Living simply is not just waking up and doing whatever is needed to be done. Living simply takes a little thought, a little planning and a lot of work. The work is worth every minute and every ounce of sweat when your day to day is less overwhelming and provides you with a clear path. That is what we do for Tin Box and create a system to be consistent, put in a little extra work and lead a less stressful day to day. We are going to work a little harder in 2025 to make our time more efficient and really enjoy the time we have with our daughter and on as many adventure trips as possible while we live here in Hawaii.
With New Year’s in just a few days, I often think about how the new year will be different from the last. While I can’t predict sales, trends or even how many hours I will work in a week, I can plan for upcoming holidays, gifts and information I’ll share. I also think about the things that worked out really well, challenges I faced in the business (and in life) and things that I will absolutely never do again. I look at the needs of my family and most recently the routines and activities with my daughter, as well as responsibilities that I have outside of the house.
When we start planning for the upcoming year, I print out blank calendars for each month and each line at Tin Box. I also print out a few extra for additional lines we will add to the business and a blank one for the inevitable mistake that I can’t overlook and need to redo the whole page. Yes, I’m that girl. This may sound a little daunting, but it has really helped me to get organized and be more consistent with my social media and posting, which helps me reach more people and continue growing.
To get started I fill in major holidays and plan my theme for each month of the year. Yes, I already have a plan every month of 2025. Keep in mind that it is just a plan and can change as I go. I do work ahead as often and as much as I can, but things change and things happen so changes happen regularly. Changes are a part of life and the less you worry about the change and the challenges and just figure out how to make it work for you, the easier everything is and the happier you are! Next I look for some cute, or fun, holidays that compliment my business. Products like our tooth fairy door hanger are a great compliment to Tooth Fairy day that happens to fall on two days of the year. Also, our whole pet category lends itself to the many pet holidays spread throughout the year. I have a lot of fun with these days and hope to incorporate them more this coming year.
Next I work with my general business themes. Each day is centered around a theme that I follow, for the most part, each day throughout the year. The themes have changed over time, but I’m loving the current schedule of Simple Sundays, Make it Mondays, Tasty Tuesdays, Theme Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays, Small Business Fridays and Saturday’s Spotlight. Tuesdays are going to look a tad different this year as I haven’t been cooking for my husband since moving to Hawaii, but I do plan to get back into recipes soon. For now we will share all kinds of recipes from our snacks to popular online recipes we have tried and some amazing finds from other creators. I can’t wait!
Once those are labeled I stick with the monthly theme and plan the month out in pencil. January is up first and we are gearing up for the theme: Valentine’s Day. I will be looking for projects and things at home to make Valentine’s day fun, cocktails to enjoy a romantic (or just festive without the romance) month in February. I also like thinking about Tin Box products ahead of time to make sure that our theme Wednesdays and Saturday’s spotlights show you new products, as well as new ways to use products we have had in the past. We really enjoy thinking about ways to make your life easier and that includes gifting others, as well as treating yourself.
Finally I work a week at a time. Posts like this one take a little longer, but I like to do a week in each line at a time. Right now I am working on posts for Tin Box and when I wrap up the week’s posts, I will move on to Tin Box Tees and then Creates If I have time before the week is up, I will think about when and how to incorporate a new line as well.
While it is a little work to get this printed, plotted and planned, the work makes my daily life SO much simpler. I need all the simple that I can get with a deployed husband, 2 dogs and baby. I love my work and want to continue enjoying it so a little work at the start of the year, makes each and every day more enjoyable.
What do you plan for throughout the year?
As always, thank you for reading and joining us on this journey, we hope you enjoy!
Simply,
Beth