🛠️ Doing

I had laser eye surgery in early December, which provided a welcome rest period. The surgery was minor, and recovery was quick. Still, I was mindful that I needed to treat my new eyesight gently (corrected from a -9 prescription), so I significantly reduced my screen time. As such, I’ve not worked much this month. I feel fortunate to be able to take this break and fund an elective (seriously life-improving) surgery.

That said, I’ve continued doodling, and now I have a dedicated doodle page on this website. I’ve recreated some of my doodles as postcard prints, which look lovely; I will add them to my shop in the new year. I’m a little surprised at how well these doodles have been received on social media, but I am leaning into them as I love doodling, and it’s a great way to get my message across.

At the time of writing, I have completed my annual review and goal-setting process. If you need any help with yours, here are some resources:

• Annual Review and Goal Setting (Ebook and Templates)

• Reflect and Reset with an Annual Review (Podcast)

• Choosing Your Word for the Year (Podcast)

You could also hire me as your coach to help you with this process.

I’ve set five goals his year. One relates to career and business, two are learning and creativity goals, one is health and fitness, and one is relationship-related. While I will not share all of my goals publically, you will likely see evidence of these two from January:

• I will read 52 books in 2025 (fiction and non-fiction). I will share my non-fiction learning through doodles on social media and log my progress in Tana and on my Now Page.

• I will create and share at least 52 doodles on social media based on my reading and learning in 2025. I will refine my doodle style and craft.

I have previously used Literal to track my reading, which has worked well, but I want to try building my tracking tool for 2025 to have more control. I’ve never used Literal to discover new books—it's purely for tracking—so it seems sensible to design my tracker exactly how I want it. You can see the public pages of my tracker in the reading section below.

After completing my annual review and setting my goals, I decided on my word for the year: Explore. I explain my choice in this podcast episode.

I’m optimistic about the new year and hope you are, too.

📺 Watching

Grey’s Anatomy is a slow, ongoing commitment (it’s getting a bit silly now, but I’m in too deep to stop… season 14, I think?! 🤣). Other TV highlights included the final Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day and Black Doves (Netflix).

🧠 Learning

Due to the above-mentioned screen time reduction, I’ve been mostly learning through podcasts and reading my Kindle.

🎧 Listening

I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts this month. According to my Snipd “Unwrapped”, the show I listen to most consistently is Cal Newport’s Deep Questions (no surprise there). I’m keen to discover some new podcasts in the new year (I’d like a more diverse feed in terms of topics, hosts, and perspectives).

📚 Reading

As mentioned above, I’m experimenting with tracking my reading in Tana in 2025 (what I’m reading, what I want to read, and what I’ve finished). Access my library here: Martine’s Library.