STOP TRYING TO MANAGE YOUR TIME. START CRAFTING IT.

In Short

2011 has been pretty good to me.

In Long

Here are some of the things that went down in my life during the past year:

• Completed my first full year as an independent writer – a professional one at that.
• Released a book of limericks…for FREE.
• Released a productivity parody eBook, The Eventual Planifesto…for not FREE.
• Saw my job as Editor of The Netsetter come to an end when Envato closed the site.
• Saw my job as Editor at WorkAwesome come to an end when Envato sold the site.
• Saw my job as “Podcast Prodigy” at Work Awesome¹ come to an end when I ended it (on good terms).
• Saw the launch of my own podcast, ProductiVardy, in July.
• Worked for The Next Web and learned that I wasn’t going to work there for long.
• Said I would start some things and then didn’t, including a podcast called some things with Mike Vardy that I soft launched in 2010, and never hard launched ever.
• Didn’t end some things that I did start. Doing that for some was a very good thing, some others…not so much.
• Did part of the Couch 2 5K running plan, then stopped. Then started again.
• Went to my first PAB conference. Dyscultured finally has an episode where we’re all in the same room as a result.
• Went to the first World Domination Summit. Met Leo, Brett, Steve, Glen and others in person after many online interactions.
• Went to my second MaxFunCon. Told John Hodgman that my son was named after a good friend of his. That didn’t creep him out and he asked if he could tell said friend. I wonder if he did.
• Made some tough choices so that I could make others easier.
• Made some easy choices so that I could be better prepared to deal with the tougher ones.
• Finally obtained MikeVardy.com.
• Spent the year watching my son grow up every…single…day. And wishing I’d done the same for my daughter back when she was his age.
• Decluttered a lot of iStuff.
• Used four different desks. Not including my current lap desk from Indigo. ²
• Finally obtained a MacBook Air.
• Ruined any chance of me writing for Gawker.
• Was a guest on one of my favourite podcasts.
• Got acquainted with Markdown.
• Started a new podcast with my pal Anthony Marco. It’s called Talking is Dead and it is one of my favourite things that I regularly do.
• Became an Editor at Lifehack.org, a site that fits me like a glove.
• Helped out a lot of people and was helped out by even more people.
• Finally started living life instead of choosing one.³
• Geared up for an even better 2012.

¹Note the space that came into play once the site changed hands. Did you notice it? Well, it’s there.
²So there’s that. Oh, and my new desk is en route thanks to my wife.
³Can’t credit me for that line. I just saw “The Way” and that was all Emilio, I believe.