Want to Get Things Done Next Year? Here’s How to Hold a Year-End Productivity Review

An end-of-year review is traditionally reserved for evaluating the performance of employees and staff. But such a review can be incredibly helpful when it comes to evaluating how you personally performed in your business over the past year.

As a productivity consultant, I help people make the connection between their actions and productivity levels. There’s a lot you can learn from your past actions, be it something you did or did not do.

Grab your favorite hot beverage, find a notebook and a pen, and enjoy some thoughtful introspection in your personal productivity over the past year.

Review your daily routine

An easy way to start your end-of-year productivity review is to look at your daily routine. No need to consult a calendar: Simply envision your daily routine in your mind’s eye.

This approach is beneficial because it helps you access your thoughts, feelings, and actions as if you were going through the routine itself. What’s currently working in your weekday routine? What’s not working? What would you like to change?

For those items you wish to change, identify the opposite outcome. Then, create a brief plan to help you get there. For instance, let’s say you’ve been staying later at work and wish to have regular dinners with your family. You may decide to end work at 5:30 p.m. and leave your phone outside the dining room so you can be more present during the meal.

Evaluate your weekly schedule

Weekly schedules offers us insight into the rhythm of the workweek in more ways than one. Take into consideration your personal workload, time spent with clients and customers, and meetings with employees, vendors, suppliers, and investors.

When did your workweek feel open or expansive? Closed or contracted? You can also ask yourself what specific conditions led to that result. Did you have fewer scheduled external meetings? More personal hours scheduled? Did you delegate more tasks during that time? Perhaps there was management miscommunication? Maybe a work delay was outside of your control? Or maybe you failed to enforce boundaries?

Your end-of-year review of your weekly schedule will likely bring up a host of productivity and time management-related items for your consideration. Rather than becoming flustered or frustrated, focus on what you can personally control within a given week moving forward. You may need to set stronger boundaries, clearly communicate, or eliminate distractions.

Question your quarterly progress

No end-of-year review is complete without looking at your productivity levels on a quarterly basis. One of the benefits of this approach is that it allows you take in the bigger picture. You get to see firsthand how you are showing up in your business over the course of several weeks and months.

Another key benefit in this approach is that it offers you insight into the cycle of work within your profession, industry, or area of expertise. All businesses have some sort of recurring pattern when it comes to their workflow. The key is keeping your eyes open for these patterns.

Think back to major quarterly events in your business where you felt rushed, harried, and overwhelmed. This could be anything from client work, to internal operations, to how you managed your calendar.

You’re now going to contrast those busy times with times during the year where you felt centered, balanced, relaxed, and in control in your business. How did you feel during this time? What specific actions did you take? What was your mindset like?

Make a note of those winning quarterly thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Think about ways you can incorporate that positive mode of working and being into those more challenging times.

Lastly, it’s important to remember that the more honest you are in your answers, the more you’ll gain from these exercises. When you take the time to review your actions and acknowledge the outcomes, you can better plan for future success in your overall productivity levels for the coming year.