Q1 Starts Now

Brittney Simpson
13 hours ago
7 min read

Ready or not, Q1 has arrived.

The calendar has turned. Your team is back from the holidays. Emails are stacking up. Clients want to meet. Projects you put off until after the new year are now on your plate.

You have about two weeks before the quarter is in full swing and your chance to set the tone slips away.

This isn’t about vision boards, goal-setting workshops, or naming this the "year of transformation." Q1 has its own momentum. If you don’t take charge, it will take charge of you.

Every January, I notice founders fall into two patterns:

Some treat Q1 like a fresh start and go overboard—launching new projects, reorganizing teams, and setting big goals, but without the support to make them succeed.

Others drift into Q1 without a plan, telling themselves they’ll "get to strategy later" when things settle. But things rarely settle down.

Both approaches end the same way by April: you’re behind, reacting to problems, and wondering where the quarter went.

Q1 doesn’t wait for your planning cycle. It doesn’t matter if January isn’t your business’s new year. It’s happening either way.

The real question is: will you use Q1 strategically, or let it control you?

Q1 is not a blank slate

Let’s be honest about what Q1 really means.

It’s not a clean slate. It’s a continuation of your existing work, plus the extra pressure of a new year.

Your team still has unfinished work from last year. Clients expect results. Your pipeline may have momentum, or it may not. Operational issues didn’t disappear on January 1st.

But Q1 brings something valuable: everyone’s attention.

Your team is focused now in a way they won’t be by June. Clients are planning their year. Competitors are making moves. The market is energized.

This attention is an asset, but only if you take advantage of it.

Many founders waste this attention by either taking on too much or doing nothing at all. Some launch several new projects in January, even if their team can’t handle it. Others think Q1 is too hectic for strategy and just try to survive.

Neither approach makes the most of Q1’s momentum.

What works is making a few key decisions early and sticking with them.

The three decisions that matter in Q1

You don’t need a long strategic plan, detailed OKRs, or a vision statement.

You just need to make three clear decisions, communicate them well, and stick to them for the next 90 days.

First: What are you truly prioritizing this quarter?

Not what you wish you could prioritize or what sounds impressive. What will you actually focus on and protect?

Most founders start Q1 with too many priorities. By March, they haven’t made real progress on any because everything competes for limited time and attention.

Pick two or three things that will really move your business forward. This might be revenue-generating work, operational improvements, team development, or key client relationships.

Skip the busy work, the "nice to haves," and anything that belongs on a someday list.

Focus on the priorities that, if you accomplish them this quarter, will make everything else easier.

Then say no to everything else. Not "yes, but later"—just no.

Second: What’s your real capacity?

Most founders avoid this question because the answer can be uncomfortable.

You don’t have unlimited time or energy, and neither does your team. No matter how big your goals are, you’re limited by the real hours and energy you have.

What client work is committed?
What operational work has to happen no matter what?
How much time is actually available for new work?

Once you understand your true capacity, you can decide what’s realistic for this quarter and what should wait.

Many founders skip this step. They set Q1 goals based on ambition, not capacity, and end up burning out their teams with too much work.

It’s better to be honest about your capacity and set priorities that match. You’ll get more done with less stress.

Third: What will you stop doing?

This is the hardest, but also the most important, decision.

Q1 is your chance to stop what isn’t working. End projects that never got off the ground, cut out processes that add more work than value, cancel unnecessary meetings, and drop tasks that no one owns but still take up time.

Every quarter, your business picks up extra weight. Some work made sense six months ago but doesn’t now. Temporary commitments become permanent. Initiatives lose momentum but never get officially stopped.

Q1 is your opportunity to clear out what’s no longer needed.

What will you stop doing this quarter? What will you let go of? What will you finally admit isn’t working and drop?

Not someday—this quarter.

The truth is, you don’t gain capacity by adding more work. You gain it by doing less.

How to actually make these decisions stick

Making decisions is the easy part. Sticking with them through March is what’s hard.

Here’s what I’ve seen actually work:

Communicate your decisions clearly—just once.

Your team doesn’t need weekly reminders about Q1 priorities. State them clearly at the start, then show them through your actions instead of more meetings.

Say it once, say it clearly, and make sure your actions match your words.

