Hey friends,
Whether you know me on a personal capacity or through my writings, it is no secret that I am an absolute sucker for shiny new apps that promises to revolutionize my personal productivity.
In 2020, I was fortunate to come across quite a handful of these apps.
Yes, some of them have unfortunately been a let-down and didn't come through on their promises (this has nothing to do with my waste-mannery) but I've also been privileged enough to come across a handful that has supercharged my producitivty.
And if had to narrow it down to one app that has brought the most organizational value to my year, it has to be Notion. (Read more about this in my 2020: Year in Review article)
By the way, you can save yourself $5 monthly and get a Personal Pro account for free by signing up using your .edu email (in my case, kyuem.edu.my). Not too sure what you're doing with your life if you're not on Notion yet. Sign up now!
Notion functions as my Central Headquarter for all my personal and project management needs and I use it extensively to organize absolutely everything in my life, from Economics Notes right up to my Content Manager.
In this article, I want to share with you one of my most frequently edited Notion pages - my 2020 Bucket List.
Now, this Bucket List isn't something I sat down for 4 hours on the the 1st of January 2020 and bust out an extensive list of things I wanted to achieve by the 31st of December 2020.
The items on this Bucket List were added as I progressed through the year and various ideas struck me as I listened to podcasts, watched videos or read books. Tracking of a list of ideas kept my momentum going and helped me bash through milestones that I set for myself.
Hence, I'm sharing the milestones I achieved (and those I didn't) in hopes that it'll motivate you to crush your goals in 2021 and maybe even spark an idea or two for your personal projects in this coming year.
As usual, here is a Table of Content that will help you navigate through this article and find the sections that interest you the most. If you are looking for a milestone or you're just here for the Bucket List Notion Template, feel free to skip right ahead!
With all the explanation to justify my humble brag out of the way, let's get into 🏁 2020: Milestones In Review.
My 2020 Bucket List
Throughout 2020, I set up 16 goals for myself on various dates and barely managed to hit half of them.
In all fairness, a few of the unsuccessful projects were due to pandemic-related reasons and were completely out of my control. There were also a couple of projects which were all set up and ready to launch but were halted or stalled due to administrative issues from other parties.
Other than that, 2020 is undoubtedly the most eventful year of my life and its by far the year that I've ventured out of my comfort zone the most.
I'm fully aware that these projects/milestones are not particularly ground-breaking per se, especially when they are scaled with the things other youths are doing. So, there's little to no value for me to elaborate on these milestones when you can just have a look at them through the screenshots above.
Nevertheless, I've learnt a great deal from these initiating/joining these projects and I'm hoping that by sharing these lessons below, they'll bring someone out there some value in one way or another.
Lesson 1: The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
okay it might just be me but does anyone else ever see something or hear about something for the first time and then all of a sudden you see that thing or hear about it everywhere???
— jo (@josievandykee) March 19, 2018
When I first learnt about startups (My First Million podcast) and the various technicalities surrounding it, I suddenly found myself seeing new opportunities everywhere.
From Mother's chocolate milk-banana smoothie (which kickstarted the KY Boost idea) to a conversation with my friend about his streetwear business (which led to me setting up his Ecommerce store) turned into an opportunity to try something new, to do something new.
Little did I know, this is The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon in action, otherwise known as frequency illusion or recency illusion.
This phenomenon occurs when the thing you've just noticed, experienced or been told about suddenly crops up constantly. It gives you the feeling that out of nowhere, pretty much everyone and their cousin are talking about the subject - or that it is swiftly surrounding you.
To me, The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon is one of the main benefits of streamlining your Information Diet. By consuming more content around the things that you want to do, new opportunities that you wouldn't have otherwise noticed almost seem to present themselves to you.
You may not receive immediate returns when you read biographies or learn about the story behind a major company like Starbucks, but your subconscious mind is constantly working behind the scenes to form new connections and soon, you'll come up with original ideas that can lead to one of the most interesting years of your life.
Lesson 2: Parkinson's Law
Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
Back in High School, I was passively conscious of how many extra-curricular activities I involved myself with. Although I wanted to do more, some part of me kept telling myself to focus on what matters - academics. Somehow, I've internalized the concept that if I had one too many commitments, everything would come crashing down, crumble under the pressure and this would come at the cost of my studies.
Starting this website and newsletter led to concerned questions from family and friends who were worried that I couldn't cope with all that was going around (bless you for caring). This is where I saw Parkinson's Law in action.
Although I had more commitments than before, I didn't allow them to take a toll on my studies, health or well-being. All I did was do things more efficiently, put some productivity hacks into practice and slept a little less. I made the most out of small chunks of time to complete tasks and in the long run, that saved me many hours. All that because there was an urgency and a short time available for its completion.
In small ways, all of us have seen Parkinson's Law in action. You experienced it when you were cramming 4 chapters worth of facts the night before exams, and wondered how amazing your grades would be if you studied like that everyday. You experienced it when 30 minutes before your mother came home from work, you scrambled to do the chores she told you to complete before she left for work that morning.
All these are short-terms ways which you have seen the way work expands to fill the time available for its completion, which is essentially the definition of Parkinson's Law.
Originally from my Reflection on my 1st Year in KYUEM article.
Lesson 3: Standing On The Shoulders of Giants
You can read more about this lesson from Sunday Scoop #28.
Notion Bucket List 2021 Template
Here is my Notion Bucket List 2021 Template.
It has all the categories that most of your projects will fall under. If you want a copy of this template, feel free to duplicate it to your Notion account and edit them to suit your needs.
Hope it helps you to smash your 2021 goals!
Enjoyed this 🏁 2020: Milestones In Review?
Check out my other 2020 In Review articles below.
1.
If you enjoyed this type of content, consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter, Sunday Scoop🍨 where I share :-
* a short article on a few life lessons I've picked up/productivity method I'm experimenting within the week
* links to the favourite contents I consumed that week
* a question to ponder on for the week (or a challenge if I'm feeling cheeky!)
If this seems interesting to you, feel free to subscribe to my email newsletter below!