Best of January 2019 + Powersheets Progress

Did anyone else feel like January was 100 years long?

I thought January would be a slightly slower month as people got back into the swing of things after the holidays.

Boy, was I wrong!

I gained two new clients at the start of the month and it was crazy! Definitely not complaining, though. I'm really excited to work with these new clients and they should keep me pretty busy going forward.

Aside from being busy with client work, January is also my birthday month. Since my birthday wasn't until the 30th, it made the month seem that much longer! My 29th birthday finally arrived though and brought with it at least 5 new silvery-gray hairs, which I've decided to embrace. What are you gonna do? 🤷🏻

Anyway…

Like the previous few months, I didn't get a lot accomplished on my to-do list. Settling into a routine has been a bit of a struggle, but I think I've finally nailed it down so hopefully I can be more productive in February and going forward.

Luckily, I did manage to devote some time to my blog, find great new resources, explore other blogs, and read some awesome books. So, here we go!

📌 Pin me for later

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January Goal Review

Once again, I didn't accomplish very many of my January goals. Like I mentioned, January was an unexpectedly busy month for me.

Business Goals

Umm…so my business goals completely tanked in January! I did start working on my website towards the end of the month but it still needs a bit of work.

1. Finish designing and writing the copy for katiejenison.com ❌
2. Create an email opt-in for katiejenison.com ❌
3. Send 6 cold emails and grow client roster ❌
4. Update the House to Home Facebook Page ❌

Blog Goals

1. Launch new resource library ❌
2. Write 4 new blog posts ✅
3. Complete Pixistock's course, The Intentional Brand ❌
4. Launch my new series, Creatives in the Spotlight, which will feature interviews with creative entrepreneurs ✅

Blog posts I published in January

I didn't publish as many posts as I wanted to, though I did reach my goal of 4 for the month. In January, I published a total of 6 new posts. I'm also pretty excited because these include a couple of guest posts as well as the launch of my new interview series, Creatives in the Spotlight.

1. Best of December 2018
2. 10 Ways to Be More Productive While Working from Home
3. 10 Ways to Find Inspiration When You Feel Stuck (Guest Post)
4. An Interview with Katie Jenison: Freelance Writer & Blogger
5. 8 Things Successful Creative Entrepreneurs Do (Guest Post)
6. How to Create a Freelance Writing Routine that Works 

Free Tools I've Been Loving

• Grammarly – I'm still using the Grammarly Chrome Extension and I love it more than I did last month! It works kind of like spellcheck does but I like it because it picks up on more grammar and structure mistakes than regular spellcheck. It also has a built-in thesaurus, which comes in handy. I also really like that it sends you weekly stats so you can track how many words you wrote.
• Wave – It's tax season and I don't know where I would be without my accounting software from Wave. Throughout 2018, I was able to keep track of all my expenses and income which has been so helpful in keeping things organized. Everything is organized into expense accounts and types of sales, too. Now I can either print off my financial statements to hand over to my accountant or grant her access to my account.
• Evernote – I've been using Evernote to keep track of information for Creatives in the Spotlight and it's worked perfectly. I'm able to keep a separate “notebook” and create tables, a schedule, and notes.

My Favorite Blog Posts in January

• You Have a Word of the Year, Now What? (Authentically Asha)
• How to Write Epic Blog Post Titles that are Irresistibly Clickable (The Side Blogger)
• How to Turn a Blog Post into 13 New Pieces of Content (Ivory Mix)

Books I Loved in January

• The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
• You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero
• An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
• One Day in December* by Josie Silver

*This was one of my January Book of the Month Club picks. Sign up to be a BOTM member using my link and get a free book!

Magic Moment of January

I have two magic moments from January!

I was invited to create two guest posts in January. The first was for Trendy Simple Life, which was 10 Ways to Find Inspiration When You Feel Stuck. The other was for 3MP/Studio, which was 8 Things Successful Creative Entrepreneurs Do. They were so fun to write!

My other magic moment was launching Creatives in the Spotlight and opening The Quiet Type up to guest bloggers. I'm really excited to share stories, tips, and advice from other creative entrepreneurs.

You can check out the series here or click here to learn how to get featured on The Quiet Type.

February Goals

With February being a slightly shorter month, I'm going to keep my goals fairly simple. Hopefully, I'll have accomplished them by the time I post my February roundup! 🤣

I also am changing the format a little bit because I invested in a Powersheets planner from Cultivate What Matters for the new year.

I've been loving this planner so far! It hasn't replaced my favorite, go-to planner—The Daily At-A-Glance Planner, though.

It's been really great to help me really dig into my goals for 2019, so I thought it would be interesting to incorporate the format into my monthly goals + review blog posts. Each month has several action items and reflection prompts, but I'm going to focus on the “trending list.”

Here's how the list is broken up:

• 1 Top Priority
• Monthly Action Items
• Weekly Action Items
• Daily Action Items

Now, let's get to the goals!

Top Priority

This is probably an obvious choice, but my top priority in February is launching my new website. My goal is to have it fully designed and up and running by February 28th.

Monthly Action Items

1. Create an editorial/content calendar for March
2. Pixistock Branding Course

Weekly Action Items

1. Publish at least 1 new blog post each week
2. Input new interviews in WordPress and schedule to post on appointed days
3. Make 2 new pins for old blog posts

Daily Action Items

1. Approve and reply to blog comments
2. Daily gratitude list
3. Read from a personal development/nonfiction/business book

Alright, I think that's everything. Be sure to check out my previous roundups to see the other freebies and goodies I've recommended in the past!