What if this year felt clearer, not busier?
I’ve had some conversations recently with bookkeepers who feel glad that it’s a new year, but at the same time they also say that they feel strangely flat. Almost a little foggy, or more tired than they feel they "should" be.
January is supposed to feel fresh and hopeful and energising, right? But if last year was full-on for you – lots of responsibility, holding space for clients, deadlines etc. – and you kept showing up anyway, even if you were running low on energy yourself, then it makes complete sense that you might arrive in the new year needing something different than yet another push forward.
December often doesn't end very gently
December usually ends with one last thing to finish, one more client request to respond to, one more promise to yourself that you will rest once things slow down. And then we move into Xmas energy with all that chaos and expectation, from yourself and from others.
Then, suddenly, you’re in a new year, with more expectations floating around, about motivation and goals and momentum, while your body and mind are still quietly asking for a bit more of a break.
This is often what happens after a year where you’ve given a lot of yourself, not only to your business but also to the people around you, without much space to properly reset.
I was talking with a client just last week who was saying that on paper, her business had a solid year: her clients were happy, deadlines were met, and the work kept flowing. But she said she felt oddly disconnected from it all.
She said that she kept thinking, “I should feel excited about the year ahead, but instead I just feel tired and a bit foggy.”
What was missing was space. Space to reflect, space to reset, and space to reconnect with what she wanted this next chapter to feel like, rather than just what needed to be done.
I recently wrote about overcoming overwhelm, because it's something that frequently comes up in my coaching. Some bookkeepers feel that overwhelm is something of a personal failing, or something to fix through sheer willpower.
But often it's simply a signal that something needs to change. And that’s why I invite you to start this year a little differently, in a way that supports your energy first, rather than asking more of you.
Instead of asking yourself what you should be doing more of, or how you can be more productive or more organised or more disciplined, I wonder what would happen if you asked a much gentler question instead:
What if this year was not about doing more, but about feeling clearer?
Imagine feeling clearer about:
What actually matters to you now, not what mattered five years ago, or what you think should matter.
Where your energy is going each day - and whether that feels sustainable.
The kind of business you want to be building and the role you want it to play in your life.
Clarity is a quiet superpower.
When things feel clearer, decisions become easier, the mental load lightens, and the constant low-level tension of trying to keep everything going begins to ease, even before anything on your to-do list changes.
One of the biggest traps I see at the start of a new year, and I've been guilty of this myself, is the rush to plan and map and set goals without first acknowledging how tired you might already be, as though pushing harder will somehow create more energy.
There’s no reward for starting the year depleted, and I don’t want you to feel that way, {{contact.first_name}}.
This year doesn’t need to begin with urgency, or a sprint, or a complete reinvention of yourself or your business. In fact, one of the most supportive things you can do right now is to intentionally set a gentle, sustainable pace for 2026, one that honours your capacity, your energy, and the season of life you’re in, rather than fighting against it.
That might mean slowing down just enough to notice where you feel stretched or resentful or drained. It might mean looking honestly at systems, boundaries, or habits that no longer support you the way they once did.
It might mean deciding what you want less of before you decide what you want more of.
A gentle place to begin
Before you reach for your to-do list or start mapping out the year ahead, I want to offer you a simple place to begin. Nothing complicated or overwhelming - just a gentle reset.
Stop long enough to notice where you feel most tired. Not where you think you should be tired, but where you actually feel it in your day-to-day work. Often this points directly to what needs attention.
Name what feels heavier than it needs to be. A system that no longer fits, a boundary that keeps getting crossed, or a habit that once helped but now drains you.
Choose one thing that would feel genuinely relieving to simplify, stop, or change. Not everything. Just one small shift that creates a little more breathing room.
It’s all about creating a starting point that feels supportive.
Reclaim your energy before you reclaim your to-do list
When you reclaim your energy, clarity tends to follow.
If you’re noticing that fatigue is sitting quietly in the background, know that you’re not alone in that. In fact, fatigue is the topic I’ll be covering in my next newsletter: energy, overwhelm, and sustainability are deeply connected, especially when you care about your work and the people you support.
For now, let this be your permission to start the year softly, without pressure to have everything figured out.
You’re allowed to begin from where you are
