Clearing the decks? I tend to have a pretty quite week between Christmas and New Year's, so I use that time to pull up every sticky note, flip through every notebook page that has yet to be torn off and filed, and scroll through every Wordpress draft and un-filed Evernote note until I start to see patterns. (Pattern recognition is a professional organizer superpower!)
There are the things that I can delete because, even without seeing those reminders, I wrote about them or acted upon them. There are other categories that start to come together, and I get to move notes (tangible and digital) to drafts where ideas from 5 separate places begin to blend under overarching themes.
By the time I've hit everything, I'm seeing trends that weren't obvious to my conscious self during the year — what was important but didn't fit into a framework, what I feel passionate about now, and what's been hanging over my head that NEEDS to get done if I want to achieve my brilliant dreams. (For that last set, I get my Mastermind group involved so I have accountability, and then I scheduled it all for January so it won't be forgotten.)
What an amazing and clarifying tradition! I am so excited to go through my own sticky notes, index cards, random notebooks, and scrawlings now -- this feels like a true "clear the decks" moment!
I still have my year-end reviews and year-coming plans for the past umtpy-um years, all tucked together in the same notebook. Looking back at all the wins from this year, plus all the wins from years prior, help me appreciate just how much I do. And I rarely get all the things done in a year that I say I will, but still having that impetus and list makes me feel like life is possible. And a few things do actually get crossed off by Dec 31!
So cool that you keep each year together, Devra. I've also noticed that something I might not achieve one year inevitably gets crossed off the following year. Now you've got me eager to pull up my old resolutions lists!
Something I started trying this year, which has been wildly successful, is actually based on one of your Brass Ring Daily pieces of advice: just track things. It especially works best with regards to what I'm most excited about when it comes to creating something.
So I guess the question I'd love to ask myself at the end of the year is, "What excited myself this past year? How can I do more of it in the coming year?"
YES! Looking back and grouping activities/meetings/projects into two categories: "More of This" and "Less of This" is one little thing I do at the end of the year. So glad you found the question that will guide you into 2023!
For the past 6 years, I've been doing a "word for the year." My friend gave me a rock that was inscribed with "Goals." I know the first sticker I put on there was "brave" - I made a pot of coffee at work and it turned out okay - funny! My other words were "kind," "practice," "charity," "cull" (Marie Kondo phase), and last year's was "hope." At first the individual words were nice to see, but now after 6 years, they overlap one another and that brings a new kind of optimism. I'm not sure what next year's word will be - guess it's time to get noodling. Thanks Kara!
That's so beautiful you're able to see how the words come together and paint a picture of your last few years. Maybe next year's word is "noodle"? haha. Excited to hear what you come up with!
Clearing the decks? I tend to have a pretty quite week between Christmas and New Year's, so I use that time to pull up every sticky note, flip through every notebook page that has yet to be torn off and filed, and scroll through every Wordpress draft and un-filed Evernote note until I start to see patterns. (Pattern recognition is a professional organizer superpower!)
There are the things that I can delete because, even without seeing those reminders, I wrote about them or acted upon them. There are other categories that start to come together, and I get to move notes (tangible and digital) to drafts where ideas from 5 separate places begin to blend under overarching themes.
By the time I've hit everything, I'm seeing trends that weren't obvious to my conscious self during the year — what was important but didn't fit into a framework, what I feel passionate about now, and what's been hanging over my head that NEEDS to get done if I want to achieve my brilliant dreams. (For that last set, I get my Mastermind group involved so I have accountability, and then I scheduled it all for January so it won't be forgotten.)
What an amazing and clarifying tradition! I am so excited to go through my own sticky notes, index cards, random notebooks, and scrawlings now -- this feels like a true "clear the decks" moment!
I still have my year-end reviews and year-coming plans for the past umtpy-um years, all tucked together in the same notebook. Looking back at all the wins from this year, plus all the wins from years prior, help me appreciate just how much I do. And I rarely get all the things done in a year that I say I will, but still having that impetus and list makes me feel like life is possible. And a few things do actually get crossed off by Dec 31!
So cool that you keep each year together, Devra. I've also noticed that something I might not achieve one year inevitably gets crossed off the following year. Now you've got me eager to pull up my old resolutions lists!
Something I started trying this year, which has been wildly successful, is actually based on one of your Brass Ring Daily pieces of advice: just track things. It especially works best with regards to what I'm most excited about when it comes to creating something.
So I guess the question I'd love to ask myself at the end of the year is, "What excited myself this past year? How can I do more of it in the coming year?"
YES! Looking back and grouping activities/meetings/projects into two categories: "More of This" and "Less of This" is one little thing I do at the end of the year. So glad you found the question that will guide you into 2023!
For the past 6 years, I've been doing a "word for the year." My friend gave me a rock that was inscribed with "Goals." I know the first sticker I put on there was "brave" - I made a pot of coffee at work and it turned out okay - funny! My other words were "kind," "practice," "charity," "cull" (Marie Kondo phase), and last year's was "hope." At first the individual words were nice to see, but now after 6 years, they overlap one another and that brings a new kind of optimism. I'm not sure what next year's word will be - guess it's time to get noodling. Thanks Kara!
That's so beautiful you're able to see how the words come together and paint a picture of your last few years. Maybe next year's word is "noodle"? haha. Excited to hear what you come up with!