In The Know On Hitting The Reset Button Going Into A New Quarter

Ah, third quarter. We’re halfway through the year and in the heat of summer, which for me is one of the hardest times of the year to stay motivated and inspired. I’m Grace Hallen, Digital Marketing Specialist at Brandpoint, and in today’s edition of In The Know, I’m talking about all my favorite ways to get organized and start the new quarter off on a good note. Here's a list of my favorite ways to step back, reflect and refresh so you can ready yourself for the quarter ahead.

Reflect on the previous quarter. Check in with yourself on what worked last quarter and what didn’t. Where were there miscommunications and stretched deadlines? Where did you succeed and where did you struggle? By analyzing your previous quarter, you can weed out issues and start to brainstorm ways to improve. During this process, reflect on what you’ve accomplished that has gotten you to where you are today. Every little victory is worth celebrating, so give yourself some time to appreciate a quarter’s worth of hard work.

Use an organizational tool. A friend at Brandpoint introduced me to Trello, a project management and task organization software, and it’s been a game changer for me when it comes to managing a bunch of different tasks at once. I run Brandpoint’s social media platforms as well as create content and coordinate events and sponsorships, so my tasks fall into a few different buckets that I have to keep straight. Trello lets me keep running lists on categorized boards so I can always see what’s coming up along with what I’ve done so far.

If you don’t use a tool like this, I highly recommend Trello. And if you're already using an organizational tool, I challenge you to spend some time on it getting organized and planning out your work. It’s also helpful to really think about how you’re using the tool and if you might be able to get more out of it.

Recap with your team. At Brandpoint, we hold quarterly planning meetings that kick off with everyone sharing what they felt worked the last quarter, what didn’t work and what they’re most proud of. I think this is a small thing that really makes a big impact by setting the tone for the meeting and allowing team members to reflect and bring up anything they felt didn’t go as planned. It gives us a space to discuss how our team is functioning and how we might improve together. Plus, by having employees acknowledge what they’re proud of, it gives us a space to provide recognition for hard work. ?I highly recommend adding this to your quarterly meetings if you haven’t already.

Use your Outlook calendar. If you don’t use Outlook, this can apply to whatever email software you are using. Outlook is a great tool in and of itself, and many people don’t realize how intuitive it really is. One thing that I’ve learned from Outlook that helps me stay organized is creating folders for everything and using those folders to clean up my inbox. This gives me a way to categorize my emails and make sure I can reach Inbox Zero, or at least get close to it. Receive an email that doesn’t fit into a folder? Create a new one. You’ll always have the emails you need to go back and refer to, they’re just not clogging your inbox.

Another tip I love is color coding meetings. You can make your calendar look cute while simultaneously keeping yourself organized.

Lastly, make sure you’re using Outlook as a way to hold yourself accountable. If you have a long-term project that requires you to revisit it periodically, put reminders on your calendar as often as necessary. This ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

Create goals for yourself each quarter. We’ve all heard this one over and over again, but it does make a difference having something to focus on each quarter rather than having quarters bleed together with no real feeling of accomplishment. This can be your chance to challenge yourself and be creative with your work. Find something that gets you excited and reminds you why you do what you do. Make sure it’s actionable and achievable, and then write it on a whiteboard or create a graphic that lives on your laptop home screen so that you see your goal often and stay on track

Create team goals and talk about them regularly. Each quarter at Brandpoint, we work together to come up with a few goals for our team that we will all work toward and contribute to. This helps team cohesion and gives us the chance to voice where we think our focus should be. In our weekly meetings, we discuss progress, needs and next steps. This system works great for big initiatives and small ones, too, and helps hold everyone accountable.

Make sure you’re scheduling time for yourself. This topic gets talked about a lot but is so important. Try to schedule some time for yourself throughout the day to get your creativity back and direct your focus away from your work. Whether you block 20 minutes on your calendar for a walk, step away and read a chapter of your book, put together a fun snack or go for a coffee run, we all need those brain breaks throughout the day. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, get in the habit of stepping away and clearing your mind, and then diving back in and reorienting yourself. This will do wonders for productivity and keep you feeling good throughout the quarter.

While this list is not exhaustive, these are just my favorite ways to keep my head in the game and stay organized. If you try out any of these tips, let us know! And if you have suggestions of your own on how to reset for Q3, drop them in the comments below.

Thanks so much for reading and best of luck in the new quarter!

-Grace Hallen

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