How To Do A Mid-Year Review When You Have ADHD

Hey, ADHD brain. How do you feel when you think about doing a mid-year review?

Are you excited to dive in and see what you find? Or do you feel overwhelmed just thinking about the process?

Many of us with ADHD tend to shy away from reviews like this.

We often worry we “haven’t done enough,” or we’ve “dropped the ball” on too many projects…

…and by doing the review, we’re essentially highlighting what we’ve missed.

In addition, when we do try to sit down and reflect, we’re reminded of how unreliable our short-term working memory is.

We start thinking to ourselves, “I can’t remember what happened over the last six days; how can I possibly remember the last six months?”

(Sound familiar?)

If so, you’re in the right place. 

The mid-year review we explore in episode 206 of the I’m Busy Being Awesome podcast is designed specifically for the ADHD brain. 

In it, I share simple, tangible ways to help you gently jog your memory and recall key moments.

Plus, the questions help you intentionally focus on your wins and incorporate even more joy in your life.

So do yourself a favor and tune into episode 206 below.

Then download the reflection questions here.

Give yourself the gift of time as you uncover the gems awaiting you in the review.

Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript. 

In This Episode, You Will Discover

• Why the mid-year review process is so powerful for people with ADHD 
• 7 simple ways to help jog your memory and make the review process easier
• Powerful reflections questions designed specifically for an ADHD brain

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Episode #206: How To Do A Mid-Year Review When You Have ADHD (Transcript) 

Hello, everybody!  How are you? Welcome back to the podcast. If you’re listening to this in real-time, that means we’ve reached July. We’re halfway through 2023. What in the world?!

As I was thinking about this yesterday, I started reflecting back on the last 6 months. I started thinking about all the things that have happened and what’s been going on, and I found it to be really powerful.

In fact, it’s what inspired me to put together today’s episode about how to do a mid-year review.

I think that – while it can seem overwhelming or not the first thing on your to-do list – making space for some kind of review halfway through the year is key.

When we make space to pause, take a breath, and think back over the past six months, we create space for a lot of powerful shifts and realizations as we move forward.

As a side note, if you’re listening to this episode outside of real-time, and it’s not July, you can still absolutely use this it as a guide to review your current situation wherever you are at in regard to the year. So whether you’re listening to this in July or September, or March of next year, do yourself a favor and keep listening.

Why A Mid-Year Review with Reflection is So Important

So let’s first talk about why. We hear people talk about reflection all the time. You’ve likely heard me talk about making time for reflection many times on the podcast.

Why is reflection so important?

Why is it so impactful?

As I mentioned in last week’s episode, often, when our ADHD brains better understand the ‘why’ behind the task, we have an easier time following through with it than if we were simply arbitrarily told to do something without that justification or explanation.

So, why is it important to make space for reflection?

Reflection Helps Us Build Awareness

Well, first of all, it helps us build awareness, and awareness is everything. When we create awareness of where we are at, it’s the most important step in moving forward in either creating the change you want to see or further fueling the direction in which you’re already headed.

For example, it can help you either realize,

“Oh, I didn’t realize I  was spending so much time in this area, I think I want to make an adjustment now that I see that.” or,

“Fantastic – I wanted to get the house totally decluttered and organized this year, I’m halfway through the year, and I’m about halfway through the house. My approach is working well.”

When we pause and take stock of where we’re at, we gain valuable insight into our progress, our strengths, what’s working, and what we enjoy.

It’s a little bit like checking where you are on your map halfway through your journey.

For example:

When I first moved into my new house and started taking Bruno on walks around the neighborhoods, I didn’t know where I was. So before I’d leave for a walk, I’d open up Google Maps and map out different walking loops for us to take.

Now, for some of you, that might be all you need to complete your walk. If that’s the case, good on you. But my direction is terrible. Don’t tell me to go South for a mile and then turn East. I have no idea what that means. Give me a landmark.

So sometimes, on my walks, I’d get worried that I turned down the wrong street or I took a right instead of a left like I originally planned back at the house.

So, I’ll pull out my phone and open up Google Maps to see where my little dot is on the map in relation to where I want to be on our walk. And by doing that quick check-in, I have an awareness of where I am, so I can make adjustments if I need to.

Mid-year reflection is a bit like that.

It’s an easy yet impactful way to check in and ask ourselves:

• Where are we at on our journey?
• Do we want to make any adjustments?
• Do we want to turn down a new path?

There are no right or wrong answers, we just want to check in to gain awareness of where we are.

Mid-Year Reflection Remind Us That We’re In The ‘Messy Middle’

Additionally, as we’ll talk about a little bit more later, I really love creating intentional checkpoints because they provide an opportunity for us to recognize all our wins, both big and small. And by recognizing them, we help fuel our progress and give ourselves a boost of motivation – especially when we are about halfway through the year.

