January is a month where we try to catch our breath after an often busy holiday season. We also turn our thoughts to what is upcoming in the new year, pulling out our calendars and starting to write in those big events. Plus, there are 7 activities that we incorporate into our calendars that help us ditch the stress that can happen due to lack of planning well. After all, it’s easy to schedule events like vacations, milestone birthdays, and upcoming weddings, but what about other gatherings and activities that you may want to make time for?

It’s important to put those in the calendar as well.

Let’s explore 7 activities you might not automatically think to put in your calendar at the beginning of the year:

1. Set social gatherings.

Do you want to make more time to have friends over? Look at your schedule and jot in times periodically. You could even create a set time to gather with old or new friends once a month or every other month. Think about your dreams for the next year in terms of your social life, celebrations, and friendship and take action on them by putting them on your calendar. It’s a good opportunity to think of celebrating personal or family goals you have reached with your family or friends.

2. Time to plan upcoming gatherings.

Once you have your gatherings penciled in, do yourself a favor and bookmark time to plan and prepare for them. This includes activities such as designing your menu, decorations (if needed), and other special touches.

3. Shopping for supplies and cooking.

Maybe some of this can be folded into your regular routine, but there may be some extra trips needed, whether for food, decor, or even a spiffy new outfit. You may also need to plan to spend a little more time in the kitchen unless you are having the event catered or picking up pre-made food.

4. Pre-prep, cleaning, and set up.

Give yourself enough time to pre-prep and prep for your event, do whatever cleaning is needed, and set up. Do these in advance. You want enough time buffer before the start of the event to help avoid being stressed and rushing to get things ready right up until guests arrive. And, if you are planning a sit down meal, take a look at these 7 strategies for elevating your table.

5. Clean up and unwind.

After a gathering, set aside time to put your space back to rights. Plus, give yourself some downtime before jumping into something else, especially if you are the type of person who needs time to yourself. Trust me, we love gatherings…and we also realize they require an investment of oneself.  This is something we learned the hard way, but it really does make a difference to give yourself the chance to rest after expending so much energy. 

6. Events you want to attend in your hometown.

There may some really great events in the city where you live. For instance, in Knoxville, Dogwood Arts puts on several events throughout the year. The Chalk Walk is a favorite with many. And people flock to the featured gardens that open to the public during specific times in April as part of Dogwood Art’s celebration of the area’s natural beauty.

So don’t be shy about checking your local calendar. There may just be some things you want to add in your calendar.

7. Educational or creative classes.

These may not be events you plan or host; they can be workshops you attend to build your own skills. One of our friends, who is a fabulous hostess, enjoys taking a variety of cooking classes to increase her repertoire and skill set.

Adding these 7 events and related activities will better enable you to estimate the time you need to invest in them. In addition, it will prioritize those events that are important to you so you have time to prepare for them and enjoy them. As humans, it’s easy to either overestimate or underestimate the time needed to do something. Because we don’t all complete things at the same pace, there’s not a one size fits all equation. When you break an event or project down into individual steps, you will gain a clearer understanding of how much time it will require from you. In turn, you can schedule your time more effectively, which means you can ditch the stress that comes from forgetting an event or not allowing yourself enough time to prepare for it!