Small CountsA little room for your year
How to make a year in review, even with gaps
In short
To make a personal year in review, gather the records you already have, choose a few moments you'd like to keep and add any totals you can explain. You don't need a complete diary or a list of achievements. You can keep it private, save a simple document or choose a printable keepsake later.
By the Small Counts team. Last checked: . Sources are listed at the end.
First published: . Updated: .
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Choose what you want to keep
Your review could be a page of memories, a list of books and places, or a few paragraphs about the ordinary parts of your year. It doesn't need to look like anyone else's highlight reel.
You could decide who it's for before you start. A private record can include different things from a page you'd send to friends. You can make a shorter version for sharing without sharing the whole notebook.
Start with the records you already have
You could look through your notebook, calendar, book list or photos separately and pick out moments you recognise. A meal, a place you returned to or something you made could be enough to begin.
You don't need to move all those records into one app. This is a suggestion to look through what you have, not a promise of calendar or photo import. You can write your review on paper or in a document if that suits you.
If you started recording partway through the year, you can say so. You don't have to reconstruct January before you can keep something from November.
Look back a month at a time
You could work through the months you have, choosing a small memory from each. If nothing comes to mind for a month, you can leave it out or leave a space.
- Something you enjoyed: a book, a film, a conversation or a familiar afternoon.
- Something you did: a place you went, a thing you made or something you tried.
- Something you'd like to remember: an ordinary detail that matters to you, even if it wouldn't mean much to anyone else.
Give totals a clear meaning
A total can be part of your review if you say what it counts and which dates it covers. You could write books recorded from July to December rather than implying the list covers every book you read all year.
For example, a list with 12 book entries has 12 recorded items. It doesn't prove you read only 12 books, or that every entry is a different title. A blank month doesn't establish that nothing happened.
Keep different units and meanings separate. Kilometres aren't steps, and a count of meet-ups isn't a count of unique friends. If a figure is estimated, you can label it as an estimate rather than make it look measured.
You don't need totals for everything. A title and a sentence about why you kept it can be enough.
A simple year-in-review template
You could use these four prompts as headings, keeping as much or as little as you like.
- The year I'm remembering: the year and the months my records cover.
- Moments I'd like to keep: a short list, a few sentences or one memory from each recorded month.
- A few things I counted: optional totals, with their units, dates and any gaps or estimates explained.
- Something I'd like to carry forward: an idea for next year, if I want one. It doesn't have to be a target.
What can I do for free in the notebook?
Small Counts includes a free review of each month on Month and a year-so-far summary on Year. You can use those to look back at the entries you've made. Tracking, backup files and CSV export are free, with no limit on themes.
Save a backup file if you want a copy you can restore into the notebook. Save everything as a spreadsheet (CSV) if you'd like to look through your entries in a spreadsheet. The CSV isn't the app's restore format, and neither file is a designed keepsake PDF.
Before sharing a file or image, you could check it for names, private notes and anything about other people. You can read how privacy works before deciding what to keep or pass on. A backup is for your own records, not a ready-made public review.
What about a printable year book?
Small Counts's optional £10 calendar-year collection includes printable A4 monthly pages that build into a PDF book, and a picture of the whole year.1 It's a separate purchase for one named calendar year, with no subscription.
The collection is digital artwork for you to download and print yourself or take to a printer. We aren't selling physical prints, a bound book or other physical products. Monthly pages follow their finished months; buying doesn't create a completed future year or fill in missing entries.
You can see the collection details before deciding. You're free to keep a review on paper, in your own document or in the free notebook without buying the collection.
Can I start before December?
Yes. You could make a year-so-far review, or collect a few notes after each month and return to them later. You don't need to call it finished while the year is still unfolding.
If you'd like to see a notebook with gaps, you can explore the quiet-year demo. Your own review can be as small as the things you want to remember.
Keep a little of the year as you go
You could use Small Counts for a list, a note or a few things to count, then return to your records when you'd like to look back. Tracking, backups and CSV export are free. The digital keepsake collection is optional and bought separately for one named calendar year.
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