(no subject)
So I like New Year's resolutions. It's a good annual opportunity to think about self-improvement. And you know, even if the initial burst of January effort fades and fails, I like to think a person ends up a little bit further ahead than they had been previously.
Anyway, I didn't do any formal resolutions last year, but I have a few this year. Except I don't intend the year to start until January 10. My resolutions are kind of not terribly conducive to fun, you see, and I want to enjoy the rest of my time off.
1.) No alcohol. At all. I don't intend this to be a forever thing, or even necessarily a 2011 thing. But I want to save money and I want to be healthier -- cutting out drink is an easy to way make huge progress on both fronts (I'll probably save at least $100 a month, if not more). Also, over the last few months I've been finding myself bending to the social pressure to drink on evenings when I hadn't intended to. This is not a good sign. I want to exert control partially to demonstrate to myself that I am capable of doing so.
2.) Severely limit refined carbs / sugar. This doesn't just mean chocolate and other sugary treats. It also means pasta, bread, etc. I say "severely limit" because I know if I try to cut them out completely it won't be successful. This will mean preparing most of my meals at home (tupperware, get ready) and being smart about making them. Lots of vegetables, lots of lean protein. I've got a good gym routine going and I intend to maintain/intensify that. I've come to realize, at this point, that it's my diet that's holding me back from having the kind of body I want to have. I'm turning 28 this year and it'll only get more difficult to achieve that goal in the years to come.
3.) Stop procrastinating. If I have something to do, I have to kill the thought process that starts "I'll do that [soon/tomorrow/later]." This is especially important for responding to emails, but also important for doing household chores. I am not particularly conscious of my day to day life; I need to fold laundry when it comes out of the dryer and put things back where they belong when I'm done using them and so forth.
4.) Stop sleeping with my laptop within reach of my bed. It keeps me up later than I want to be, and it invariably eats 30-120 minutes (2 hours!) of every morning. Having my laptop as part of my bedtime/waking processes is probably the biggest negative impact on my productivity, and the fact that I'm not as productive as I want to be is a major source of unhappiness for me.
5.) Make a weekly timetable and stick to it. Use Google Calender. When I make an appointment I just trust myself to remember it. This is dangerous. It hasn't caused a big problem for me yet, but I know it's only a matter of time before I plain forget something very important. Plus, time management will be really important this year, and this'll make that management a lot easier.
6.) Send out a piece of writing once every two weeks. I have such a backlog at this point, and I am so bad at putting my stuff out there. It's amazing 2010 was the success it was, considering that. But it was a success, and I want to build on that momentum. That means I need to make it happen.
Anyway, I didn't do any formal resolutions last year, but I have a few this year. Except I don't intend the year to start until January 10. My resolutions are kind of not terribly conducive to fun, you see, and I want to enjoy the rest of my time off.
1.) No alcohol. At all. I don't intend this to be a forever thing, or even necessarily a 2011 thing. But I want to save money and I want to be healthier -- cutting out drink is an easy to way make huge progress on both fronts (I'll probably save at least $100 a month, if not more). Also, over the last few months I've been finding myself bending to the social pressure to drink on evenings when I hadn't intended to. This is not a good sign. I want to exert control partially to demonstrate to myself that I am capable of doing so.
2.) Severely limit refined carbs / sugar. This doesn't just mean chocolate and other sugary treats. It also means pasta, bread, etc. I say "severely limit" because I know if I try to cut them out completely it won't be successful. This will mean preparing most of my meals at home (tupperware, get ready) and being smart about making them. Lots of vegetables, lots of lean protein. I've got a good gym routine going and I intend to maintain/intensify that. I've come to realize, at this point, that it's my diet that's holding me back from having the kind of body I want to have. I'm turning 28 this year and it'll only get more difficult to achieve that goal in the years to come.
3.) Stop procrastinating. If I have something to do, I have to kill the thought process that starts "I'll do that [soon/tomorrow/later]." This is especially important for responding to emails, but also important for doing household chores. I am not particularly conscious of my day to day life; I need to fold laundry when it comes out of the dryer and put things back where they belong when I'm done using them and so forth.
4.) Stop sleeping with my laptop within reach of my bed. It keeps me up later than I want to be, and it invariably eats 30-120 minutes (2 hours!) of every morning. Having my laptop as part of my bedtime/waking processes is probably the biggest negative impact on my productivity, and the fact that I'm not as productive as I want to be is a major source of unhappiness for me.
5.) Make a weekly timetable and stick to it. Use Google Calender. When I make an appointment I just trust myself to remember it. This is dangerous. It hasn't caused a big problem for me yet, but I know it's only a matter of time before I plain forget something very important. Plus, time management will be really important this year, and this'll make that management a lot easier.
6.) Send out a piece of writing once every two weeks. I have such a backlog at this point, and I am so bad at putting my stuff out there. It's amazing 2010 was the success it was, considering that. But it was a success, and I want to build on that momentum. That means I need to make it happen.