A friend asked me the other day how, as a solo operator, I plan for the year ahead. The truth is: I have to keep things simple. I love to overthink stuff — and if I give myself the chance to overthink things, I will!
So instead, right around this time of year, I like to do two things.
The first is to figure out the big bets I want to place for next year. I have three big things in the works for next year for Inbox Collective that I’m building my 2026 around. I’d love to do more than that, but if I do all three things, I’ll be very, very happy.
The second is to set up quarterly reviews. This is where I look back at the work I’ve done. It’s good to reflect on what I’ve been working on, but it’s also important to see if there’s anything I’m doing that I need to stop. If I do, I’ll make the change right away. There’s no reason to keep doing something that isn’t working.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and stop doing something that takes up a lot of time — and in the process, I manage to free up time for some smaller projects. I’ll figure that out as I go. But for now, the main thing is to figure out the big stuff and then get out of my own way so I can actually do the work.
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That photo of sticky notes on a wall comes via Kelly Sikkema and Unsplash.