Time flies, doesn’t it? It seems like we were just celebrating Christmas. It’s already here again?!

What’s that old saying? The days are long but the years are short. Every year they seem a little shorter to me. In the busyness of life . . . the kids’ activities, the emergency trips to the vet, the basement flooding, the car breaking down, the client asking for a weeknight appointment, the hard drive that fails, the endless social media, the deadlines . . . it can be tough to make the best decisions on the fly. But having those decisions set in stone up front can make life a little easier. And I want to help you with that.

My hope for you this year is for you to be intentional about your photography business, your relationships and about life in general. A sure fire way to do that is to take some time to prep and plan for it.

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Over the next few weeks I’m going to take you through my process of planning my year. And it all starts with looking back. We are going to make 3 very important lists today to help set some boundaries for your next year (and dream a little).

Why in the world do we need boundaries?

Well, the same reasons we put our babies in pack ‘n plays, baby gates up at the stairs, fences around our yards . . . to protect us.

I want your time and your energy protected this year. Time flies, right? You need time for your family, time to work on your business, not in it. You need time to rest, time to build your business and nurture the relationships that are important to you.

So let’s get started.

Heads up: There is a free template at the bottom of this blog post to help you through this entire exercise :)

Before you can make this list, you need to think back over your year and evaluate it. Let’s make a different list before the YES / NO list. It’s the “What Went Right And What Went Wrong” list.

It’s pretty easy to remember the bad stuff, right? That’s natural and just the way we are wired. Sometimes it’s harder to remember the good. So look back through your calendar and your client list to start jogging your memory. I bet you have a pretty long list after that exercise.

Now it’s time to dream.

If you could plan and put your perfect year into action, what would it look like? Get really specific here.

What would your mornings look like?
What would your evenings look like?
Where would you spend your time?
What would you be photographing?
And when would you be shooting?
How do you want your days to feel?
What sorts of fun things would you be doing?
Where would you go on vacation?
What new skills would you learn?
How would you live life if it were completely up to you?

Finally, it’s time for that YES / NO list for 2020.

Ok, you’ve done a lot of work so far. Now you can take all of those notes and start setting your boundaries for the year.

What are you saying no to this year?

What drains your energy?
What takes way more time than it should?
What are some things that another person could easily be doing to take the burden off of you?
What are you holding onto too tightly in your business?
Where will you draw the line with your clients?
What things can you put a stop to in order to protect your sanity and family this year?

What are you saying yes to this year?

What gives you life?
What sets you on fire?
What makes you most proud?
What do you absolutely love to do?
What are the things you know you need to be doing but haven’t had the time or made the time to do?
What matters most to you?
And at the end of next year, what will you want to be able to say you did?

Really think about each of those questions as you are making your lists. It may take a few times of returning to it before it’s final.

Once you have that YES / NO list I want you to put it somewhere that you can see it every day. Make a promise to yourself that you will stick by them because you want to be intentional with your time, with your business and with your families. Yep, you’ll compromise and you’ll fall off the wagon. Let me be the first to say that I do that a lot! No one is perfect. But this will set you up for one of the most intentional years yet in your business if you go through this exercise and remind yourself of your YES’S AND NO’S consistently.