The New Year is just around the corner and it is a good time for a change. It is also a time to evaluate your habits and leave your bad habits in the past and generally to just get rid of the old to make room for the new. A great skill to bring into the New Year is time management. Time management is essential to setting your goals and completing your goals. It is also a great way to keep track of your progress and know when it is time to set your mind on one goal and also when it is time to relax and have fun.

Here are a few tips to managing your time more effectively for the New Year:

Plan Your Week On Sunday

Plan to take a few minutes on Sunday to plan out your week. Your overall week will run more smoothly if your start your week and day off with a plan. A key factor to keep in mind is that your energy levels fluctuate during the week and you should plan your days with this in mind. For example, you can plan your low priority and low energy items for Monday, complete your more demanding tasks on Tuesday and Wednesday, schedule meetings for Thursday and utilize your Friday for planning and networking. It is a lot easier to get things done when you don’t have to think about what you need to focus on in a specific day and time frame.

Create A Daily Plan and Block out Your Day

Plan to block out your day the day before including tasks to complete, meetings, lunchtime, dinner, time, breaks, and when your day of work is complete. Also, when blocking out time keep in mind intricate details of a specific task and block out time for each detail needed to complete the task. Blocking out your day will allow you to execute your day more effectively without having lose time thinking about what you have to do next or tempting procrastination.

Schedule Your Demanding Tasks In The Morning

The morning is a great time to focus and get things out of the way before your mind is cluttered with other demands and thoughts. Use the morning to complete tasks that you may feel less obliged to do mid day.

Make The Most Of Your Waiting Periods

Utilize your waiting period effectively. Do you have a long commute on a train to work? Do you have a long wait before a flight? Use the time to complete small tasks like sending an email, making a call or even outlining a paper. Use these moments to get yourself ahead of the game.

Actually Organize Your Email

Emails can be stressful when it is all organized. Create folders according to the type of emails you receive and level of urgency. It will help to stay on top of what is going on, what you need to reply to and also not get overwhelmed by receiving a large volume of emails. A good trick is to create a filter that automatically sends a certain email address straight into a mailbox folder that you created. It helps to keep track of the emails that are being received.

Use Your Calendar

Get a dry erase calendar and fill in a visible schedule on your wall. Use your calendar to keep track of deadlines and even add locations to events being attended.

Comment down below how you manage your time best!

Hey Fran Hey

Francheska Medina AKA Hey Fran Hey is a lifestyle influencer from Harlem, NY. As a result of a chronic illness, Francheska was forced to seek out alternative medicine, nutrition, and fitness which helped in her healing herself. It was this change of lifestyle that changed the trajectory of her life towards a more holistic and conscious lifestyle. Francheska now uses her platforms, social media and podcast The Friend Zone with co-hosts Assante and Dustin to continually share beneficial lifestyle and wellness tips.

Ashlee Ammons and Kerry Schrader

Mother and daughter duo are a collective force to be reckoned with as founders of  Networking app Mixtroz. Each have an impressive network as Ammons worked as Lebron James first intern and as an event producer for big names such as Jay-Z, Coca-Cola, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Oprah Winfrey. Her mother, Schrader also has major connections with a history of working under companies like Ford and Sears. The inspiration behind the app came to fruition from a simple Sunday conversation that spiraled into an genius app that makes makes meeting people at networking events a lot easier.

Amanda Johnson and KJ Miller

Amanda Johnson and KJ Miller are #BOSSWATCH material because as smart, educated, Harvard grads they saw a need in the cosmetics world and filled it. Mented Cosmetics includes a line of nude lipsticks and nail polishes perfect for women of color. All their products are also vegan, paraben free, non-toxic and cruelty free.

Dana Chanel

Dana Chanel is a blogger, motivational speaker, and follower of Christ. Dana Chanel is just a regular girl who had big dreams. Hailing from Brooklyn, she grew up with 8 brothers and sisters and money was tight. However, she didn’t let that stop her aspirations as she attended college while working at a strip club as a receptionist to pay her expenses for school. It was one fateful book called Becoming A Woman of Prayer that inspired a spiritual changed that inspired a movement in her life. In her spiritual journey she catalogues her experience and motivation through her blog A Sprinkle of Jesus and her social media which eventually led to a bigger movement that has inspired others towards discovering Christ. A Sprinkle of Jesus is also available as an app where you can have access to real life experiences and daily inspiration and scripture to turn around your life.

Shelah Marie

Shelah Marie is the founder of Curvy, Curly, Conscious Collective which is an online community celebrating women of color and teaching them to love themselves unconditionally. Every Sunday night, Shelah dedicates time to a Periscope “Soul Study” where she goes through meditations and self love exercises to inspire women towards love.

In the winter time it’s definitely important to have a good skin care routine as the cold weather can be very drying. I love trying out different products and have been making a transition towards more natural and organic options that work for my skin as I have a dry to normal skin combination.

The following are the products I have been using to keep my skin glowing during the winter time.

The Face

Shea Moisture Problem Skin Facial Wash & Scrub

Shea Moisture African Black Soap Clarifying Mud Mask

Avohass Extra Virgin Cold-pressed Unrefined Avocado Oil 

DIY Apple Cider Vinegar Toner 

The benefit of using Apple Cider Vinegar is that it is antiseptic and anti bacterial which is great for skin infections, acne, and eczema. Other great benefits is that it balances the natural ph of the skin, breaks up the bonds between dead skin cells to keep pores open, and can lighten sun, age spots, and acne scarring.

Ingredients

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Filtered Water

Formula

For sensitive skin: Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with 4 parts water

For normal/dry skin: Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar and 2 parts water

For oily skin: Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar and 1 part water

The Body

Shea Moisture African Black Soap Body Wash

Natural Organic Shea Butter from the beauty supply store

Comment down below the products that you use during the winter time!