Keen observers may notice that the Tend Planner is suspiciously low on plans. Instead, our diaries are oriented more around intention, deliberation, and reflection rather than strict plans.
And the reason for this is pretty simple: In our experience nothing really goes to plan. Which doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve anything. Rather, you achieve more things by being thoughtful and flexible than being rigid and prescriptive.
The season review exercises are a great tool for reflecting on your plans and processes. In part we want to come away from this reflection with a better understanding of three key things:
- What are the things we really enjoy
- What are the big challenges that we’re encountering
- Our capacity – how much time and energy we actually have available
Understanding these things will help us to be intentional and deliberate about our pursuits and build consistent and sustainable processes. But it can also help us to look at our own lives with the kindness we often reserve for our friends.
Let’s look at the review prompts and see how they work towards these three key insights.
Season Highlights
On one level this is a chance to remember some of the good things that happened during your season. At a deeper level, this can help us to understand where we’re really finding joy and fulfillment in our lives. If you’re pouring time and effort into, say, writing but all your highlights are about hanging out with friends then maybe that’s a sign that something is out of balance. Think about what your highlights are telling you about what really matters in your life.
What Was Hard/What Would You Do Differently?
When we reflect it is easy to say “If things didn’t go well then you must have made a bad decision” or “There must be something you can do differently next time to make things work”.
This is untrue.
Some things are out of our control. If a relative gets sick and caring for them means you don’t spend as much time writing your book then that is a sign of decency and care, not laziness or lack of motivation.
And we can only make decisions with the information available to us at the time. Sometimes you look at the options and make the best decision you can and it doesn’t work out. Life is uncertain. Good decisions can work out badly.
The point of these questions is to understand what challenges are happening in our lives. Are they things we can control, or are they beyond us? Is there room to work around the edges of these challenges to stay true to our passions, or were they just too big last time around? Can we make changes in the future to avoid or better manage these difficulties?
It is easy to make unreasonable demands of ourselves. Consider how you would look at these issues if they were happening to a friend. Would you see their situation with more kindness? Is there some compassion there you can extend to yourself?
Were Your Processes and Actions Sustainable? and How Do You Feel?
These questions should be considered together. Thinking about the sustainability of your processes starts with the practicalities of getting your work done. Did you have enough time? Did you get enough rest? How did you manage conflicting priorities?
But sustainability is more than just sticking to your plan. How you’re feeling at the end of a season tells you a lot about whether your life is leaving you nourished and fulfilled or whether its grinding you down.
Take a moment to really check in with your feelings. Have a look at your answers to the How Do You Feel prompt in the Week-to-View part of the diary. What have the last few months been like? What are you feeling now? What are you excited about? Tired of? Daunted by?
These two questions should help you to understand your capacity. How much time do you actually have available? How much energy and effort can you actually expend. A realistic understanding of our capacity is crucial for figuring out where and how to invest our time in the future.
What Do You Need?
A truly sustainable and fulfilling creative, spiritual, or athletic practice must align with your needs.
Take a second to listen to what your body is asking for. Do you need more rest? More connection with others? More exercise? More time to yourself?
Understanding your needs allows you to plan for those needs in your coming seasons.
What Comes Next?
As we finish one season we start another. What’s coming up for you? What are you looking forward to? How are you going to take care of yourself? How will your priorities change?
This should be a chance to quickly take what you need from the last season and point your next season in the right direction.
Season review is a chance to look back with kindness and reflect on the important things from your last few months. Understanding what’s motivating and challenging us can help with future planning, while checking in with our feelings and needs is crucial to maintaining sustainable and fulfilling practices.