2021: A Year of Small Accomplishments

As we lean into the end of the year, it’s customary to reflect on the highlights—a difficult task as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to permeate our lives. Yet we also continue to live our lives in the spaces in between. As I reflect on 2021, I share this post to remind myself of what I accomplished during another year of challenges.

At the end of 2020, I felt unfocused. A year of uncertainty, pandemic malaise, and trying to balance new parenthood with remote work left me depleted. I used the end of the year to set small goals for 2021. 

These goals provided the framework for my accomplishments, including:

• Building a site of my own: In January 2021, my personal site went live. I published my first blog post, From Spin to Solid Ground: A Learner’s Journey. It took a little longer to find my blogging rhythm, and I’m experimenting with different styles of storytelling. In Of Tidal Pools, I enjoyed exploring the immersive nature of learning. I’m looking forward to continuing to design and write in this space.
• Reframing my perspective: During the winter and spring, I reflected on three questions based on the Inc article Writing Just 3 Sentences Each Day Can Massively Boost Your Productivity and Happiness. It was sometimes repetitive, and sometimes hard to be honest to myself. I have not kept up with this reflection, but the mindfulness of the journaling helped reframe my experiences.
• Limiting social media: In 2020, social media hit a fever pitch. I found myself scrolling for information about the pandemic, and then horrified to read the posts of others ripping each other apart. I started using Screen Time, first to limit social media and then to completely block Facebook. I’ve since relaxed my daily Facebook limit to five minutes a day and Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn to 30 minutes total.
• Reading the books: I started the year with 20 books on my currently reading list. Over the past 12 months, I’ve read 18 of those books (as well as quite a few others). If you’re interested, you can read more about the best books I read in 2021.
• Starting a personal knowledge management system: With my personal knowledge management (PKM) system, I started to purposefully gather, curate, and integrate all of my notes, resources, inspiration, and ephemera. While much of my systems lives in a private account, I plan to share some on this site. For example, I attended several open educational resources (OER) conferences this year. You can read my thoughts about this in my post, Open Access Week 2021: Conversations About Open Education.
• Starting graduate school: I’ve been an instructional designer since 2017. In 2019, it felt like the right time to earn my master’s degree. I postponed applications when we discovered our unborn child needed extra care after birth. When I returned from maternity leave, the pandemic hit. Finally, in Spring 2021 I got accepted into the University of Missouri. As a first-generation student, I’m proud of the grade I earned in my first semester.

While it’s not easy to balance life, work, and graduate school, it’s bringing more focus into my life. I’m grateful I found the moments (through the power of reliable childcare) to work toward accomplishing small goals. I’d love to hear what you accomplished—no matter how small.