Do you set time aside each year to reflect on the year? I have to admit that sitting and reflecting is something I love the idea of… but rarely something that I put into practice! I think it’s important though to think through the year past and think about what we can do to improve our upcoming year. There are lots of suggestions for things to think about sprinkled all over the internet but here are a few of the questions that I have found helpful to ask myself when thinking about what I want from the days and months ahead.
What Were the Life-Giving Moments of 2022?
What were the moments that really made you come alive in 2022? What was something you were doing that caused you to lose all track of time because you were so immersed in that thing? I realized that in 2022 I did not have nearly as many of these moments as I would like—it was a busy year—having a baby eats up a lot of time! However, when I looked back I realized I really enjoyed a day spent with my husband walking around the town of Ligonier and visiting the locally-owned shops within the town. I enjoyed the time spent hiking with my husband and little baby, and I enjoyed the time I spent working on some of my various craft projects.
What Worked in 2022?
I did not come up with the phrasing of this question; check out Anne Bogel of the Modern Mrs. Darcy website, but think about what worked in 2022. What made life run more smoothly? What habits made life easier? For me, in 2022 we started using some of the grocery pick-up features from our local grocery stores, not all the time, but definitely some of the time! While I still find value in physically making a trip to the grocery store, there were many times this past year when placing an order for pick-up saved time and hassle that I either didn’t have or wasn’t up for. It can be a slippery slope with the time vs. money equation and you can start to go broke automating everything in your life but here and there I think it is money well spent!
What Didn’t Work in 2022?
Were there habits that stopped working in 2022? For me, this was changing my cleaning schedule halfway through the year with the arrival of our little one. While I would still love to get all the weekly chores done on one day of the week, it simply isn’t working with the time I have available to me at this time, unless I want to only do chores all day on either Saturday or Sunday—which I don’t! I started doing all of the laundry midweek in order to recoup some of the time on the weekend. What pain points are you experiencing that you need to re-evaluate? How could restructuring your week solve some of life’s problems? Are you doing too many little chores every day that are eating into valuable time? Or are you not doing enough and then running out of time so that laundry is never getting folded and you are always stressed out wishing you had gotten to that “one thing” this past weekend?
What do you want more of in 2023?
Similar to our first question of what was life-giving in 2022, what did you not do in 2022 that you wish you would have? What have you found life-giving in the past that wasn’t this year? Normally I find great pleasure in reading at the lake at our local state park. This year, however, with a baby in tow it simply wasn’t easy and didn’t usually end up being that relaxing. What I found to replace that relaxation was having more campfires in our fire pit where there was not a need to lug a bunch of baby gear and where generally my baby was happy to be held and to doze off throughout the evening. Things change from year to year, and while I would generally rather everything stay the same, I have realized that when I adapt to the changes rather than fighting them things end up being a lot more enjoyable!
Do You Need to Restructure Your Priorities?
There isn’t space to care about everything, all the time. In the past exercise has been a big priority for me, but this past year I held it more loosely. I tried to exercise 2-3 times a week, but if it didn’t happen I didn’t stress. I have a job that keeps me physically active and in shape so I let formal exercising drop down a rung on my priority hierarchy. Depending on how this next year goes exercise may need to be moved to the top of the ladder in years to come! But for now, it’s really okay if I’m not training for my next half marathon.
Did You Make a Little Bit of Progress on the Things that Matter Most to You?
We want to see big leaps and bounds in the areas that matter to us each year, but that doesn’t usually happen year after year. What we want to be careful about is saying we want to work on the same thing every year and then not work on it. It’s defeating. If you have a big goal that you are putting on your list of goals to work on simply because it’s a habit, pause—do you really want to do that thing this year? So many of the things we fail to accomplish we fail in part because achieving the thing takes more effort than the amount of joy we will achieve from the results. Re-evaluate to make sure you are really putting effort into the things that matter. Changing goals is okay! Never making progress on what matters most to you isn’t okay so I encourage you to take time and decide what really matters most to you. What will the future you be glad that you did? And how can you change things to enjoy life even just 10% more this year than you did in past years?
I hope this helps you to think through how you can tweak your day-to-day rhythms and routines to end up finding a little more joy, a little more ease, and your goals a little closer when we arrive at the end of yet another year!
Have you gotten yourself a scheduler yet? This is my current scheduler!
Other Schedulers I like:
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
Tips to Make Your Home (and Your Life) Run Smoother This Year
Books to Get Your 2022 Started Off Right
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