Hello, fellow tinkerer 👋

Happy Wednesday. My kids went back to school on Monday after 16 days of winter break. During that time, I did very little other than watch Christmas movies and eat Christmas food.

But I'm also a very routine-based person, so I am thrilled to be back to a "normal" week this week. (Plus the house is gloriously quiet during the day).

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1) Reflection

If you've been a newsletter subscriber for a while, you know I had surgery in July to remove a brain tumor.

While I started working again in September, I didn't really start to feel like myself until late November. So as I sat down to do my annual end-of-year review, I asked myself: What do I want from 2026?

Going through such a major medical issue changed me, and that's ok. If you're going through a similar transition in your life -- for whatever reason -- I know how you're feeling. I hope you can take some time to reflect and move forward in a way that makes sense for your current season of life.

2) Product

I store so many ideas in apps like Trello and Todoist. I started the year by deleting a lot.

I asked myself, "What no longer makes sense?" (Like a project idea I added back in 2022...)

I asked myself, "What is realistically not happening?" (Like a to-do item that has been on my list for months. Clearly not important.)

It felt good to have a more realistic picture of what I want to work on and get done. If you use any similar apps, I encourage you to do a cleanse.

3) Tip

Every year, I have my family fill out a "New Year's Questionnaire." We answer questions like "What was your favorite movie of the year?" "What was your favorite trip?" and "What was your favorite book?"

I have all of our responses saved, going back 10+ years. It's really fun. I have our questions saved in Google Drive, and then download, print, and make everyone fill it out.

Want more ideas?

→ If you're thinking about pivoting your business, register for the next Future is Freelance Forum on January 13th. The panel includes Sarah Duran, Jessica Walrack, Liz Heflin, and Joel Sousa.

→ I wrote about how I use AI as a writing assistant (not a replacement).

→ Why I think the portfolio career has replaced the career ladder.

That's it for this issue of Tinkering! See you again in two weeks.

Cheers,
Anna