What Worked + What Didn’t in 2024
Today I’m ready to share a little from my own reflection on 2024 – what worked and what didn’t. Let’s start with the good stuff!
What Went Well in 2024:
- Walking with a friend 2 times a week.
A friend and I started walking in a park a couple of times a week, and it’s been the most enjoyable exercise for me! We get a couple of miles in most days, and it doesn’t even feel like exercise because we’re chatting the whole time. It’s good for my body and my soul! - Reading for FUN.
Confession: Only 4 of the 54 books I read last year were non-fiction. And I’m not sorry! 🤣 I really focused on fiction this year because life felt hard and I needed my reading life to be light and fun. And it was! I blew my reading goal out of the water, and really looked forward to the books I chose. - Sending the kids to school.
The transition to school has just been really really good for the kids. They are thriving and happy and I’m so glad. Not to say there aren’t challenges – there are – but they have all been worthwhile challenges, with good, necessary lessons learned.
What Didn’t Go So Well in 2024:
- Trying out medication.
After a lifetime of high cholesterol, I started a statin this year. It did not go well. While it did lower my cholesterol, it also gave me really bad brain fog and a cloud of depression. I finally realized what was happening and (under a doctor’s supervision) weaned off the medication and started taking natural supplements. My numbers aren’t showing much change yet, but I can’t even tell you how much better I feel. My mind is clear and life doesn’t seem so dark. With some more food changes, I’m going to try to manage it as naturally as possible. - Instagram.
I am sure that some people can have social media and NOT doom scroll all the livelong day. I am also sure that I am not one of those people. Between the election and the barrage of depressing current events, Instagram became a big drain on my daily life. I was really preoccupied by the news, couldn’t stop refreshing for updates, and lived in a constant state of low level panic. It wasn’t a good thing for me OR a good example for my kids. In December, I took it off my phone and iPad completely, and am taking an extended break. Again, I already feel so much better. Here’s what I know: I just wasn’t made to carry all the world’s problems in my head at once. - Sending the kids to school.
I know, this one’s on both lists! But while it has been really good for the kids, I’ve also been honest about the fact that it’s been really hard for me. Between missing my kids a ton, and having a bit of an identity crisis as a non-homeschooler (we homeschooled for the last 4 years, and on and off before that), and trying to figure out where my place is at both of their new schools, AND managing all the new emotions that come with a preteen and a teen making new friends and navigating new worlds – it’s just been a lot.
I also can recognize that part of the hard side of this was simply the fact that I’d been burning the candle at both ends for the last 4 years straight, and now, in the quiet of an empty house, I had to deal with all the fallout from that. It was a little like how my husband comes home at the end of a school year, and then immediately gets sick. He was so busy wrapping up the year that he just COULDN’T slow down enough to get sick, but as soon as he’s home, he’s down for the count. This school year has been a lot like that for me. (I am doing much better these days, however! It’s just taken a while.)
What I’m Doing Differently in 2025:
- Well, no instagram, first of all. Like I said, I’m taking a break from social media indefinitely. Before, I’ve done a month away, or even 6 weeks. But this year, I’m not putting a time limit on it. We don’t really depend on social media for our business, thankfully, at least not right now. So I have the freedom to stay away as long as feels healthy to me.
- Focusing more on my health. I’ve also done THIS before, but with the kids in school I honestly feel like this is the first time I actually have time for it. Between upping my exercise (Jon helped me create a few weight lifting workouts I really like!) and cooking healthy, bread-free meals, I’m working on getting stronger in every area of my life. (Also why I created The Stronger Challenge!)
- Reading the Bible at night. Gasp! I know. I’ve always been a morning reader. But this year, Jon asked to read the chronological Bible together, and he is only free to read at night. So night it is! I’m enjoying it so far, and mixing it up has been good for me. In the mornings, I’m doing a little journaling + prayer instead.
- Actually finding real balance. It would be easy to fill the time the kids are at school with just work. There’s a lot I’d love to do in the business, but I feel deeply that this season is more about figuring out how to live a stronger, healthy life all the way around. Instead of prioritizing work each day, I’m trying to make time to exercise, both by myself and walking with my friend. I’m taking time to read (consume) instead of just create products and content (produce). I’m cooking more from scratch and figuring out a good cleaning routine now that my helpers have school all day. I’m just taking a beat to restructure my life around the things that matter most. It’s felt slow, but good.
I don’t know about you, but 2024 felt hard for me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m off social media now, or if it’s something else, but 2025 just feels more hopeful, and I’m grateful for it. Here’s to another year of growth and dependence on the Lord!
What did you learn from 2025? I’d love to hear your hard-earned lessons in the comments below!
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Kayse Pratt serves Christian women as a writer + designer, creating home + life management resources that help those women plan their days around what matters most. She’s created the most unique planner on the market, helped over 400 women create custom home management plans, and works with hundreds of women each month inside her membership, teaching them how to plan their days around what matters most. When she’s not designing printables or writing essays, you’ll find Kayse homeschooling her kids, reading a cheesy novel with a giant cup of tea in hand, or watching an old show from the 90’s with her husband, who is her very best friend.