I have a podcast episode that is all about the messy middle. And this is that uncomfortable period when we are in the middle of a goal or an experience when it gets – as the name suggests – very messy.

It doesn’t mean something has gone wrong; it just means that you’re in the messy middle.

However, when we are in that messy middle, if we’re not intentionally recognizing our wins and seeing our growth, it can be easy to get down on ourselves. It can be easy to throw in the towel because we’re feeling so discouraged from telling ourselves we should be further along and it’s not working.

There’s a quote from Rosabeth Moss Kanter in an article in Harvard Business Review. She says,

“Everything looks like a failure in the middle.”

I love this so much because I think she’s spot on. And when we have awareness of that truth – that everything feels like a failure in the middle – yet we also pause to assess what’s happening and track our wins, it can help us keep moving through that messy middle to get to the other side.

Note: Mid-Year Reviews Can Feel Challenging

Now again, I also want to acknowledge that making time for these kinds of reviews can seem challenging, particularly for those of us with ADHD.

We might find ourselves being overly critical of ourselves, thinking we should be farther along, we should have already achieved XYZ, or we’ve “fallen off the wagon” (even though there is no wagon.)

As humans, generally, we do have a negativity bias where it’s easier for our brain to focus on what’s gone wrong or where we’ve fallen short. And since we – as ADHDers – likely have even more stories and evidence that we don’t follow through, or we’re so far behind – it is easy to fall into that pattern of thinking.

So if your brain offers thoughts like this, I invite you to consider how the opposite might also be true.

Also, as ADHD brains, we can struggle with short-term working memory

How might it be true that because it’s so easy for our brain to focus on the negative, it might be even more important for us to intentionally slow down and recognize our wins?

Due of this, when we ask ourselves to think back and reflect on our wins and learn from what went well, it’s actually more difficult. It’s harder for us to remember some of these past events and experiences than it might be for a neurotypical brain.

Again, having awareness of this obstacle is important because when we know that this process might feel more challenging for us, we can go slow. We can come to the reflection from a place of compassion.

We can also put in supports to alleviate some of the demand on our executive functions and make it a little bit easier for us to remember these different moments.

Additionally, for my fellow perfectionists and recovering perfectionists, we can remind this part of ourselves that this review doesn’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to account for every single event. Hold the process loosely. If you make the time to explore the questions in any capacity, you’re doing it right. Whatever you remember is enough.

6 Ways To Make The Mid-Year Review Process Easier

So with that in mind, let’s talk about a couple of different ways that we can help jog our memory a bit.

How can we help ourselves remember some of the winds and experiences that we’ve had over the past six months?

1. Review Your Planners & Calendars

One of the most straightforward approaches is to review your planners and calendars.

Flip back through the pages or scroll through your digital pages and remind yourself of what went on. And if you have weeks or months where nothing’s written down, no problem. We’re just mining for what’s there. Look for events, milestones, birthdays, travel dates, deadlines, etc.

2. Go Through Your Phone’s Photo Album

Another favorite of mine is to go back through my phone’s photo album. Our phones have essentially become virtual time capsules, and they are such a great way to help us recall these literal snapshots of our lives.

Scrolling through your camera roll can be a quick and easy way to help you remember those moments that brought you joy, made you laugh, offered inspiration, etc.

3. Review Emails & Texts

You could also review saved emails and text messages. Sometimes the conversations we have with the people in our lives can help us recall these important events or projects or celebrations.

4. Check Your Social Media Feed

Similarly, you can check your social media feed if you are frequently online. Just like our phone’s photo album, for many of us, our social media platforms are a powerful digital log of our lives.

You can scroll through your posts, comments, memories you’ve been tagged in, etc., to help you recall the highlights, milestones, and experiences you’ve had over the past six months.

5. Read Past Journal Entries

You could also page back through a journal if you keep one. You could also think about key holidays or recurring events That happen every year, and use that as a starting point to recall what happened in this year specifically.

For example, what happened on your birthday this year? What did you do for spring break?

6. Check in with Family, Friends, Colleagues

And then finally, you can also check with people in your life.

Ask your friends, your colleagues, your family, or your partner.

Depending on who you’re talking to, you might even share with them the project you’re working on.

Let them know you’re doing a mid-year review and ask them questions...

• Is there anything that stands out to you over the last six months?
• I’m trying to think about what happened over the past six months, but I’m coming up short with anything in February.
• Can you think of anything that we did in February?

Sometimes simply having a short conversation can quickly jog your memory and unlock different experiences.

If your short-term memory is anything like mine, I know it can feel challenging to recall these past events. But hopefully, a few of these different strategies will help you jog your memory and recall some of those key dates to help inform your mid-year review.

