Happy New Year!
UNCONVENTIONAL THOUGHTS FROM A WRITER AND EDUCATOR ABOUT JANUARY…
This time of year most people are throwing around resolutions and setting goals, but is there anyone else who finds that January is NOT the beginning of a new year? I mean, yes, it’s the start of a new calendar year, but as far as schedules and productivity, January is not the start of a “year,” or a good time for goal-setting for me.
Depending on your job or whatever schedule drives the ebb and flow of your year, the end and time to reset may be summer–like me–or the fall or some other time. As an educator, I am knee deep in the end of Semester 1 of my school year with my students. Businesses often operate on a fiscal year. In my school district, teachers had to be back to school on January 2nd, and I spent a fair portion of my break grading essays, not taking a break. There really wasn’t much time for a quality reflection or reset. It’s not a clean slate for me–or my students–yet.
Key word is “yet.” Because the concepts of reflection and a reset and goal-setting ARE important. You just need to know what works for you and plan your “year” accordingly. In June, I am grading final essays, wrapping up second semester, and completing inventory and addressing other English department needs for the school.
As those things are addressed, I dive into wrapping up the writing goals that mirrored that semester and begin tackling conference and summer course prep. Following summer conferences, I take my pause. Writing Conferences and teaching intensives can be quite exhausting, and I find I need a reprieve afterwards. SO, at the end of July, I take my break, and the beginning of August is my “New Year.” I celebrate what I accomplished, I take feedback from the conferences and the year and lay out my goals, and I rest for a few days knowing that I am about to dive into planning my next school year with my own children and my students and my next writing project.
So, if it’s not feeling like a fresh January for you, or if you didn’t get a chance to set goals and create your vision board for the year, take heart! Look at your calendar, your life, the schedule of your family and consider if there is a better time for you to pause, reflect, map your goals, and reset. When could your “January” be?
