15 Lists To Write At The Beginning Of The Year

Never under estimate the power of a good list. Writing list is one of my favorite things to do, right next to marking things off on those list.

List creating has several benefits, such as:

• Improved Organization – Helps structure your thoughts and tasks.
• Enhances Productivity – Breaks down complex tasks into manageable steps.
• Reduces Stress – Offloads mental clutter by capturing ideas and tasks on paper or digitally.
• Encourages Clarity – Simplifies decision-making by laying out options and steps.
• Boosts Motivation – Provides a sense of accomplishment as items are checked off.

and more, these are my favorite though. If you ever have those days where you just feel very unproductive, may I recommend a DONE list™ vs a todo list. Write down all the things you’ve done that day – all the small things like shower, put the dishes in, got the mail. Those things add up mentally and we forget sometimes how much we actually do in a day.

1. Your Goals

First and foremost, your goals. No matter if you goal plan or just have a set few things you want to accomplish; writing things down allows you to see it and really reflect on it. The more your review your goal list the more likely you are to accomplish them.

If you want to get into goal planning, I wrote about that this month as well, check out my getting started guide for how I break down goals every year.

2. Wish List

Separate from your goals, a wishlist is a great page to keep. Add the items you are thinking about now and update it as you come across items. A wishlist is a great way to store those items mentally – but also a great savings tool. By writing it down and not buying it immediately, you save yourself money because it may not be something you actually want.

If its an impulse wishlist item you can write the price next to it, so if you change your mind on it you can see how much you saved by not getting it immediately – then just tossing it in a drawer. This is particular handy if you have ADHD or are into social media stores.

3. Favorite Moments from Last Year (or this year)

If it’s too late and you are like me, remembering is just not a thing – start a moments page for this year. I usually title mine 25 Great things in 2025 – each year I adjust – and add little things that made me happy throughout the year. My memory is terrible.

If you have a good memory, this is a great way to write down some favorite things so you can remember them going forward – or create more opportunity for them in your goals.

4. Books to Read

I also keep a TBR (or to be read) list going on Good Reads. You can also keep one directly on Amazon or your reading site. Might I recommend Everand – a great audio and Ebook alternate that is sub based.

Books to read is one of those great list you really make as you come across cool recommendations, so its another good one to include in your planner throughout the year.

5. Travel Destinations

or a local Bucketlist. We are doing a CO bucket list at the start of this year to hit up our favorite places nature and food wise. This is a great thing to do with friends or a partner and you can use Google maps to really add some cute icons and share the list.

We use Google maps and I add anything cool I see on social media to it for the local area – I sort by state or trip (for example, PNW when we traveled up that way). It makes it really easy to save cool stops, views, hotels, or snacks. You can also make a physical list you can keep and carry year to year – for long term travel goals.

6. Fitness or Health Goals

Sitting down at the start of the year and taking stock of where you are and where you wanna be can be incredibly great – and discouraging. It’s just how health goes for a lot of us. It’s good to check in with your Dr.(s) if you are able.

I don’t have much good advice on this, do your best and take breaks friends.

7. New Skills to Learn

Another really good one to sit down and think about. Especially if you are in a career field that changes regularly. For me I immediately I wanted to learn more about where we are going with SEO and AI this year, so it was top of my lists.

Don’t forget to add fun things, like maybe a stained glass class too. It’s important and fun to get out of your comfort zone.

8. Budget Plan

I have big feelings on where we are a society. Anyway, if you have never budgeted before and are just starting there are so many positive people out there to help you get started. Lists are a great way to get started on organizing yourself to learn more information.

Now a rant, I am a FIRM believer that you can’t budget your way out of a paycheck to paycheck, so please do not think if you are in that position you just need to try harder. That is not it. You probably already know where every dollar goes already if you are there. It’s good to have budget and savings goals but I feel like we hear this a lot, ‘if you didn’t buy coffee once a week you’d have a house by now’ and that is not true. Not in our reality.

9. Decluttering Checklist

I do this every year in my home category – just list the areas that get cluttered. I am not a minimalist and I know it’s my fault. I am trying to be better, but things pile up for the average person and making a quick list: closet, kitchen, tool closet, bathroom closet…etc usually lets me work my way through these areas throughout the year.

Easy win goals you can mark off when you are feeling like you need to reorganize something.

10. Home Improvement Projects

Putting this right under the declutter, if you have any project ideas this year, great list to make to get started on them.

11. Meal Planning Ideas
    Another one I like to keep in my planner – 25 New Recipes in 2025. Seriously I just use the year. This is a great way to ensure you are trying new things – that is about 2 a month.
    
12. Career Objectives

Career things are hard, especially when creating goals. A lot of us just want a job that we enjoy, pays well and doesn’t suck our time. We don’t need to change the world. And that is OK too, IMO.

If you are a professional in a desk type job, from experience, adding skills to your resume is a must these days. Many times, you will see recruiters mentioning job goals and you wanting a plan too. It is what it is, market wise. I recommend if you are unsure to really take some time to think about it. I do think it is ridiculous, but at least having some of these things written down for answers will aide you in the long run when job hunting. It should be okay to just exist and want to work. It’s just not right now in the current market. As of writing this.

13. Gratitude List

Practicing gratitude is always a good way keep positive. I don’t think these list are as popular as they were back in the mid 2015’s but thinking about the positive things, similar to the good moments, helps keep you on track for what really matters – to you personally.

14. Self-Care Activities

Self-Care bingo is a great way to remind yourself to keep your peace. I think it’s great to buy yourself little treats, but remember to also take time out for yourself too. Journal. Touch grass. Maybe take a phone break to really unwind. Go outside for the day instead of whatever productive thing your wrote down today. Those are the type of self-care items that will really make you feel refreshed.

Keep track of them and how they made you feel, so you can remember them.

15. Movies and TV Shows to Watch

Finally, I feel like this is a ‘as you go’ list as well, I use Letterbox and Serialized to track my media here – I highly recommend it. Anime-Planet for Anime if that is your jam too. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we watch – or we do and may forget things. These services keep track for you so you can go back and see what you watched when.

I see a lot of people keep written lists as well, I think this is one of those that makes more sense digitally – maybe if you are watching a ton of new movies and Movie tracker would be fun in your planner, but many of us consume so much its easier to do this digitally. And if it’s easy, you are more likely to keep up with it.

What is a list you like to keep that I didn’t mention? Happy listing~