With an annual report, a report to the board, my staff’s performance appraisals, and my annual self evaluation all due (or… ahem… overdue) this week, I’ve spent alot of time taking stock of what I’ve done this past year. Even though I moan and groan a lot at this time of year (these are tedious, mind-numbing, and sometimes genuinely unhappy tasks), I’m usually rather pleased when the work is complete and I can sit back and gaze over the list of things I’ve done. It turns out (as it usually does) I’ve done a LOT of work this year and have some pretty sizable accomplishments to report. Yay me! (No wonder I’m feeling a little burnt out!)
It occured to me that perhaps there’s something to learn from this for our personal lives as well. Perhaps it would be a good idea if, once a year, we set aside some time to take stock of the past year. It doesn’t have to be big things that make the list. It could just be an accounting of all the minutiae that eats up our time day in and day out. How many soccer games have you attended this year? How many loads of laundry have passed through your hands? How many times have you vacuumed the floor? How many forms have you filled out? How many bills have you paid?
Go ahead… take stock. If I were your boss or your board of directors, what would you include on your report to me this year?