If I were to describe 2024 in a few words, they would be: emotional, stuck and exciting. It was a rollercoaster of a year, with some tricky lows to navigate as well as some awesome highs.

My word for 2024 was brave, and I think I did pretty well to uphold this.

Taking time to reflect on the year is a worthwhile exercise, because it can be very easy to overlook your achievements and not take time to learn from the challenges. Here are my lessons from 2023 if it’s of interest to you, and read on for my thoughts on 2024.

Business wins

A massive achievement for me this year in my business was speaking on stage at Stylist Live in November. What an experience!

I was also shortlisted as a finalist for three business awards!

More numbers… I was a guest on 5 podcasts this year (one is yet to be released); I was a guest speaker eight times (including an Instagram Live with Holly Tucker) and I was featured in Stylist magazine three times.

One of my goals for 2024 was to plan and launch a podcast, which I managed to tick off my list. I published 15 solo episodes for Season 1, and I started to interview guests for Season 2 with a handful of these now released. Listen to Own Your Time here on Spotify and here on Apple Podcasts.

Something that wasn’t on my goals at the start of the year was my Connect for a Cause networking events. I had been running networking events in 2022-23 at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice, but on reflection had decided I didn’t love the larger groups (it was quite time consuming marketing the events - which would be fine, but it wasn’t a money making venture with all the money going to the charity and I barely got a chance to say anything meaningful to the guests as I tried to get around everyone) and instead wanted a smaller group where we could have deeper conversations on a few topics (I chose email marketing and blogging for business; passion subjects of mine!). As a result, my Connect for a Cause business brunches started in March and I hosted a number of these across the year. I definitely prefer this new format for the networking events and get a buzz from hosting.

I’ve continued to improve my ways of working; this has looked like creating templates for my business operations in Asana, working with a VA and most recently I’ve set-up a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) with some embedded forms in my website, automations and so on. Process mapping and streamlining operations like this plays to my strengths and leverages my project management experience (I can also help you with these types of tasks with my project management consultancy services)!

I also rebranded my business ever so slightly in Q1 2024, with a slight adjustment to my brand colours and fonts. And I’ve continued to work on my website; I’m proud of what I’ve been able to create myself… and am excited for 2025 where I hope to work with a designer to improve it even further.

Being interviewed on stage at Stylist live in November 2024

Personal wins

I got back into running in 2024, and took part in the Great Scottish Run 10K in October. Due to illness my training wasn’t quite what I had planned for, but I did manage to complete the race in 70 minutes. I’ve also stayed fairly consistent with boxing at Kynoch Boxing Gym in the latter half of the year. I love to box; it’s definitely one of my preferred ways to work out.

And most recently, with Hyrox looming, I’ve signed up for training at Greater Than gym where I’m taking part in Harry and Shona’s Project GLA programme. Rather than wait for the New Year, I’ve already got stuck in and done a couple of weeks of training. My first session was not great… I took a wall ball to my face and my glasses bruised my nose. The second one was better, thankfully, and I’m sure I’ll continue to improve. This week I’ve been at a track running session in the pouring rain, and a strength and conditioning session too. But I’m also nursing a sore finger from boxing this week and hoping that it’s not broken! Keep an eye on my Instagram stories where I’ll be sharing some of the BTS of my Hyrox prep.

This year I also took up tennis, and have improved drastically since my first lesson where I couldn’t even keep the balls within the court! It’s been a great activity to do with my daughter. We did also start Muay Thai lessons together, but didn’t stick with it (my daughter had shin splints this year and we had to avoid high impact sports for a while).

Health-wise, my Crohn’s Disease has been relatively well controlled this year, although my inflammatory markers have increased. I’ve been fairly consistent with my supplements, but the one thing I said I was going to do and didn’t was try going gluten-free and dairy-free again. Perhaps that can be something to aim for in 2025.

I’m now 6 years alcohol-free, which is a massive achievement too!

I’ve continued with my volunteering at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice, and took part in a zip slide across the Clyde for the charity too.

Other personal wins have included walking more and spending more time in nature, oh and spending more time with my sister as she now lives much closer to me.

