I’m very much a wearer of rose-coloured glasses and see everything as glass half full, but I have to admit that I have a handful of key ‘favourite’ times of the year that are a bit more special-er than others. For example, I seriously LOVE the night that our fireplace roars to life for the first time in winter but I equally love that first time I strap on my bikini in spring. I love December 1 because my mind officially starts packing for holidays. I love the day I buy a new diary for the coming year. It’s a book that’s packed full of excitement and potential. It’s a tangible clean slate. I love going to bed on December 24 because you know that all you have to achieve the following day is a serious food coma (what other day affords you that privilege ?!). But I ESPECIALLY love that week in late January when the kids go back to school. Not only does routine return for the whole family but I always find that that one week in January is my key week for organisation of life in general. I honestly feel my whole year is set up by that one week in January. I set and collate all my work deadlines for the year, print schedules out and pin them with gusto to my office noticeboard (neatly though, right-dressed and with equal margins around each side #becauseOCD).

I contemplate the best times to take holidays around all those deadlines and start actually reading the copious Luxury Escapes and airline spam emails I receive. I set out my husband’s list of annual leave for the year, to help me through the school holiday juggle. I set out our family’s weekly calendar based on the kids’ extra-curricular activities for the New Year. I finally knuckle down on a gym schedule that’s do-able within that family calendar. I even decide on a set grocery shopping day of the week – and usually forget it by the end of February. I set goals properly (not in a drunken, midnight, December 31 kinda fashion).

There’s something truly inspiring and energising about the New Year and the fresh start or clean-slate-ness of the month. I love the prospects of a New Year and the promise. The key is to keep that momentum going for as long as possible. I’m hoping it hangs around longer than my set weekly grocery day…