How to get the most out of next year (2016)

I've used this annual planning/reflection doc every year and have found it a refreshing way to put my life into perspective and reset for a new year. Hoping you find this useful too.

Alternate download link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2PaeRjVqAN7MngxTXFPQkpLVj...

Spreadsheet for filling in: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f5y9YjbOB5ixeQHFyUEp...

Plain Text: https://pastebin.com/raw/V7FaFS0Q

Past Submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13249796

I've used this the past few years.

Writing things down is very helpful, but the real benefit is introspecting at the end of the year. You have a record of what you hoped to do, and know what you did, and can think about what worked and what didn't.

In my case, the contrast between what I thought I could do and what I actually could couldn't have been starker.

I would challenge the author of this document to try and get this down to 10 pages or preferably less. I’ve had a skim through and I’m not convinced this needs to be a 22 page document. The longer and more involved these planning systems are, the more I think they verge into procrastination territory.

Or even a different presentation method. A quick checklist of the actual process that is two pages long at most at the start of the document, and then a reasoning and details section if people want the deep dive.

Sometimes, it's hard to see all the ways we can improve on our own. That's why it can be helpful to ask someone we trust, like a friend, a teacher, a partner or a mentor for their opinion. They might see things that we don't.

Knowing what we should work on isn't enough. We have to actually try to get better. This can mean making new habits, asking for help from others, and trying new things that are challenging but rewarding.

My main advice is feel free to skip questions or entire sections, it's okay to let some things be "status quo".

Also I don't like YOLO questions ("what if you had a year to live") they're usually orthogonal to your actual plans and values.

It is important to note how much time you think you have left with your loved ones, your career, your schooling, etc. and take that into account when deciding how to spend your precious tie.

EDIT: I will add, just typing out that I will be 98 in 2080 is a cheap thrill all by itself.

Not my cup of tea, but I appreciate the effort and feel it'll help a lot of people immensely.

On the side note, I've noticed that the best and most actionable productivity articles made their way here in January every year.

Makes me that much more excited about January.

I'd like to take this opportunity to note that January 1 is a myth.

It's actually NoMoNoMoVember.

(December 1 is also correspondingly a myth, of course, and is in fact NoMoVember.)

By not reading things like "how to get the most out of...".

I prefer to think of it as 86,400 seconds.

take the lessons you learned, appy them