One year of pandemic later, here’s my personal development balance sheet.

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Around this time last year, we were completely shifting our routines and ways of working. With lockdowns in effect in most of the countries, we found ourselves forced to adapt to new schedules, new routines, and new challenges.

Personally, I feel that the past year has been one of my most productive years so far.

I’ve recently started to think about the many things we haven’t been able to do for some time, like going out, traveling, conferences, and so on, but then I also started to realize just how many other things I have actually done that were on a to-do list, locked in a drawer somewhere.

So, I decided to put it in writing, just to get a sense of what I’ve done for the past year:

1. I’ve read 46 books in the past 12 months.
2. I’ve changed my job.
3. I’ve listened to 21 audiobooks.
4. I started and completed a 4 month Capital Markets & Securities Analyst program.
5. I’ve started working on an electronic music album and released one song.
6. I’ve implemented a workout routine, and I am working out 3–5 times per week.
7. I started a business.
8. I took on a secondary project with a startup.
9. I started meditating.
10. I started working on co-authoring a book about startups (should be done within a month).
11. I started investing, not trading.
12. I started to spend less time on social media.

So why do any of these things matter, anyway?

Well, it probably doesn’t really mean anything for anyone else, but for me it proves to be quite an advancement. Most of the things on this list are objectives that have been mostly procrastinated in the past 2–3 years.

For me, that means that staying more at home, and having more time (due to fact that I no longer needed a couple of hours each day to prepare for work, and then some additional time in traffic), has actually proven to be a successful recipe in accomplishing objectives from my to-do list.

Furthermore, I have been forced to re-design my schedule and to be much more careful about how and on what I spend my time.

Some of the key take aways I can share from the past year are:

1. Schedule your day/week in advance. Plan your days and stick to that plan. It will pay off.
2. Practice deep work. When you set out to do something, block anything else that might distract you. I typically put my phones and laptop in “Do not disturb” mode.
3. Exercise. You will be much more productive and focused if you do some exercise. You don’t need to train for the Olympics. Just do some basic workout.
4. Meditate. Take at least 10 minutes each day to free your mind from stress and anxiety. It will do miracles for you.
5. Have a balanced meal plan. Paying attention to your nutrition is far more important than I thought.
6. Make sure you spend time off you laptop/phone screen. Your eyes will thank you.

I know that most of this advice is just common sense, but apparently it took a pandemic and extraordinary circumstances to adopt a simple routine in my own life.

If this helps even one person to change something for the better, or better yet, to accomplish something that they’ve been wanting to for some time, than the effort was worth it.

If you are that person, let me know! :)