How to Take Advantage of the End of Year

Things You Can Do to Set Yourself Up For the New Year

5 min readDec 20, 2019

If you can take advantage of the end of year, you will give yourself a better chance of starting the new year well.

The end of year is usually a time when most people slow down. You can get a head start and set yourself up for a better year if you are intentional about how you use the end of year.

Things You Can Gain if You Take Advantage of the End of Year

The benefits of taking advantage of the end of year include:

End the year on a good note.
Prepare yourself well for the new year.
Identify things you want to do differently next year.
Feel excited and have something to look forward to.
Acknowledge and accept things that happened during the year.

How Not to End Your Year

Here are ways not to end your year because you will not set yourself up for better success in the new year.

Not having an improvement plan.
Feeling rushed or pressured to meet deadlines that could have been addressed earlier.
Hoping to have a better year instead of being intentional about it.
Not identifying what to do differently to achieve new results.

Your ability to take advantage of the end of year will improve your chances of better accomplishments in the new year.

I usually use the last month of the year to stop projects and activities that are no longer a priority. If I have too many projects that need to be completed, it’s a good reminder to have fewer things to focus on next year.

It’s also a time to identify what I should keep doing, what I can improve, what I should start doing and what I should stop doing.

5 Things You Can Do to Take Advantage of the End of Year

Even though there are many things that can be done, here are five things that will serve you the most as you prepare for the new year.

Do a full-year review. This is better done with someone else or with a group of people. The aim of an end-of-year review is to reflect on what worked well during the year and what you can do better.
Evaluate what is still outstanding. It is helpful to start a new year with a clean slate than to have things carry over. Sometimes, you may not complete everything. However, things such as unresolved conflicts, discussions that need to happen or projects that need closure, should be addressed.
Focus on your self-care. Even though it is easy to be influenced by the end-of-year festivities, it is important to look after yourself. This can include giving yourself downtime and having a mental break, where you do not think what you want to achieve or what needs to get done. Use the time to recharge and recommit to your priorities.
Share what you have learned. Every year, you will gain new awareness from your experiences. Those experiences can help other people, therefore it is valuable to pay it forward. What you may consider insignificant or unimportant can make a big difference to someone else.
Set your intentions for the new year. While this may not be a goal-setting process, it’s about thinking of new possibilities and ways you can improve. As you allow yourself to dream of a better year, you will generate emotions of anticipation and excitement, which is a good thing.

Final Thoughts

Having a better new year starts with ending the current year well. If you take the time to do these things, you will increase your chances of having a great year. The end of year is the perfect time to focus on these things.

If you don’t take advantage of the end of year, you are more likely to do the same things again that have gotten you the results you achieved. It’s highly beneficial to use the end of year effectively by focusing on a few simple things.

Action Step: Schedule at least two hours in your calendar between now and the end of year to do a full-year review. Ask someone to do the end of year review with you to get a different perspective.

Question: What are more ways to take advantage of the end of year?