There may also be some out there who use this time for review or reflection on the past year. This phenomenon isn't just limited to individuals - it's also a common practice in many types of organizations. The persistence of this practice was evident over the past couple of weeks as my inbox was flooded by various "best of 2022" compilation-retrospectives, which I would generally summarize as little more than a desperate plea for pageviews via last-ditch hyperlink vomit.
But jokes aside, does TOA really sneer at these so-called peers? Hardly not, we're just as starved for attention here at TOA HQ as all the rest. I think the only meaningful difference between TOA and the rest of the "competition" is that we aren't quite so desperate... well, we are desperate, let me make that clear. But the balance still tips ever so slightly in favor of dignity, and as such we spent the past few days resisting the temptation to succumb so pathetically to one of the strangest traditions in modern history - publishing a year-end review before the year ends.
Finally however, the wait is over! For the first time in TOA history, I actually have a definite list of the "most read" posts from the past year (which really means "most clicked on posts", which means nothing). I'll post them here over the next few days alongside any reflections I may have in hindsight about those posts. Today's list is part one of the TOA Top 10 from 2022.
(And how many parts will there be? Like how could I know? I'm only the writer/editor/head of marketing around these parts.)
Good luck!
Honorable mention / T-#10 | "The Long Intro" (April 6)
For those of you who've never done anything like TOA - or have just never had an original idea - please note that the creative process goes as follows:
1. You have a good idea
2. You get swept up in the excitement of #1
3. You start working on #1, propelled by #2, without pausing to think at all about obstacles or admin or whatever else that will eventually force you to slow down (spoiler alert - #4)
4. You encounter your First Obstacle
5. At this point most folks give up
So for the Top 10 list, the first obstacle turned out be the type of thing that I'm sure keeps the administrative professionals tossing and turning throughout a sleepless night - there was a tie for the #10 spot! I did the only illogical thing - instead of just including both of them (or perhaps editing this series to a "Top 9" list, which the LinkedIn-TedTalks Industrial Complex refers to as "working smarter, not harder") I went ahead and looked down the list for one more to include as an at-large #10 post. Naturally, I couldn't pick between two, so I ended up just returning to my original predicament like a lost hiker who ends up making a big circle through the woods.
So what does this long intro have to do with "The Long Intro"? Nothing and everything. I'm glad you asked, finally. We've all been waiting. You can read it again if you want.
Honorable mention / T-#10 | "The 25th Hour" (March 1)
This post captures one of the biggest challenges from 2022 - how to restore some of the good habits I lost during the pandemic. Specifically, what I talk about here refers to the problem of how to make time for the things that don't happen unless I make time. For me, I've always referred to these as the Three R's - reading, running, and writing - and the return to a pre-pandemic lifestyle saw my commitment to these hobbies pushed into what I call the 25th hour.
What's the short explanation for the the 25th hour? I think it refers more so to a mindset than anything else - it's where you make the excuse that you don't do things you want to do because "you don't have the time". This may be true on occasion. But I think if your lifestyle, like mine, leaves you repeatedly returning to this excuse, then maybe it's worth considering whether you are making the tough decisions necessary to have time for the life you want to live.
#9 | "The TOA Newsletter - February 2022" (February 1)
This post won't end up anywhere near my list of all-time best work (or even halfway up such a list) but in retrospect it does offer a rare summary of the circumstances that enabled TOA since its start in February 2016. When placed alongside the previous post ("The 25th Hour"), it also offers a real-time record of my thought process - the posts show how my conclusion regarding my TOA commitment changed over one month from "I don't have the time" to "I don't make the time". I hope in the future that it takes me less than one month to claim responsibility for my own decisions.
#8 | "Proper Corona Admin, Vol 106. - Individual Responsibility" (June 12)
This was the 106th post I wrote specifically about COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. One thing that I'll offer as a warning for future TOA-types who may consider structuring their work in the form of a series - although there are some initial benefits in terms of framework, you always have to balance it against a sense of complacency which comes from feeling that the work can lean against the previous writing from the series. This was subtly obvious to me when I reread this post - if I had written this as an entirely stand-alone piece, I suspect I would have done a little more to clarify my ideas, tighten up the writing, and perhaps emphasize what I really needed to say in the essay.
In terms of the contents in this post, I think I still believe in my ideas even though I've hardly thought about them in the past few months. From a strictly per-diem mentality, the vaccine truly is free money - if you don't get sick as often or as severely, your relatively better health will translate to more time or higher performance at work. But the bigger story personally is how far my mindset on COVID has shifted during the ensuing months. I now regard masking in the same way I consider my shoes when arriving as a houseguest - I'll do whatever is preferred by the hosts, which is a simple way to approach a situation where I no longer have the desire to form my own opinion. And as it regards vaccines, maybe I'm starting to think us rich countries should make sure anyone in the world who wants one can get one rather than continuing to spend time and energy on persuading the holdouts to come around.
