Annual Review and Year Ahead Plan

Who this is for

The year behind and the year ahead on one page. The top half is a set of prompts to answer about the year that has gone; the bottom half turns whatever came out of that into a short list for the next one.

Anyone who does a sit-down at the end of a year, on New Year's Eve or a birthday or the end of a tax year, and would rather answer questions than stare at a blank page.

What this helps you track

• What actually happened in the year, rather than what you remember of it
• What worked, what did not, and what you stopped doing
• What you learned and what changed, written down while it is fresh
• A short list for the year ahead, taken from the answers above it
• The first step and a date against each one, so the list is not just a wish

How to use it

1. Write whose review it is, the year being reviewed and the year ahead at the top.
2. Answer the printed prompts in the first table. Write plainly; nobody else is reading it.
3. Leave a prompt blank if it has no answer this year. A blank is an answer too.
4. Read back what you have written before filling in the bottom half — the year ahead comes out of the review, not out of the air.
5. Put a small number of things in the year-ahead table, each with why it matters, the first step and your own date.
6. Keep the sheet somewhere you will see it, and put a date in the diary to read it again.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

When is the right time to do this?

Whenever a year ends for you. Plenty of people do it between Christmas and New Year, others on a birthday, an anniversary of a job, or the end of a financial year. The sheet does not care which.

What if the year was a bad one?

The prompts are written to be answerable either way — what was hard and what you stopped are as much a part of a review as what went well. Nothing here asks you to find a silver lining.

How many things belong in the year ahead?

Fewer than you want to write. The table has room for a handful, and that is deliberate; the personal goals planner carries the detail once you know what the handful are.

Can I do it with somebody else?

Yes — couples and business partners often fill one each and then read them to each other. Write both names at the top if you are doing one sheet between you.

Is there a version for a month rather than a year?

The monthly goals and review sheet does the same job on a shorter cycle, and the weekly reflection sheet shorter still.