Task Based New Year Prep

This week is all about New Year Prep. Last week I walked you through exactly how I spend December closing out the year and preparing for a new year ahead. If you haven’t listened to that episode, pause this one, because it’s truly a precursor to what we’re talking about today. So go listen to that one and then come back here.

Alright, if you’re still listening, I’m assuming you’ve listened to last week’s episode and are fully prepared to close the year out well. In today’s episode, we’re going to be chatting about exactly how I OPEN a new year. In particular, I’m going to walk you through each day of my first week back, and the exact tasks that I perform each day.

Last week’s episode was much more flowing, and while I gave you guidance, it also left a lot of room for doing things at your own pace and listening to your own gut. This week’s episode is not like that at all. When it comes to opening up a new year, things are much more task-based, and I’m going to tell you every single one of those tasks in today’s episode so make sure you grab a pen and piece of paper so you can jot these down!

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Join me on Monday evenings at 4:00 pm Pacific time/7:00 pm Eastern time for my weekly YouTube Lives!
Snag the 2025 Chasing Simple Marketing Planner!
Check out my book for a crash course in content marketing
This week’s action step: Take the time to map out your own workflow!!!
This week’s book recommendation: Burnout, The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
Find me on Instagram and tell me you completed this week’s action step: @mrsamandawarfield

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Have a comment about today’s episode, or a topic you’d like to suggest for a future episode? Shoot me an email over at hello@amandawarfield.com!

Rather Read? – Here’s the Transcript!

*Just a heads up – the provided transcript is likely to not be 100% accurate

Last week I walked you through exactly how I spend December closing out the year and preparing for a new year ahead. If you haven’t listened to that episode, pause this one, because it’s truly a precursor to what we’re talking about today. So go listen to that one, and then come back here. Alright, if you’re still listening, I’m assuming that you’ve listened to last week’s episode and are fully prepared to close the year out well.

In today’s episode, we’re going to be chatting about exactly how I am. Open a new year. In particular, I’m going to walk you through each day of my first week back and the exact tasks that I perform each day. Last week’s episode was much more flowing, and while it gave you guidance, it also left a ton of room for doing things at your own pace and listening to your own gut.

This week’s episode is not like that at all. When it comes to opening up a new year, things are much more task based, and I’m going to tell you every single one of those tasks in today’s episode. So make sure you grab a pen and a piece of paper so that you can jot these down. You’re listening to episode 244 of the Chasing Simple podcast, and I’m your host, Amanda Warfield.

This episode was brought to you by my book, Chasing Simple Marketing, and you can grab your own at amandawarfield. com slash book.

How do I find time to create content without overwhelming myself? Where should I even be showing up in my marketing? How do I come up with fresh content ideas? Where should I be focusing my marketing efforts? What is lead generation anyways, and how do I do it? Are launches still a thing? And most importantly, How do I put it all together to market my business strategically?

Can I really grow my business without spending all of my time marketing? These are some of the questions that float around in your head. When you think of marketing welcome friend, this is chasing simple or practical marketing strategy meets simplicity. I’m your host, Amanda Warfield, simplicity focused content, marketing and launch strategist, speaker, educator, and author of chasing simple marketing.

I traded in my classroom lesson plans for helping creative entrepreneurs sustainably fit marketing into their business without it taking over their business, so that they have time to grow their business, take time off, and live the life they dreamed about when they first decided to go out on their own.

When I’m working, you can find me working with one on one clients, such as The Contract Shop and Rebecca Rice Photography on their marketing strategy and copywriting, or helping my students simplify their marketing and launches. And when I’m not, you can find me spending time outside with my husband, Russell, reading in our hammock, watching Gamecock Sports, traveling, or forcing our cats to snuggle me.

If you feel overwhelmed by marketing, you aren’t alone. Many entrepreneurs find marketing frustrating, overwhelming, and simply an obligation. They know they need it, but they don’t enjoy how easily it can suck up their time when what they really want to be doing isn’t is the thing that they started their business to do.

Which is why I’m here. To help make marketing simple and less time consuming, so that you can spend less time on your marketing, and more time growing your business and doing what you love. Each week, I’ll bring you transparent conversations about Actionable steps and judgment free community to encourage and equip you.

So grab yourself a cup of coffee or whatever your drink of choice is and meet me here each week for love, support, practical tips, and advice on uncomplicating your marketing and business. Let’s do this entrepreneurship thing together, shall we?

When it comes to creating your monthly content calendar and sitting down to create your content because you’re batching it, right? The first step is not writing in the monthly calendar. It’s not even writing your categories and important dates on the calendar. If that’s where you’re starting with your content planning, well, all you’re creating is a plan.

But what you need is a strategy. What’s the difference? A strategy is like the inner structure of a building, while the plan is the decor. A strategy is what helps you achieve your goals, and your plan is how you achieve them. Your strategy is where you’re leading your audience, and your plan is what you’re talking about and when.

Without having a strategy first, putting together a plan will simply mean pulling ideas out of thin air. So, how do you start with a strategy? By starting with your goals and working backwards to ensure that you’re moving your audience toward them. What are your yearly goals, quarterly goals, monthly goals, and weekly goals?

And how can you translate them into content your audience wants to ingest? You’ve got to consider those questions before you even begin deciding what it is that you’ll post about. And if you want a simple way to create both your strategy and your plan, grab your Chasing Simple content planner. The planner is my number one bestseller, and for good reason too, because this massive, more than 130 page planner was designed with strategy in mind.

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Ep. 244: New Year Prep