Winter is the best time to create your Ta-Da list. We’ve spent our year completing the best business and personal work. Sprints have been planned and completed. We’ve learned and shared our experiences through collaboration. I know I’m not the only one who that thinks this year has flown by. Summarizing your completed personal and client to-do’s is a great way to wrap up 2016. Carve out a 30 minute block to organize these notes with your favorite writing tools. You have plenty of time and this will be worth it, trust me.
Here are some of the steps I take to draft my Ta-Da list:
1. Review your completed to-do’s. These lists can be hidden in Google Inbox reminders, sent emails, archived Trello cards, notebook entries and more. How did you stay organized? How did you plan and manage your goals? How did you finish tasks? What tasks were the most rewarding?
2. Review your project sprint reports. If you are not looking into your Atlassian JIRA reports, this is a great opportunity to learn. What functionality was delivered? What was easy? What was tough? What was learned? What project wishes came true?
3. Review your calendar for important meetings week-by-week. What was launched successfully? What did you help achieve? What vacations did you take? What meetings mattered the most to you?
4. Review who you’ve met. Who influenced you? Who helped out through issues? Who was your work hero? Who challenged you in the best way? Who made you laugh?
5. Review your personal goals and accomplishments. Did you pass any Salesforce Certification exams or Trailheads? What new technologies have you conquered? What problems have you solved? What problems did your team solve together? What projects did you complete? What goals did you crush? What was your greatest achievement?
6. Review what has made you happy. This part is crucial. What was meaningful? What drives you? What drives your team? Who supported you? Who have you helped? Who celebrated success with you?
Next
Take a step back, and review your recent personal and client accomplishments. Now that your list is complete, it’s time to celebrate! Great work and congratulations. Feel free to share your highlights with anyone, your project teams included. You can utilize the list for sprint retrospectives, 1 on 1’s, quarterly or annual reviews, writing your company biography notes or finally updating your LinkedIn profile. I bet you won’t be the only one to get a kick out of your Ta-Da’s.
A Ta-Da To-Do List
You have successfully compiled your notes, so set aside time to make a plan for 2017 in the coming weeks. How can you organize and track your to-do lists better? What was redundant or repetitive about your process? What personal and work goals do you want to aim for? It’s the best feeling to be organized on what you have done and what’s next. I’d recommend creating a list every season to help keep your goals and vision on track. It also means you will be able to compare your upcoming Ta-Da lists soon enough.
Go forth and rock 2017! You’ve got this!!