I’ve also been reading more thanks to a local book club I was invited to join. There are 5 of us in total, and we have met a couple of times. I typically read non-fiction books (productivity stuff, and biographies mainly) and so the group is encouraging me to read other genres. I hosted in November, and it was lovely.

Some other memories that we’ve made this year:

I took my daughter to see Pink at Hampden in the summer, which was great fun. We did a trip to Glencoe for the day and went up the mountain in the chair lift. I got my name on the leaderboard at ten pin bowling!! We welcomed a new pet into the house, Pebble the hamster. My son won a chess tournament (this was a huge deal). I redecorated his bedroom, which turned into a bigger project that I had anticipated. Oh, and we also hosted a Christmas ‘winter wonderland’ party at our house!

Insights from the year

Some business goals were not met, and that’s ok. For instance, I had wanted to triple my email list, and whilst I did manage to grow it from 500 to 700 it wasn’t quite the 1,500 I had set out for.

I also tried and failed to turn my signature programme into a rolling monthly membership. I had wanted to create a small group of solopreneurs (so probably more akin to a mastermind than a membership on reflection) that would meet regularly to plan our time, organise our businesses using my frameworks, tools & templates and I had guest speakers lined up as well as co-working sessions. I ran the group for a few months before dissolving it, going back to live launching the programme and running it as a 12 week container. I may try again with the mastermind in 2025… let’s see!

I returned to consulting in the pharmaceutical industry (my corporate background); something that I’ve grappled with and initially saw as being totally separate to my time management business… but the more I’ve sat with this I do see it as being part of my offering. I’ve not been loving the coaching industry, and instead have started to call myself ‘a time and project management expert’ instead of a coach which allows me to lean into consulting as well as mentoring. It just so happens that I have a few ideal client avatars… one is a solopreneur who is feeling overwhelmed and needs systems to get organised and help with their time management, another is a pharmaceutical company who needs help setting up a project management office, and I also work with busy professionals and corporate offices, where I offer mentoring and training. Updates are coming soon for my website to make this all much clearer!

On a personal level, I’ve noticed that my mood is very much influenced by my children. When they are feeling good, I feel good and when they are feeling low, I feel low. I have tried very hard to stay grounded, and not let the people around me influence how I feel but sometimes that’s proved difficult. This is something for me to continue to work on in 2025.

I dipped my toe back into the world of online dating, and went on a few dates but it didn’t work out and I’ve given up again!!

I also miss travelling; which is something that fills my cup. My son is too young to be left on his own overnight, and he’s been unable to travel this year due to his own mental health struggles (he’s with me 100% of the time now, and doesn’t go to his dad’s anymore). It feels like my wings have been clipped, and I have really missed being out and about exploring in my campervan as well as going on any trips further afield. I did one trip this year to London, but it was a day trip, and was the longest I had left him (he was absolutely fine!). The latter half of the year I made more of an effort to go on day trips with my daughter, and we even did a trip to Glencoe for a few hours! It was a lot of driving for me, but I enjoyed the change of scenery. I anticipate that it will be possible to leave my son overnight later in 2025, and I’m also hoping that he starts to feel able to travel again.

Coming soon

It’s my birthday in January (I’ll be turning 43!)
Training for Hyrox - I must improve my running, and the other station that I’m not looking forward to is burpees.
Launching a YouTube channel

Some prompts for you to reflect on your year

Did you spend your time intentionally this year, and what impact did it have on how you felt?
What was your biggest ‘time win’ of the year - e.g. a system, habit or boundary that gave you more control over your schedule?
When did you feel most aligned with your priorities; what helped contribute to that?
What tasks, commitments or habits no longer served you this year?
What distracted you most this year, and what strategies might you use to minimise these distractions in the future?
What moments made you feel like your time was well spent?
How did you mange your energy alongside your time?
What boundaries worked well for you this year?
What’s one thing you wish you spent more time on this year? How can you prioritise this moving forward?
What’s one change that you can make to your approach to time that you can take into 2025?

And lastly

As you reflect on 2024, remember that time is our most precious asset. It’s not about how much you accomplished but how intentionally you spent your days aligned with your goals, values and future vision.

Celebrate your growth and embrace the clarity you’ve gained this year about what really matters.

The time ahead is yours to shape!!

The year in review: 2024