2 More Reminders

1. Tell the perfectionist part of your brain that they can take the day off – they don’t need to come in to work today
2. The purpose of this mid-year review is to focus on what’s going well

As ADHD brains, we want to be intentional about this review process. So please make sure…

• You are using the review process for you.
• Use the questions in a way that fuels you and encourages you.
  • If you notice your brain trying to spin the questions and you’re feeling discouraged instead, take a step back. Ground yourself in your growth and what’s going well. I promise it’s there.

The Mid-Year Review Process

My review process includes 3 steps, and within each of these steps, I’ll offer a couple of different questions to consider.

I’ll talk through the questions and give some examples on the episode today, and then I highly encourage you to set aside time to do this on your own. I grappled with turning this episode into a walking meditation as I have in the past, but since I had so much I wanted to share beforehand, I decided not to.

I did, however, create a workbook with each of the prompts that you can download HERE.

Step 1: Remember what went well in The Past 6 Months

Step one of the mid-year review is to step back and reflect on what’s gone well over the past six months.

If you have your planner or your camera roll, I encourage you to go month by month highlighting those key takeaways.

By simply setting aside time for this one question, you’ll have a much stronger understanding of what’s gone well and all of your wins that are often so easy to overlook.

If you’re doing this review in real-time and it’s July right now, think back to January, the beginning of the year.

• What are the moments that brought a smile to your face?
• What stands out to you?
• What was something you achieved that surprised you? What was something you tried?

Then, continue asking yourself similar questions for each month. 

What achievements or experiences stand out? Take a moment to reflect and write down what went well during that month.

Again, this can be both big and small.

It can be significant events or what might be seemingly small blips in the grand scheme of things, yet they stand out to you.

For example, when I reflected on this question, February stood out to me as an important month generally because it was one of the first months that I can remember in my adult life when I intentionally did not work on the weekends.

Sure, there were times in the past when I intentionally didn’t work for a particular weekend or when things were really busy, and I couldn’t get around to working. But this February was the first month that I can remember where I intentionally paused on work to make space for play and rest.

Again, it may seem like a small blip to someone else, but for me, it was significant.

As you go through each month, ask yourself:

“What went well? Big or small, what am I celebrating?”

Think about things at home, at work, in your relationships, in your personal growth, in your ADHD journey. What’s gone well over the past six months?

Then I encourage you to ask yourself, what am I really proud of?

This may seem similar to what went well, but I think there’s an important distinction here.

For example, I know in my life, there are times when things don’t go “well,” or “according to plan,” but I still feel proud of how I showed up. For example, I think I shared on the podcast back in January that I had over-scheduled myself. I went past my capacity, which was not according to plan.

At the same time, I was really proud of myself for showing up and making things happen anyway. I was proud of myself for saying no to some things, for really prioritizing what mattered, and essentially diving in and making things happen despite not following the anticipated timeline perfectly – heck, at all.

So what about you?

• What are you incredibly proud of over these past six months?
• What are you proud of in January? In February? In March?

When are you thinking to yourself, “Heck yeah past self. Way to show up. Way to lean into your values. Way to do what you thought was right at that time.” Identify these moments.

Each one matters and deserves recognition. Let’s fuel that momentum forward.

Step 2: What Can We Learn?

Step 2 focuses on what we can learn. And again, I have some intentional questions here to help Create a really supportive empowering review.

So with that in mind, I encourage you to first ask yourself…

What has been especially fun over the last six months?

Now everybody’s definition of fun is going to be different. But make some time for this question.

• What has been fun for you over the past six months? What were you doing for fun in March? In April?
• What hobbies were you exploring?
• What events did you attend?
• What was going on at work?
• Did you have any particular projects with your team that lit you up?
• Did you travel?
• Was there a particular genre of book that was super fun to read, and you couldn’t put it down?

Make some space to identify what has been super fun over the past six months.

When you do this, you’re helping your brain recognize and learn what it likes to do for fun, which is one of the most common recurring things I hear from people- I have no idea what I like to do for fun.

I don’t know how to have fun. I haven’t had fun in so long period let’s solve for this.

What has been super fun for you over the past six months? And what made it fun? Why was it so fun for you? What can we learn from that?

What Has Been A Powerful Creative Outlet?

Another question you can ask yourself along the same lines is, what has been a powerful creative outlet for you?

Have there been any projects or interactions or experiences that really got your creative juices flowing? What can we learn from that?

What Important Interactions Did I Have?

You can also ask yourself about important connections or interactions that you’ve had over the past six months.

• Who did you connect with?
• Why did you enjoy those interactions specifically?
• What makes them stand out?
• What can we learn from that?
• Do you see any themes here?

What Recharges You?

