How I'm (attempting) keeping myself accountable this year
Using weekly reviews, periodic notes and the GTD method to achieve my goals.
Hello humans!
In last week’s post, I touched on how the last few years feel as if they have flown by. The separation between each year has sort of blurred as I’ve gotten older.
Now bear with me through some musings on time: A long time ago, I encountered a theory about our perception of time that stuck with me (I cannot remember the source for the life of me). The theory referenced how our perception of time is influenced by memory and how much we’ve experienced. For example, to a 7-year-old, a week is a big portion of their life but to a 70-year-old it is a significantly smaller portion of their life. This difference in frames of reference as we age contributes to the perception of time passing more quickly as we get older.
With this in mind and looking forward to the year ahead; I want to be more purposeful about setting personal goals but more importantly holding myself accountable to achieving them. This is my attempt to keep myself growing whilst not allowing time and my goals to pass me by. So in issue #7 of Waves & Code, I’d like to share how I’m (attempting) to keep myself accountable this year.
The Power of Periodic Notes & Weekly Reviews 📝
About a year ago I was working on a critical high-stress project with many moving parts. My team lead had recently left so my team was under capacity and we were stretched thin. I was struggling to keep track of tasks that needed to get done whilst context-shifting between the different tasks I was working on.
I started looking for a notetaking system that was structured and repeatable. I was hoping to document decisions and offload context from my mind in a way that did not need to be heavily managed and that could be easily referenced when needed. This is when I stumbled across Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen which eventually led me to Periodic Notes. I don’t strictly follow the GTD method so I won’t explain it much. However, I took some learnings from the GTD method to structure my periodic notes and review system that I’ll share. If you are curious about GTD, the link above will provide you with enough resources to satisfy your curious mind 😁.
My Periodic Notes & Review System
I started off using Daily Notes (our entry point to Periodic Notes) as a structured and repeatable mechanism for keeping track of what I needed to do as well as any additional thoughts that surfaced that day. My daily note template had the following main headings:
Focus (for the day)
Tasks Due Today
Log (Random unprocessed thoughts of the day)
Process This (Anything that needs action from Log)
Just having this easily repeatable note helped clear up my mind to focus on the critical tasks that needed my attention whilst allowing me to dump information in a place that could be easily retrieved when I shifted context to another task. My daily notes essentially used principles from steps 1 to 3 of GTD and this worked really well when daily notes were created consistently. However, context would get lost and the system fell over when I missed a few days from being on leave or just being inconsistent - cause yes that happens (more often than I’d like to admit haha 🤦♂️).
This is where the “accountability” step comes in, enter the review (similar to step 4 of GTD). Reviewing every single day of your life for an entire year is a mammoth task. I mean there are 365 (and a quarter) days a year, that’s enough review work to put me off doing this already. I did not want a system that felt like a chore so that led me to look at a reasonable review cadence of 1 review per week. This means just 4 reviews per month. If we group these insights from our weekly reviews each month we form the following:
4 weekly reviews = 1 monthly review
3 monthly reviews = 1 quarterly review
4 quarterly reviews = 1 yearly review
And just like that you have a system to review and evaluate your progress with your goals for each month/quarter/year. By grouping short-term reviews and creating longer-term reviews from them, we can bubble up insights and reflection to generate a review of the past year. We now have a review system that starts with daily notes and propagates through all the way to a yearly note (daily → weekly → monthly → quarterly → yearly). I’m trying to develop the habit of doing my weekly reviews on Sunday as a little ritual to reflect and set me up for the week.
Goal Setting with Periodic Notes
We can then use this hierarchy of periodic notes in reverse to set goals for the year that we action and review.
By using a notetaking app that allows linking, we can pull through our goals set in our yearly note to our daily notes. I’ve experimented with using weekly and monthly notes somewhat consistently over the past 6 months. From this year I’m expanding my periodic notes to start with yearly notes in which I set up my goals for the year. After that, I will action those goals to appropriate months/quarters and pull through those goals from my yearly note all the way to my daily notes (yearly note → quarterly notes → monthly notes → weekly notes → daily notes).
The Complete View
This system gives me 2 powerful tools:
Left to right: Goal Setting Mechanism
Right to Left: Review & Reflection Mechanism
This combination of goal-setting and review is what I will be using to keep myself accountable and on track to achieve my goals this year. It’s my solution to breaking down the flow of time into actionable units with a defined amount of time to achieve some of the things I’d like to do this year. From writing more consistently; getting better at surfing; pursuing some of my project ideas; planning another snowboarding trip and maybe going to Japan again (okay maybe the last 2 are a bit cheeky 😆).
Some Takeaways for YOU
My biggest piece of advice is to find a system that works for you! When I started, I was too focused on the method/system and lost track of what I was trying to achieve. Some methods can be a bit complex especially if you are new to all of this. Pick a methodology that you identify with and trial it in the simplest way that works for you. If you feel it’s adding value to your life you can iterate on it and introduce optimisations.
Be purposeful about setting goals - I wish I followed my own advice a few years ago on this one. I’ve been the type of person who has a rough idea of what I want but rarely is explicit about setting goals. I feel this has had the result of creating a prolonged “journey” to my “destination” and whilst I love everything I have learnt along the way; I do think there is some merit to having a balance between being easygoing and guided by your goals.
To quote Norman Vincent Peale, author of "The Power of Positive Thinking"."No one can get anywhere unless they know where they want to go and what they want to be or do." - Norman Vincent Peale
Lastly, try to stay consistent once you have found a system that works for you. This is definitely what I struggle with the most but being consistent allows a habit to develop. From there, you will become an absolute powerhouse.
More Sunset Surf, Oh Summer! 🏄
I’ve been taking full advantage of the amazing weather that we’ve been having in the southern hemisphere. It’s been so great out there that I had a sunrise and sunset surf on Saturday (thank you wind Gods for being so kind - January is usually our windy season)!
I tried out a break that was new to me this week because my usual spot was a bit flat. Happy to report that I definitely felt some top and bottom-turning action - even if it was probably just my imagination haha. Anyway being out on the water at sunset on Saturday was indescribable; the intense tones of red and orange reflecting off the calm waves just enforced a state of mindfulness and zen that is difficult to replicate.
Favorites this week ⭐
Video 🖥️ : Kurzgesagt: Optimistic Nihilism
Since a big part of this week’s issue talked about time. I thought it fitting that I share one of my favorite videos by Kurzgesagt. A heads up that this video can induce a sense of existentialism at the halfway point but it rounds off the video in a really beautiful way. Feel free to reach out by replying to this email if the existentialism is too much, consider me a friendly ear.Book 📚 : Manage Your Money like a F*cking Grownup: The Best Money Advice You Never Got by Sam Beckbessinger
Another thing I’m working on this year is understanding financial ecosystems better, particularly around investing. I’ve always been a science nerd and never a finance nerd but it’s pretty important seeing as we use it every day! I’m enjoying the author’s straightforward no-nonsense tone and the clear simple explanations given around personal finance.News 📰 : Morning Brew
A daily email filled with a concise and witty summary of current events - it’s been my quick read filled with all the cool stuff happening in the world—business buzz, tech tales, and a sprinkle of humor. Basically, a bite-sized ticket to staying in the loop without the boredom.
Thanks for your time in reading this week’s issue. I hope this spurred some thinking toward your own accountability systems or even stirred some disagreement with mine. Feel free to share any thoughts or opinions with me, I’d love to hear from you!
Catch you on the next wave! 🤙
I like the idea of having a way to keep track of your life and work goals, adding a way to review them effectively was the cherry on top😄, looking forward to the next article 🙌