The week of Christmas, my family and I sat at my sister’s kitchen table for a Q1 planning session. It wasn’t formal. It wasn’t perfect. But it was an intentional pause for us to decide how the next few months would go.
Over time, I’ve learned how much my decisions dictate how I operate. When I look too far ahead, I lose clarity. I start reacting instead of choosing. Quarterly planning gives me enough structure to focus without overcommitting to a version of the future that doesn’t account for the reality of daily decisions.
Ninety days is my sweet spot.
What Planning Q1 Means for Me
Planning this quarter isn’t about setting goals or building a long list of intentions. It’s about deciding what gets my attention and, just as importantly, what doesn’t.
For me, that means identifying one primary focus for the quarter and letting everything else operate in service to it or pause. This quarter, my primary focus is launching a new version of CoTripper’s app.
That decision shapes everything else. It influences how I structure my time, what I say yes to, and what I intentionally leave untouched for now. What’s on hold this quarter are new side projects, an overly full social calendar, and anything that pulls energy without directly supporting the launch or my family.
This isn’t about doing less because things don’t matter. It’s about recognizing that attention is finite, and pretending otherwise only creates more friction.
Choosing Focus Over Reaction
I’ve noticed most of my stress comes from reacting to too many things at once, not from the work itself. When everything feels important, nothing gets my full attention.
Quarterly planning helps interrupt that pattern. It gives me permission to stop reacting and start choosing. I’m not locking myself into a rigid plan. I’m defining a direction and allowing room to adjust within it.
Some weeks will go smoothly. Others won’t. That’s expected. What matters is maintaining awareness of what I’ve chosen to prioritize and revisiting that choice often, instead of letting urgency decide for me.
What I’m Practicing This Quarter
This quarter, I’m practicing clarity.
- Clarity about what matters.
- Clarity about what can pause.
- Clarity about what I’m no longer trying to hold all at once.
That doesn’t mean the work disappears. It means I stop pretending everything deserves equal energy. It doesn’t.
Quarterly planning gives me a container that feels realistic. It keeps me grounded in the present while still moving forward with intention.
Why This Feels Different
This approach isn’t about having everything figured out by the end of a quarter. It’s about learning what actually holds when I give something consistent attention over time.
By the end of Q1, I’ll know what stayed steady, what shifted, and what required adjustment. I’ll use that information to plan the next quarter, not from theory, but from experience.
That decision alone creates space. This quarter is about decrease, not increase. Over time, that clarity matters more than any carefully constructed plan.
What’s one thing you're choosing not to focus on this quarter? Reply in the app
