It’s that time of year – time for reflection and planning. In a post on the Stage 32 blog, S.K. Valenzuela says the New Year is a good time to conduct a creative review.
“It’s impossible to know what’s working and what needs to change if you don’t have clarity on where you’ve been,” Valenzuela says. “Is next year going to be the year you break out of ‘realistic’ and go for ‘risky’? Are you ready to take some chances with your creative career that push you outside your comfort zone, make you super excited, and still feel authentic to the vision of you that you’re trying to create?”
Valenzuela offers five tips for your creative review.
- Treat it like a business meeting. Bring a calendar and an agenda for your review. Unplug from your distractions and prepare to take notes.
- Audit your projects and progress. Which projects did you finish or not finish? Is there something you wanted to work on but didn’t? Is there something you did that you wished you hadn’t? Did you make progress on your career goals? What skills did you develop?
- Audit your productivity. Consider your processes and productivity goals. What worked and what didn’t? Were your practices consistent? Did you keep track of the time you worked and your daily word count? Did you meet your deadlines?
- Audit your environment. Is your work space working for you? Are you working with the right tools and without distractions? Have you been in the right frame of mind?
- Celebrate your wins. Pat yourself on the back for learning new skills, mastering an element of writing, meeting deadlines, and hitting your goals. You deserve it!
