#SketchnoteYourYear – the End-of-Year Sketchnote for 2022
It’s that time of year! We are into the final week, and the remaining days of 2022 are unfolding (or slipping away, depending on how fast your world is spinning). This week always goes more quickly than I anticipate, a combination of family, reality, and juggling some work hours and not enough time off. I always hope to fit in year-end reflection questions, 2022 creative life planning questions (coming soon), word of the year (WOTY) thinking, and my year-end sketchnote as the year winds down. Some of this reflection and snapshot work for me spills over into the new year, and I’m okay with bridging the years this way. If you have more time, you might be able to tidily wrap things up with a bow for 2022 and then start fresh with your planning and WOTY in 2023. However you do it, in whatever order or sequence, and even using whatever prompts have the most resonance for you, I encourage you to take this bit of time to reflect on your creativeyear.
My advocation of an End-of-Year Sketchnote was, initially, a group challenge in the CMP community. While I don’t do nearly as much sketchnoting as I want, I consider sketchnoting to be an integral part of my #illustrateyourweek illustrated journal project. I love doing the end-of-year sketchnote as it gives me a really visual and focused look at the whole year.
The idea is simple: sketchnote the highlights of your creative year.
This creates an illustrated summary of the year. It can be really beautiful in its own way. Mine are typically jam-packed, chaotic, and somehow encapsulate an energy that I often don’t even realize in the day-to day, but I see it in the bird’s eye view of the end-of-year sketchnote. This energy runs throughout my year, a creative undercurrent that I especially value, an undercurrent that gives meaning, balance, structure, and fulfillment to my days. When you focus on the day-to-day, it’s easy sometimes to lose the big picture. The sketchnote record of the year helps bring that into focus.
Of the two year-end reflections I do, this one is the one I enjoy most and find most valuable and meaningful later. I can see at a glance what rose to the top in my “looking back” process, some of the high-level numbers associated with the year’s creative work (and the podcast), and more. It is also the one that takes the most time.
I encourage you to do your own year-end sketchnote! (A sketchnote selfie is also a wonderful project. But in the December/January timeframe, doing a year-end review or a planning-goal-based sketchnote for the new year can be an excellent and fun way to experiment with sketchnotes and create a meaninful and fun visual summary of your creative work.)
Tip: The end-of-year questions for 2022 can help you gather the “fodder” you need to start building your sketchnote review.
Inspiration from the Podcast
To get inspired about sketchnoting, try hopscotching around in these older podcast episodes:
You may find that sketchnoting with a personal lens leads you into illustrated journaling, too. I’ve been leading #illustrateyourweek in 2020. You can find out more at Instagram.
Year-end Sketchnotes from prior years:
I don’t know what the 2022 Year-End Sketchnote will look like. What I do know is that I probably won’t take the time to gather the information and really get this big-picture look if I don’t do this process. This year, my sketchnote will go in my illustrated journal. It will feel right at home there.
If you do your own end-of-year sketchnote, tag it with #sketchnoteyouryear and tag me so I can see!
Related:
- Year-end Review – 2022
- Creative Life Planning – 2023 (coming)
- Sketchnote Handbook
- Sketchnote Selfie (Episode 261)
- Doodlebug
- Stuck in the Middle (of Middle School): A Novel in Doodles
- The Art of Visual Notetaking: An interactive guide to visual communication and sketchnoting
- The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently
- Episode 309: Doodle Dots
- Episode 305: Doodlebug
- Episode 260: Friendship
- Personal Documentation (a la Dear Data)
- Dear Data
- Observe, Collect, Draw!: A Visual Journal
- Eva Lotta Lam #sketchnoteselfie (inspiring example!)
- #sketchnoteselfie (Twitter)