2025: Review, rescope, refocus

I am a goal-setter and, mostly, a goal-getter. But sometimes I set too many overly ambitious goals, and I struggle to meet them. It’s not because the goals are unattainable, but rather because I want to do everything I can – and the things I want to do tend to be Big Things.

My 2025 theme is the three Rs: Review, rescope, and refocus

And then, once the goals have been set, new things pop up that I need or want to do. Or an obstacle presents itself that renders a goal impossible (for now). However, the goals remain on the list, whilst I add new ones. Then there is a constant struggle to prioritise and act on all the goals.

At times, I struggle to prioritise the goals and tasks on my lists because I can’t decide which ones I want/need to do first. And, like many humans, I do nothing because I can’t make up my mind. (Or sometimes, I can’t bring myself to start a task because I fear doing it wrong, leading to non-action.)

This means I keep bringing the same goals and tasks forward each year. For example, I still don’t have my UK driving licence, despite starting “Operation Vroom-Vroom” in November 2020. The goal has been repeatedly delayed because other things have taken priority. Another delayed goal, and one that I’ve yet to even attempt, is creating a quilt with Paul’s old running t-shirts. That’s one of those projects that I’ve been too afraid to start, lest I mess it up.

In reviewing my 2024 goals and various task lists, I can see that far too many things have carried over from previous years. This is unsustainable, especially as I purchased an old(ish) house in 2024 that requires a lot of project time to make it into the home I envision.

And so, for 2025 I plan to tackle my past goals and task lists. Not just as a mission to complete each task, but rather to re-evaluate the lists to complete or delete things as necessary. This objective requires me to review my existing lists, rescope as necessary, and refocus on the important things in life.

Review: The first stage is to review all my lists (including previous years’ goals and task books) to create a comprehensive list of the goals and projects I’ve said I would tackle. It’s all about understanding what needs to be done and how long I’ve been “meaning to” get them done.

Rescope: Once I have the full list, I can begin scoping individual goals and tasks, and the importance of each. This is the point where some tasks will simply be deleted whilst others are combined, simplified, or even removed altogether (or put into long-term delay).

Refocus: Some of this will be done concurrently with the rescoping process. However, I expect that I will need to step back and refocus on the larger lists once I’m done. This wide-angle view should help me focus on my priorities and realistic abilities, allowing me to create a simplified and actionable objectives list.

Overall, I expect that the Three Rs will take place in the first quarter of the year to be done by 31 March. Then, I can start working towards completing the tasks that survive this review. I have already begun to think about what projects I can outsource to more capable people, freeing my time for the tasks I want to focus on. This is also my opportunity to focus on a specific element of a project. So, rather than “the front garden” I might focus on an aspect of the garden.

This process should also help me find completed goals and tasks that I never marked as such. I expect there will be a lot of separating ideas and tasks at this stage, too. This might mean the review process includes the creation of an ideas list that is inspirational but not immediately actionable.

I have a broad idea of what the post-review lists will look like, and I am already starting to think about how to simplify the list. I feel that this reflection process will help set me up for greater success in the year to come.

As always, you can expect tales from my adventures here on Just Frances. Happy 2025, everyone!