Questions to ask yourself every year (opens in new tab)

I don't use that exact set of questions, but for the last 4 or 5 years now I've been doing an end of year "retrospective" styled after Scrum retros. I ask myself (and write down the answers to) things like:

- What went well this year?

- What did not go well this year?

- What things should I do more of this coming year?

- What things should I do less of this coming year?

And so on.

I also write down a list of "themes / priorities for the coming year". High level stuff, not task level TODO items.

And I keep the document open on my laptop and review it every so often as a reminder to keep focused on the important stuff. It's hard to quantify but I think it does help.

I'm intrigued by the idea of adding some of these items to my retrospective for 2025, which I will probably do tomorrow.

At the end of every year (ideally on December 31st), I sit down and answer these questions. I’ve been doing this since 2022, and it’s been satisfying both to reflect on the year and to see how much I’ve changed over time. I hope you find it helpful as well.

Great list. I'd love to hear what other people are reflecting on each year...