You don’t need me to tell you that 2020 did not go as planned for most people. It was full of challenges and constant pivots and a weird, eerie slowing down that I think a lot of us have come to be grateful for. It’s a year for the history books to be sure, one that none of us will ever forget.

While I did get a few big things done for my business this year, there was plenty that I wanted to do that never happened. Let’s just say I did A LOT of dragging and dropping Asana tasks to the next week (or just deleting them all together).

Every year I like to do a recap of what each month looked like for me, and even though this year looked so much different than anyone expected, it’s been helpful to keep this tradition going. I encourage you to do a recap for yourself. As you comb through your calendar or social media feed to see what all you did this year, try to focus more on all that you were able to accomplish, and less on the plans that got scrapped.

Here’s my 2020 recap:

January

Released 3 new toolkits in the Toolkit Library (part of The InDesign Field Guide course) – Stationery Toolkit, Webinar Toolkit, and Online Course Toolkit.
Started a YouTube channel and released the first few videos – beginner Adobe InDesign tutorials. I had planned to do more YouTube tutorials throughout the year, but ya know… 2020 had other plans.

February

Traveled to Seaside, Florida for the Creative Founders Alumni Retreat – should have soaked it in even more than I did, not knowing that would be my only chance to travel this year!
I was honored to speak at a local Valentine’s Banquet for 150 single moms – one I attended myself 7 years ago when I was freshly single and pregnant.
Started work on two new mini-classes – one about creating and selling digital products as passive income, and the other about basic graphic design principles for non-designers.
Took a weekend trip with my best girlfriends up to Kansas City to do some art museum hopping.

March

Turned 32 a couple days before the world fell apart.
Got central air conditioning installed in my 88-year-old house, and WOW, should have done that sooner!
Drove to visit family in Nashville for Poppy’s spring break, right as cities were starting quarantines. We came home early, her spring break was extended a week, then 2 weeks, then the school year was cancelled all together as our city went into lockdown. I thought *maybe* we would be back to normal life by mid-summer. (HA!)
A lot of my work projects went on hold as I started doing virtual kindergarten for Poppy.
I kept on prepping for my usual spring launch of my InDesign course, but basically threw all my goals for it out the window. I had no idea how this virus would affect the launch, so I just crossed my fingers and kept moving forward.

April

Had the spring launch for The InDesign Field Guide, while under lockdown and virtual schooling, and it felt weeeeird! Sales were about half of what I was projecting pre-pandemic, but honestly I was thankful for any amount of income, knowing so many people around the world were completely out of work.
Fueled by the desire to create something budget-friendly, I finished the new mini-class, Digital Product Startup, and launched it quietly to my email list. It did much better than I expected, I think others were craving something more budget-friendly learning as well.

May

Our city’s lockdown was lifted and a mask ordinance put in place (which is still in effect, thankfully!), but Poppy and I still kept ourselves pretty isolated.
I worked a tiny bit on my other new mini-class, Design Foundations, but honestly was feeling really burnt out from juggling new pandemic life, virtual schooling, and all the other craziness that 2020 was bringing.

June

I hosted my annual Summer Sale for my mini-classes, but that’s about all I had the energy for this summer!
I was supposed to go to Italy with my brother for our annual sibling trip, but alas, it didn’t happen. #thanks2020

July

Celebrated Poppy’s 6th birthday, and started realizing that her first grade year was not going to be back to normal. Our school district released their plans for the new school year, and I started talking with some other parents about some alternative options for our kids.
Painted the floor tile + shower tile in my bathroom, and it might be my favorite house project to date.

August

Officially unenrolled Poppy from public school — such a weird feeling for this mama who said she would NEVER homeschool (nothing against homeschooling at all, I’m just not that kind of mom). I joined forces with some other first grade parents to form our own little made up homeschool for our kids. Honestly, organizing this group school plan and thinking through logistics of what we needed to get it done was about the only thing that had lit a spark in me for several months.
We officially started our homeschool group and writing this now 3 months in, I can say it’s one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever been a part of.
I started free-writing more regularly, mostly about our school plans and the pandemic. Maybe it’ll turn into a book someday (though not anytime soon!).
Featured on A Beautiful Mess here!

September

With a new normal routine in place, and Poppy in “school” again, I felt re-energized to get some work done again – finally!
I started prep for the fall launch of The InDesign Field Guide – and I had to keep lowering my expectations nearly every day after that first pandemic launch in the spring.
Featured on Convertkit’s blog here!
Finished a HUGE task that’s been on my list for awhile thanks to my virtual assistant, Jacqueline — ALL of my courses and mini-class videos now have closed captioning! Whew, this was no small feat!

October

Celebrated my 2-year anniversary of self-publishing my first book, Strong Girl, Brave Girl, with a sale and a giveaway.
I was slated to speak at the Creative Founders At-Home Conference, but had to bow out when my grandmother passed away due to Alzheimer’s on opening day. I was so sad to miss the conference, but was grateful to spend some extra time with family.
Realized I needed a good hobby to get me through Covid Winter, so I followed a passion that had sparked in college and I had always wanted to get back to — ceramics! I got connected with a local pottery studio, bought a pottery wheel, and turned my basement into a little ceramics studio.

November

Fiiiiiiinally finished that Design Foundations class with my eighth wind, and launched it during Black Friday week.
Besides turning my few YouTube videos into blog posts, I wrote ONE whopping blog post all year long and it was this one about my plan for a smooth Black Friday sale.
Hosted my annual Black Friday sales on my mini-classes and in my Etsy shop of printable planners.
Learning (and relearning) about clay and throwing and trimming and glazing and firing and all the pottery things.

December

I had a few things to work on in December, but my energy seems to have been sucked dry again, so I pushed everything to 2021, and have been taking it easy this month.
I’m perfecting my sourdough, getting messy in my basement studio, making holiday crafts, teaching first graders, and crossing my fingers for a closer-to-normal 2021.

what’s next for 2021?

Going into 2021, I honestly haven’t found much motivation to plan yet. I’m usually an avid planner and the thought of a new year gets me anxious to break out the highlighters and sticky notes and set some lofty goals. But this year feels different. Does it for you, too? The energy I had for my business last January was depleted by about May. And now with the next January staring us down, the energy to do anything about it still isn’t quite there.

We have all gone through a trauma this year. Living through a global pandemic that changed nearly every facet of daily life – our homes, our work, our money, our kids, our schools, our relationships, our ability to travel and gather – all of that mental and emotional stress has built up quickly, and stayed there for months on end — and that obviously impacts our ability to get things done. It’s taxing on our minds and bodies, and frankly it’s a miracle any of us are carrying on like we are.

So if you’re in the “I really don’t feel like thinking about 2021 planning” boat like I am, you’re not alone. I’m hoping the motivation strikes in the next couple weeks 😉

If you’re feeling lost on what 2021 might have in store for you, or how some of my other yearly recaps have panned out, check out these other posts:

Learn how to earn passive income with a digital product

My 2020 year in review and how I'm going into 2021