The Art of Looking Back: A 2025 Year in Review

Before we rush into new goals, there is a rich moment in reflection. It’s a chance to see our own journey, to appreciate how far we've come, and to gather all the beautiful, messy, and real moments as we dream up what’s next. 

This is the intimate process we cherish at Cloth & Paper. It’s the feeling of curling up with a warm drink and a filled planner, flipping through pages that feel like an old friend. In those pages, we gently appreciate the challenges navigated and soak in the joy of small, quiet wins. 

Why Look Back?

Reflection is where experience becomes insight. It shifts the focus from merely completing tasks to understanding the journey itself. Your priorities may shift, so what mattered in March may feel entirely different now. A year-in-review helps you spot those changes and ensures that your plans are built on your actual experience, not just ideas.

To do this, start with a few simple prompts:

• What were your three biggest wins?
• Which habits changed your daily life for the better?
• What surprised you the most?

Learning how to do a year in review in your planner helps you start the next chapter with intention and clarity.

Your Step-by-Step Review Framework

A successful planner review ritual should feel structured and intentional—like a mindful walk through your year rather than drifting down memory lane. It’s a gentle, focused process that makes full use of the thoughtful organization you’ve already built into your planner.

1. Flip & Observe: The Initial Sweep

Start by slowly flipping through your 2025 planner and inserts, moving month by month. Don’t stop to read every detail yet. Just let your eyes skim the pages.

• What visual patterns do you notice?
• Are there months where your handwriting is hurried? Pages left surprisingly blank? Sections you filled to the brim?

Judge your planner by its utility. If your planner page looks like it was written by three different people, don't worry! It just means your mood changed a lot that day. A blank page in a time of struggle is a badge of honor for resilience, not a sign of poor planning.

2. Highlight & Uncover: Recurring Themes

Next, read your notes, lists, and reflections more closely. Use a highlighter, page pins or fine-liner to mark what stands out. Look for themes and patterns that will help identify the key takeaways for the year—what you need to celebrate, repeat, or consciously leave behind.

Keep these in mind:

• You Are Not Your Critic: This isn’t a test. Notes like “Too tired” or “Wish I had more time” are clues, not failures. Ask: “What can I learn from this?” instead of “Why did I fail?”
  
  
• Find the ‘Why’ Behind the ‘What’: When the same challenge appears again and again, it's easy to see it as a personal shortcoming. What if you saw it as a signal instead? These patterns are critical clues pointing to a deeper need.
  
  If “Didn’t prioritize rest” shows up often, ask: “What made rest feel impossible?” By treating these patterns as clues, you move from judging yourself to understanding your needs.
  
  
• Practice Gentle Detachment: For unfinished projects, ask yourself: “Why was this hard? Fear, lack of clarity, or too much on my plate?” Observing without judgment helps you plan with kindness next year.

The person you see in these pages was doing their best with the resources, energy, and knowledge they had at that time. You are now the wiser version, looking back with the gift of hindsight. Your job is not to scold that past self, but to lovingly gather their experiences to shape the person you are becoming.

3. Archive & Carry Forward: Marking the Transition

The final step of your planner review is one of the most powerful: choosing what stays and what goes. Use a distinct symbol or one of our elegant planner tabs to clearly identify the projects, core ideas, or profound lessons you are actively choosing to integrate into your 2026 setup. Everything else, for now, is respectfully archived. This is the simple yet powerful process of using planner inserts to review 2025 effectively.

“Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!”

That’s what many of us think during the busy holiday season. But after years of watching days, months, and even years slip by, what if you could end the year with a genuine sense of closure?

This is your chance to end the cycle of "What have I been doing?" and replace it with a clear, compassionate look at how much you've truly accomplished. You have done the most, and your 2025 planner proves it!

This process is about honoring your journey with gratitude and grace. Remember, reflection isn't passive; it's the essential fuel for intentional planning. By taking this time to review your year, you ensure your 2026 setup is perfectly aligned with the wiser, kinder version of yourself you're becoming.

Explore the 2026 Dated Collection and elegant tools for your review process today!