A final question to ask yourself within Part two of the review process – again, remember part two is all about what we can learn – is to ask yourself:

What are the things that have either fueled you or recharged you?

• What helps you feel like yourself?
• Do you love taking a particular class each week? Maybe it’s creating space in your day for journaling or meditation, or spending time outside in nature.
• What helps you show up in the way that you want to?
• How do you to recharge after a busy day or busy week when you’re feeling particularly drained?
• Do certain activities help you relax and unwind?
• What activities help you feel inspired and driven?

For me, one of those answers is getting coached each week – that’s such a game changer for me.

Again, think back over the last six months, scroll through your photos, look at your journal, review your social media feed, what do you find?

And as I’m saying this, if you’re using your social media feed to help jog your memory for any of these, I’d suggest setting your Time Timer or using an alarm on your phone, as we are all well aware that our social feeds can be huge rabbit holes for us to fall down completely forget about the review process altogether.

All right. So we’ve looked back over the last six months and we’ve remembered our wins and identified what we’re proud of.

We’ve also made space to learn from what is fun, what recharges us, what fuels us, and what helps us continue showing up to the different areas of our lives in the way that we want to.

Step 3: Choosing Our Next Steps

Part 3 of our review process is all about assessing what we’ve uncovered and choosing our next step. You’ve made the time to identify what works well for you, so now we get to figure out how to incorporate more of that into our lives for the next six months.

In order to do this, I love to ask myself 3 simple questions:

1. What do I want more of in my life over the next 6 months?

You’ve just uncovered so much gold in your reflection process. You’ve seen your wins and your successes. You’ve made space to feel proud of yourself. You’ve uncovered what lights you up, what recharges you, what provides you with a creative release, and what you find to be so much fun.

Now you get to ask yourself, what do I want more of?

Maybe you want more time…

• To explore that new hobby you discovered in May.
• With your friends because you found that you felt so recharged when you carved out those evenings to spend together over the past six months.
• Outside on your back deck in the early morning with your coffee because it helps you feel grounded and centered before you begin the day.

Give yourself space to sit with this question. What do you want more of? And why?

2. What Do I Want Less Of?

Then we’ll look to the other side with our next question. What do you want less of?

This could be less because you genuinely don’t want to do it as much because it’s not enjoyable for you. Or it might be less because you simply need a break from it.

For example, when I thought about this question for myself, the answer that came to me immediately was I want less on my plate for the next little while.

Between selling my house, packing everything up, moving across the country, buying a new house, moving in, doing my three day training, and launching the next round of we’re busy being awesome, it’s been nonstop around here for the last several months. I’ve loved it. It’s been amazing.

And, I’m ready to recharge a bit. So I told my VA, when I come to you with a new idea halfway through July, tell me I can’t start it until August. I need to do less right now. I want a month to recharge, and I’d love your help in honoring that.

Again, I know myself well. I’ll take a week or two, I’ll recharge a bit, and then i’ll have a next new idea that I want to explore.

This isn’t bad period but I also know that I want to be doing less right now. I want more space so that I can actually enjoy all of these things that I’ve worked hard to create. And by making that intention clear for myself- and recruiting my VA for the support-I can help make that happen.

So what about you? What do you want less of right now?

3. What is one tiny step I can take?

Once we know what we want more of and less of in our lives, the last question that I encourage you to ask yourself in this review process is this: “In order to honor what I want more of in my life over the next six months, what is one tiny step forward that I can take today in making that happen?

What is one small action that I can take to help me honor when I discovered in this review?

For example, I know that I want to spend more time with my family now that I am in Minnesota so one step that I’m going to take today is to go to the grocery store and get something that’s easy to prepare, because I want to have people over for dinner tomorrow night.

I know I’ve mentioned in various episodes that I’ve rediscovered my love of both’s crocheting and knitting over the past six months as well. And I want to continue making time for this.

One of the small steps I’m taking is having a project next to me in the family room where we watch TV so that I can easily grab whatever project I’m working on rather than scrolling my phone at night after dinner.

So these are just a couple of random examples, but hopefully they give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

What is one small step that you can take today to help move you in the direction of what you want more of in your life?

Mid-Year Review Recap

And that’s it. That is our mid-year review.

Three simple steps:

• Remember your wins.
• Learn from the fun.
• Decide intentionally what you want more of over the next six months – taking action one small step at a time.

While you’re at it, I’d love to hear from you over on Instagram. What did you uncover in your mid-year review?

Let me know what you’re celebrating.

• What’s been super fun for you?
• What do you want more of in the months to come?

If you haven’t yet, head to the link in the show notes of this episode and download the workbook that offers all of these prompts that I shared today all in one place.

I can’t wait to hear about it. Just send me a DM. I’m @imbusybeingawesome.