22 Things You Need to Do to Get Ready for 2022

Get Ready for 2022

22 Things You Need to do to Get Ready for the New Year

Ah, it’s almost the end of another WTF year, basically year 100 into the pandemic. Congratulations to everyone - you’ve nearly made it through 2021! As much as we all did our best to return to normal, it’s apparent that we aren’t there yet. Still, I hope you all had a safe, as happy as can be, and productive year.

In preparation for another go around the sun, I thought I’d compile a list of 22 things you as business owners can do to get ready for 2022. One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten busier and that I’ve observed from my clients is it’s so important to have processes for basically everything. And yes, these help enormously! This includes wrapping up the year.

So here’s my list to get ready for 2022. All points have been categorized so that they are easy to find and pick what you need.

Organization:

Image from Unsplash, by Kris Gerhard.

1. Clear out and organize your desktop.

2. Organize your emails: Create a new folder for 2022 clients, archive emails into 2021’s folder, and reach inbox zero.

3. Budget for next year: Review your accounting software, reconcile all accounts, get clear on your numbers (any money leaks you can eliminate?), and project for next year.

4. Integrate as much as possible all systems you use in one platform. For example, I use Asana for all my daily tasks, so I’ve integrated it into my icalendar so I can see what I need to do for everything in one place.

5. Review all your tasks and think of the ones you can delegate to a VA such as me! —> Check out my Work with Me page for services I can help you with.

6. Make a list of all goals you want to have happen in 2022: Start making a vision board and then break down those tasks to small bits. How can you start going after these goals now and into next year?

7. Back up your computer to an external hard drive. Trust me, you don’t want to lose materials or your hard work!

   Client Stuff:

8. Send a thank-you email to all your 2021 clients.

9. Inform all clients that you will be taking time off for the holidays and let them know the last day you are available for the year.

10. Create all month-end reports and year-end reports for all client work: Do so as much as possible ahead of time and schedule the emails to go out at the appropriate time.

    Boundaries

11. Set up office hours and auto-responder for holiday hours and breaks.

12. Review your social media: unfollow accounts that don’t light you up, leave Facebook groups that you don’t enjoy and aren’t participating.

13. Remove distracting notifications on your phone that prevent you from focusing: Remove notifications from all social media apps, news apps, mute What’s App work conversations when taking a break for the holidays, and more.

    Things to Get

14. Look into getting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to automate repeated tasks, set up workflows, and be so organized when it comes to all things clients work. Get The Virtual Spell to help you set it up! Read my blog post on how I can help you with this task here.

15. If you don’t already, get Asana and use it to manage all your tasks and your teams’ (if you have one).

16. Next, if you don’t have one already, get a contract e-signing subscription.

17. And finally, if you don’t have one already, get a calendar management system/online scheduler.

18. Take inventory of all stationery supplies: Do you need more notebooks, pens, whiteout, planner, etc for next year?

    Clean and Update

19. Update your website: Check links, update services EVERYWHERE, check your contact form is working and if it needs updating, update your copy.

20. Clean your desk and workspace. —> A cluttered mind makes for sloppy work.

21. Update your workday playlists: Make sure you are in the zone as much as possible next year.

22. Do any lingering computer and application updates: I KNOW you see those notifications!