My 2024 Post-Mortem: Honest review of a year that didn't go as planned

Let’s make it clear. My 2024? It wasn’t great.

In many ways, it felt like a failure. I had systems, habits, and planning routines in place, yet I ended the year feeling that I had lost track of what really mattered.

At the end of each year, our social media feeds are flooded with “the best year ever” posts. Although it feels good to celebrate wins, these posts can make us feel like failures if we don’t have a six-figure business or thousands of followers.

That’s why I decided to share a this honest review, because I want to show it’s ok to make mistakes, that we all struggle sometimes.

And that it is important to learn from our mistakes.

No matter how perfect your system is, if your planning is not connected to the bigger picture — a dream, vision, purpose, or whatever — it’s useless. You just do the tasks as they come without much impact. The results won’t compound and you will feel like a hamster on a wheel.

I had that connection, but I lost track of it.

I use a bullet journal for weekly and monthly goal setting and rely on Notion to organize almost everything else. That was one of the problems. My goals were hidden deep in Notion, which made it hard for me to check them regularly.

Here is full list of the issues that held me back:

• I didn’t check my goals regularly. My goals were buried in my digital system, so I couldn’t see them easily. The friction was too big.
• I set too many goals. I focused on some, ignored others, and eventually lost sight of what was most important.
• I have too complex, hard to track goals. I spent too much time and effort to track all the stuff. In the end I didn’t have a will power to track them at all.
• I struggled with prioritization. I spent time on low-impact tasks instead of working on the ones that mattered most. For example, with Clipio, I now see that I should have focused on getting users and releasing the product.
• I underestimated my capacity. With three kids, I had less energy and time than I thought. I struggled to find time for work and the energy to push myself.
• My goals were digital, but my planning was analog. I love Notion (I’m building a web-clipping tool for it - Clipio), but I rarely wanted to open Notion to check my goals.

While 2024 was disappointing in terms of goals and achievements (aside from a more time with my family), it was also a year of learning. And I have learned a lot during that year and especially during my yearly review.

Moving forward, here’s how I’m changing my approach:

Instead of juggling a long list of goals and complex tracking mechanism, I’m simplifying. For 2025, I have one main theme for the year written on a small card. All tasks and project I will decide to do must fit into this theme. On the back, there are a few bullet points with examples. My yearly goals are written on a small sheet of paper that I keep in my diary so I can see them anywhere. And they are easy to track.

I will focus on what I can control. I can control how often I write, how many Call for papers I submit, when I go to sleep, but I cannot control how many followers I get.

While Notion is great for storing knowledge and writing, my goal planning will now be analog. It is easier to see, review, and act on a paper plan. A simpler, low-friction system means I will check my goals more often.

• I set my mornings for exercise or writing before I get my kids ready for school.
• I set time blocks for tasks. For example, instead of a task like “Write a blog post,” I schedule “Write for 30 minutes.” Short, timed tasks feel less hard to start and can fit into any day. Being consistent will help me produce more content.
• I plan to focus more on my health (which sucks ever since I start working from home during Covid) — regular morning exercise, after lunch walks (even when home), more veggies.
• I will get a proper sleep (good, long sleep is ultimate productivity hack).
• I will regularly review my goals on paper to stay connected to them.

If your 2024 did not look like the highlight reels on social media, you are not alone. The internet can make it seem like everyone is winning: building six-figure businesses and reaching huge milestones. But behind the scenes, many of us are just trying to figure things out.

And that is okay.

Don’t give up. Keep testing new ideas, keep adjusting, keep learning and most importantly, keep moving forward.

Here’s to a more intentional 2025.