Hello from twin central. After seven weeks in tne NICU, we brought our preemie twins home last week, and they’re growing like bean stalks as we speak.

This year my end of the year goal-setting was a bit different than most, as I was full up in the craze of being a new Mama to two boys, and an old Mama to Lucia. But even though I didn’t take two days to buckle down and plan out my year as I’ve done in years past, I did manage to go through the practice of setting my Word of the Year.

I’ve got my word, and it’s ESSENTIAL.

At first, as I typed that, I thought it seemed a bit funny to have a word like that when there are hundreds and hundreds of unread emails in my inbox (hello maternity leave auto-responder). But then I remembered that that’s exactly the point. Email isn’t what’s essential to me this month, as I spend one more month focused on the little babes before diving back into the life of a working Mama (one who loves her work).

This year, I’ll be asking myself this question, again and again, “What is Essential right now?”

The answer, I hope, will tell me everything.

I’ll share more on my Word of the Year soon, but in the meantime  here are some great reads on starting the New Year with a bang:

• What is a Word of the Year and Why You Need One is one of several articles I’ve written on the topic, ever since I started setting a word for my year five years ago. Setting a word of the year is a simple and powerful process I talk about in my book, Design Your Day, and in Work by Design School. For more on what it’s all about, get a quick overview on how to do it here.
• I’m certainly not the only one talking about Words of the Year, and I liked this article, How to Make Your One Word Stick, Once and For All. It will help give you motivation to stay the course, when the one word thing has got you groggy. You can also sign up at their site and see what words other folks are setting in 2017.
• Ten Expert Tips to Make 2017 Your Most Productive Yet is an article right up my alley, and I loved that one of the tips is “take a stroll”. Disconnecting from work in any form — like taking a walk — is an essential tip for productivity and focus.
• And I laughed at this. This site helps you remember all the things in 2016 that didn’t suck. Good headlines, all around.

That’s all for today. Back to what’s essential for me, this Wednesday.

Claire

P.S. Because everyone’s version of essential is different, mine included proudly spending several hours watching the Bachelor premiere this week. It was absurd, and I loved it, and I can’t wait for next week. I say this to make it clear that I’m hardly the uber-intentional-productivity-obsessed-singularly-focused-doting-mother that this email seems to indicate. Huzzah!