of the year by doing a few small tasks can help you to start the new year feeling better in your space.

Some quick reset tasks you can do include:

• Putting items where they belong
• Wiping or dusting surfaces
• Clearing paperwork piles
• Throwing out expired food

Update your family calendar

Putting important dates into your family calendar, or your own personal calendar, is a great way to get organised and feel more productive for the year ahead. It also helps you to feel more in control of what’s coming up.

Some things you can add to your calendar for the year ahead include:

• School term and holiday dates
• Appointments
• Work commitments
• Family events
• Special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries

READ MORE How to use a family calendar to stay organised

Refresh your routines

One of the best things to do before the end of the year is to refresh your routines, so you can leave behind anything that doesn’t work.

When deciding what routines to refresh, ask yourself:

• What routines currently feel chaotic?
• What drains my energy every day?
• What would make mornings or evenings smoother?

Once you have a better idea of the types of routines you’d like to implement, you can start to put some routines in place.

This may result in creating a morning routine checklist to make mornings easier, or implementing after school routines to make evenings calmer.

Review your finances

Reviewing your finances before the year ends is worth doing, especially after the expense of Christmas.

The first thing step when reviewing your finances is to look at your bank statements and see where your money went. Were there unexpected expenses? Subscriptions you paid for but didn’t use?

Looking at your spending habits can help you determine what areas to cut spending on, or what areas to stop spending on all together in the new year.  

It’s also a good idea to make a plan on how to pay off your credit card, as high-interest rates add a lot of extra expense onto your finances.

Finally, set yourself some financial goals for the new year, which may include building up savings, saving for a family holiday, or promising to budget better next year.

Things to do before the end of the year – a recap

As the year draws to a close, taking some time to pause, reflect, and prepare for the year ahead makes a lot of difference to how you start the new year.

Rather than rushing into January feeling overwhelmed, these simple end-of-year tasks help you become calmer, and provide a sense of direction for you and your family.

By reflecting on what matters, setting priorities, refreshing your routines, looking at your finances, or doing any of these end of year activities, you’re setting you and your family up for a calmer, less overwhelming new year.

What unfinished tasks would you like to tie up before the year ends?

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