Slowing Down.

As designers and developers, usually we are quite busy: always running behind deadlines, seeking perfect solutions, faced with new challenges and opportunities. Perhaps the only exception is late December when things are slowing down and everybody seems to be less in a hurry to deploy that feature and refactor that component. It's a great time to be slow, and mindful.

Every December I set aside a week to thoroughly think about the passing year, and set out some goals for the next year. They are rarely professional or financial though; some of these days I write down interesting stories of fascinating people I've met that year, and most of these days I think about my family, my close friends, and myself.

Perhaps look back at this year and think about how happy you were. Being busy and between projects feels great sometimes, but what do you actually remember from that year? What have you learned, and who have you met? How much time did you spend with people that you'd like to spend time with?

Looking forward, which places would you like to visit next year? What cultures to explore? What personal achievements to accomplish? What friendships to rekindle? Perhaps you could invite your partner to join you at a music festival, or an art exhibition? Get the tickets ahead of time and look forward to the wonderful time spent together with your loved ones in 2020.

Perhaps you could call a good old friend and invite them for a birthday ahead of time, or a community gathering, so you both have time to prepare and set aside schedule for that shared experience next year.

Perhaps you'd love to clean up, sort out and back up your digital footprint, to ensure a good smooth start to the new year. In fact, I've prepared a digital clean-up checklist for just that a couple of years ago.

And don't forget to ask yourself if there is anything you really want and like — and that you missed out this year. Make sure you'll get it, even it's a little bit more expensive than usual — you are worth it, and so is your family. Maybe by the end of 2020 you'll be looking back at these goals and be surprised how wonderful the year has become. And that's something that's worth preparing for, isn't it?

Happy slow times, everyone!