Protect your priorities from getting sidetracked.

Every week, something urgent will pop up and threaten your priorities—a client request, a new opportunity, or an internal issue. As a leader, your job is to stay focused. Don’t be rigid, but always ask: Does this matter more than what we already decided was important?

Sometimes the answer is yes, but most of the time, it’s no.

Track your progress, not just how busy you are.

Don’t judge Q1 by how busy everyone looks. Judge it by whether you’re making real progress on your top priorities.

If you set a goal to improve client retention, are your retention numbers improving? If you wanted to build operational capacity, is your team less overwhelmed than in January? If you aimed to clarify roles, do people now know who owns what?

Progress is what matters most.

What Q1 is really testing

Here’s the tough part:

Q1 isn’t about how well you set goals. It’s about making decisions under pressure and sticking with them when things get hard.

Q1 will get messy. Something will break. Someone might quit, get sick, or underperform. A client may make an unreasonable demand. Your plans will meet reality and need to change.

That’s not failure—that’s just Q1.

The real test is whether you’re clear enough about what matters to adjust without losing focus.

Founders who struggle in Q1 aren’t the ones who face problems—they’re the ones who drop their priorities when something unexpected happens. They say yes to everything because they haven’t decided what really matters.

Founders who do well in Q1 aren’t perfect. They just know what they’re aiming for and make decisions based on that, even when it’s tough.

If you haven't planned yet, here's what to do

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, I don’t have a Q1 plan or clear priorities. It’s already two weeks into January and I’m just trying to keep up.

That’s okay. You’re not behind.

Here’s what you can do this week:

Set aside two hours—not to create a full strategic plan, but to get clear on those three decisions.

Write down your real priorities for this quarter—just two or three things that will make Q1 a success if you accomplish them.

Look at your actual capacity. What’s possible with the time and people you have?

Choose one thing to stop doing. It might be a meeting, a process, or a commitment that drains energy without adding value.

Share these decisions with your team. No need for a big presentation—just be clear: "Here’s what we’re focusing on this quarter. Here’s what we’re not doing. Here’s why."

That’s all you need. That’s your plan.

You don’t need more than that to make Q1 productive. You just need clarity and the discipline to stick with it.

The real opportunity in Q1

Q1 isn’t special just because the calendar changed. It’s special because your team, clients, and the market are all paying attention now in a way they won’t be in a few months.

It’s a chance to set expectations with clients for the year, clarify priorities with your team before everyone gets busy, and make changes that feel natural now but would be disruptive later.

But that window closes fast. By mid-February, Q1 has its own momentum and it’s much harder to change direction.

If you want to be strategic about Q1, act now—not when you have more time or after you handle urgent tasks. Now.

Make the important decisions, communicate them clearly, and protect them strongly.

Then, follow through.

What happens if you don't

If you enter Q1 without a plan, here’s what happens:

You’ll spend the quarter reacting, saying yes to things you should decline, letting urgent work crowd out important work, and wasting energy on low-value tasks because you never defined what matters most.

By April, you’ll look back and feel like the quarter happened to you, not for you.

You’ll promise yourself Q2 will be different, that you’ll plan better and get ahead next time.

But Q2 starts in April, and if you didn’t use Q1’s momentum well, you’ll start Q2 already behind.

This pattern repeats. By year’s end, you might wonder why you were busy all year but didn’t actually move the business forward.

That’s the cost of not treating Q1 strategically.

What happens if you do

If you use Q1’s momentum well, make clear decisions, communicate them, and stick with them through March, here’s what happens: You enter Q2 with traction. Your team knows what matters. Your clients have clear expectations. Your operations run more smoothly.

You won’t start from scratch each quarter, wondering what to focus on. Instead, you’ll build on the progress you’ve made.

That’s the difference between a year that feels organized and a year that feels chaotic.

And it all starts with how you handle the next ten weeks.

The bottom line

Q1 starts now, not when you feel ready, not when things settle down. Now.

You can spend the next two months drifting, reacting, and hoping things work out.

Or you can make three clear decisions, communicate them well, and protect them firmly.

It’s not flashy or complicated, but it’s what separates using Q1 strategically from just getting by.

The choice is yours.

What will you decide?

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