It’s getting to be that time of year again. You may end up with a little downtime, and that’s a perfect opportunity to hatch your plans for the coming year.

Lots of people I talk to are considering new projects–launching a blog, conducting an industry study, or writing a book. Even the best-laid plans, though, can fizzle if you ignore one simple reality: To undertake a major new initiative, you’ve got to let go of something else.

There are only so many hours in a day. Chances are, yours are mostly spoken for. So how do you squeeze something new into the mix, without losing quality or your sanity?

The answer lies in the advice we often give to clients–find a trade-off. What will you alter or no longer do so you can make the most of the new activity you want to pursue? And you can’t say, “I’ll sleep less.”

For example, is there a time-consuming element of your marketing program that’s not really working for you? Can you scale back or eliminate that activity? What else in your business consumes your time but doesn’t serve you as well as you’d like? Maybe you can find another way to accomplish the same goal.

Whatever you decide about your plans for next year, resist the urge to pile a new initiative on top of everything else before you’ve considered the possible trade-offs.