Moms, Meet Your Quarterly Reset: The Magic of the 13th Week

Do you ever feel at the end of your rope after spending the last quarter constantly trying to keep up with household tasks, homeschool your kids, and still make progress on the things you find value in? I have been there, I totally understand. The overwhelm, the need to get things back in order. Not only do you need to plan for the next quarter, but you also want some time to refresh and renew yourself. This is where the 13th week comes into play.

This post includes affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a subsequent purchase I may receive a commission. Read Disclosure.

The 13th week is a concept that I first read about in the book The 12-Week Year. A goal-setting book that helps you get ahead. But, the quarterly reset or refresh is something that I have been fine-tuning since I started using the PowerSheets Goals Planner in 2015. Most people consider the quarterly reset, or 13th week, as only pertaining to goals. However, I believe it can be so much more than just a goals reflection and planning period. This is what we will be discussing over in my membership community over the coming weeks, I hope you will join us!

If you are completely new to goal setting in general, I would encourage you to start with my most recent series on how to set goals.

What is the 13th Week?

The easiest way to explain the 13th week is to view it as a time of reflection and planning. You want to pause and review your progress. Then you take time to make adjustments and plan ahead. Yes, this is an important part of goal setting. In fact, the first time I ever experienced any sort of a quarterly reset was with the PowerSheets Goals Planner and their seasonal refresh.

I had no idea how to implement it though, and often ended up skipping it a lot of the time. I wasn’t entirely sure how to continue to make progress while evaluating what I accomplished as well as plan ahead. They offered quarterly action plans, but I didn’t know how to implement them.

Now, I understand the 13th week as a time, not only, of reflection, but also a time to refresh myself, and renew my spirit. You evaluate how your schedule worked. Are there things that you tried that need more nourishment or help? Or were they a complete bust and you need to rethink that particular part of your schedule? Was it so successful that you need to celebrate? This 13th week gives you time for all of those things.

It is also a great time to take a step back from technology and realize whether or not what you are using technology for is benefiting you are harming you. You can then take this technology break to renew your mind through exploring new ideas, reading some fun books, or doing some sort of an adventure with your family. The key is to break out of the normal and do something a bit different. A complete break. Even if it isn’t a “vacation” per se, it can renew your spirit as you move into a new season.

Why the 13th Week is a Game-Changer

As homeschool moms, there are so many areas of our lives that we have to focus on. It isn’t just personal development and goals (and sometimes that is the last thing on the list!). We have to consider homeschool schedules and resources. There could be a need to tweak systems that you have put in place. It is also a time to reclaim your goals.

Towards the end of a quarter or season, the goals that we set at the beginning of the quarter may be losing their luster. Or perhaps you had to pivot in the middle of a month and need to figure out what is next? It could also be that you accomplished more than you set out to do, in which case recognize that!

The 13th week, or seasonal refresh, is giving you an amount of flexibility that yearly goal setting, or yearly planning in general (homeschool, financial, home management, personal) doesn’t allow you. Instead of making huge sweeping changes each year, you can make smaller, more incremental changes quarterly. This series will show you how to bring calm to the chaos!

The Bottom Line

The 13th week is a wonderful break in our normal hustle. We do not have to constantly be making progress week after week. It is important to take a step back, re-evaluate priorities, and take time to renew our own spirit.

I am always one to say that small progress leads to big goals being accomplished. But, that does not mean that we have to work for small progress every single day. In fact, I would argue that we are able to accomplish more if we take these short, periodic breaks throughout the year to adjust and plan for the future.

If you are ready to reset, make sure you come over and join my membership community where we will be discussing how to make the 13th week work for you.