I also got the Personal and Business cards in December with the intention of completing the majority of the spending ($1k and $3k) in December.
The first two things I did:
1) SM Chase to get the ending-date for the minimum spend.
2) SM Chase to change my payment date to the 1st of the month (which set the closing date to the 4th.
I completed the spend in December between Dec 5th (1 day after the 12/4 closing date) and around Dec 20th. With the spending requirements completed, Chase will transfer the bonus points (40k and 60k) after the 1/4 closing. They should post to Southwest on 1/5.
On 1/5, after the 1/4 closing date, I'll SM Chase and change my payment date to the 20th so that I have a larger window for the 25% promo bonus (25% bonus for CREDIT CARD points that post to Southwest between 12/1 and 2/29).
By changing the payment date to the 20th, the closing date should be the 25th, and will allow a few days for Chase to transfer the points to Southwest by 2/29.