Finish the Year Intentionally: Doing Less, But Better
- Erica Rooney
- Sep 29
- 4 min read
You know that sprint toward year‑end? It’s real. Between performance reviews, budget deadlines, project carry‑overs, and holiday obligations, it often feels like we’re running against time with no finish line in sight.
But what if “finishing strong” didn’t mean doing more, but rather doing less with more clarity? What if instead of hustling to smash every goal, we paused, refocused, and chose what actually matters?
Here’s a deeper dive into how to finish your year with alignment, purpose, and energy (not exhaustion).
Why Slowing Down Isn’t a Step Back
We live in a culture that glorifies hustle. “You must do more” is whispered in the background of every task list, meeting invite, and email chain. Even if we check off all the boxes and priorities for every day, we still feel as if there is more to do. And especially for women, the pressure to overdeliver, to check every box, to do it all “right” can become so loud that it drowns out what’s actually important.
So many of us equate busyness with value. But busyness can also mask a lack of direction. The challenge isn’t doing more, it’s directing what we do toward what moves us forward.
When you pause intentionally, you’re not giving up or flexing weakness. You’re choosing to act from a more grounded place. You discover what lifts you up, what drags you down, and what deserves your focus.
The Expanded 3‑Part Audit: A Weekly Practice
Here’s how to turn intention into momentum. The key is to make this a habit — one small weekly ritual that yields clarity over time.
1. Audit Your Activity (Impact vs. Busyness)
Each week, jot down 3 things you did that “moved the needle.” These could be big or small (an insight in a meeting, finalizing one piece of a large project, having a tough but clarifying conversation).
For each, ask:
What result did I get?
Who does it benefit?
Does it align with my goals — professional, personal, or values?
The goal here is to avoid mistaking “lots of stuff done” for meaningful progress.
Over time, you’ll begin to see which activities consistently deliver impact — and which just fill time.
Example:You spend hours rewriting slides so they’re “pretty”—but does anyone care? Meanwhile, the engagement survey you delayed is what could actually influence morale, performance, and leadership decisions.
2. Audit Your Energy (Body as Barometer)
Your body knows. It signals when something feeds you and when something drains you. But because we’re wired to push, we often silence those signals.
For each task you do, note how you feel—energized, neutral, drained.
Color-code (e.g. green = energizing, red = draining, yellow = neutral) or use a simple “+ / – / 0” system.
After a week or two, start spotting patterns.
Do certain types of meetings always feel like energy drains?
Are there people or projects that consistently exhaust you?
Maybe your mornings are golden, your afternoons sluggish, or vice versa.
What to do with that data:
Limit or batch draining tasks on your low-energy windows.
Schedule energizing work when your brain and body are most alive.
Delegate, outsource, or renegotiate involvement in tasks that persistently sap you.
Example:You dread doing reconciliation, editing, or detail work — those feel red. But creative ideation, strategy, or visioning light you up (green). So reorganize: do the red tasks early, or delegate them, and save the green tasks for when you have bandwidth.
3. Run the Alignment Test (Bridge vs. Cliff Activities)
This is your filter: before you say “yes” or stay stuck in a task, test whether it moves you forward—or traps you in a loop.
Bridge Activities: those that set you up for growth, future impact, visibility, momentum.
Cliff Activities: those that consume your time and energy but lead nowhere meaningful for your goals.
Ask for every commitment:
Does this support where I want to be next year?
Or is it just maintaining the status quo?
Example: Staying up late cleaning the house (cliff) vs. playing a game with your kids, then doing chores together (bridge). Taking on slide formatting no one reads (cliff) vs. serving on a cross-functional project with visibility (bridge).
Your Friday Habit: Weekly Reflection + Planning
Here’s how to make the framework actionable and sustainable:
On Friday evening (or a consistent time):
List your top 3 wins.
Note your top 3 energy sources and top 3 energy drains.
Identify 1 cliff activity to drop or minimize.
Pick 1–2 bridge activities to prioritize next week.
Look ahead:
Block your calendar intentionally with those bridge activities.
Carve out buffer space and setters to protect energy.
Put boundaries around draining tasks or shift them.
Set your North Star for the week:
From your audit, pick the 2–3 priorities that will matter most.
Use them as your lens for saying “yes” or “no.”
Signs That This Approach Is Working
You don’t collapse into the weekend; you carry a sense of calm momentum.
Stress doesn’t completely rule the week—you feel more present, more choice.
Your work and your life begin to feel more integrated, less compartmentalized.
You let go of the “everything must be perfect” mindset; you give yourself grace.
Goals actually move forward, not just tasks checked off.
You start feeling more joy, more presence, more agency.
Extra Tips & Nuances to Deepen the Practice
Start small. If weekly feels heavy, begin biweekly. The key is consistency, not perfection.
Use tools wisely. A light spreadsheet or app like Toggl or RescueTime can help you log time + energy side-by-side. (Time & energy audits are well-known strategies for restructuring work habits.)
Guard your margins. Don’t let “just one more thing” creep in unaddressed. When the calendar looks full, don’t just squeeze more—stretch boundaries.
Revisit quarterly. At the end of Q1, Q2, Q3, you can run this audit at a macro level to reorient for the remaining months.
Be gentle with the transition. Slowing down feels foreign at first—but over time, it becomes your superpower.
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