Original 2019 Goals. January February March April June July August
Okay, so as I've mentioned for the last couple of months, I'm now going to shelve the annual goals, and switch to using quarterly ones instead, the idea being that there'll be a mixture of ongoing maintenance type stuff that I try to do every quarter, and a list of "growth" targets that will be smaller and more focused than I could manage if I were looking at a whole year. I would expect that some of the "growth" targets will be one-off projects, and some will be about developing new habits or strengthening old ones, and will eventually end up on the maintenance pile. I've got a huge longlist of these, and will pick a handful of them each quarter.
I'm going to start with a review of my original 2019 goals and how they went, and then make another post with the 2019 Q4 goals in.
Meta
- Find a to-do list app that works for me and doesn't end up sprawling into multipe apps and text files and inboxes
Yep - todoist still seems to be doing the job nine months in. A few things sometimes sit in my email inbox, but the weekly todoist items of "get email inbox <10" generally get done. Very occasionally I'll use a text file to plan out an individual day with specfic times, because I don't find todoist particularly helpful at that level of granularity, but those are by definition discarded at the end of the day, so it doesn't contribute to sprawl.
- Don't take on any big new commitments or hobbies until after the wedding
I feel like I did reasonably well at this, but it was quite hard, and I still spent quite a lot of time feeling as though I wasn't entirely on top of everything I was trying to do, but I didn't actually drop any major balls, so it appears to have worked. I suspect I may continue to need some kind of system to stop me taking on too much.
- Update DW monthly with progress against these goals and a plan for the following month
This went pretty well - I managed 7/9 in a timely manner, and they definitely helped pull me back on track where I was slipping, or led me to make a concious decision to abandon a goal, rather than just losing track.
Finances
- Review spending vs budget every month
As per the last item, this went reasonably well, and doing it definitely helped keep my spending more under control than it might have otherwise been.
- Earn at least 8% more in 2019/20 than in 2018/19
I'm only part way through the year, but am pretty unlikely to meet this goal. Between surgery and getting married I've had quite a lot of time off this year, so am tracking quite a long way behind. I'm also not sure what the best way to track my income really is, because depending on various tax implications of different types of contract and also things like whether I'm working away from home or not, the difference between my net and gross income can vary a lot, so I should give some thought to the best way to do this - not this quarter though.
- Spend less in 2019 than I did in 2016 in my discretionary budget categories
With hindsight, this was wildly optimistic, being a 34% reduction on my 2018 spending, so it's not terribly surprising that I haven't come close. But I did manage a 12% decrease since last year, which actually doesn't seem too bad. I shall continue trying to gradually reduce my spending over the next couple of years, but at a slightly more realistic rate.
Faith and Church
- Make saying the examen a regular habit
I've been semi-successful in this. I didn't really quantify what I meant by regular habit, although on some level I think I was at least hoping for daily. I've probably managed somewhere between weekly and fortnightly, but somewhat in fits and starts; sometimes I'll manage several times in a week, and then go a month or more without managing it.
- Carve out a decent length of time for private prayer at least twice a week.
This really hasn't happened at all.
- Talk to people after Mass before tidying/counting. Particularly make a point of talking to people who are new, or whom you know less well.
I started quite well with this, but then let it slip somewhat. I'm still doing better than I used to.
- Revive St John's singers for Easter and the Patronal
Qualified success. In the end we managed Holy Week, and since then we've been having monthly singing sessions, some of which I lead, and some where![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
artsyhonker does so.
Health
- Run 1000 miles.
By the end of September I'd run 716. This is close enough to on track that I'm going to call it a success
- Run 40 Parkruns
So far I've run 24, so not on track, but still quite a lot of Parkruns.
- Do 50 consecutive push-ups
- Do 15 consecutive chin-ups
No progress at all on these
- Get a clean bill of health from my dental hygienist
I have an appointment in a fortnight, so I'll find out then.
Hobbies
- Take (and pass!) Grade 5 piano
Still very pleased with this :)
- 5 minutes of music practice on 95% of days
Ahaha nope. I stopped even bothering to track this fairly early. Part of the difficulty with this is not really having a good plan for what or how to practice when I'm living away from home.
- At least half an hour of music practice on 60% of days.
Another nope.
- Write at least one dreamwidth entry each week (excluding the progress updates against these goals)
Qualified Success. I wrote considerably more than one/week on average, but there were a couple of months with only one or two.
- Host at least 4 readthroughs
Only two - Thronescamp and Mark's birthday readthrough.
- Cook at least 26 new recipes
I have a record of 14 new recipes cooked by mid-July, and I think there probably were one or two more since then that I've just forgotten, but not quite enough to take me up to on track.
- See at least 12 plays
I think I've managed more than double this already
- Host at least 6 dinner parties
Completely failed on this, mostly I think due to living away, so not being able to host during the week, and then being loathe to make too many plans at the weekends to protect couple time withobandsoller.
So of 23 I count eight completely or mostly successful, eight partial successes, six complete failures, and one where the jury is still out. That's less than I would have hoped for, but doubtless better than I would have done if I hadn't had any such goals at all. It'll be interesting to look back in another year and see how things compare when I'm setting them quarterly.
Okay, so as I've mentioned for the last couple of months, I'm now going to shelve the annual goals, and switch to using quarterly ones instead, the idea being that there'll be a mixture of ongoing maintenance type stuff that I try to do every quarter, and a list of "growth" targets that will be smaller and more focused than I could manage if I were looking at a whole year. I would expect that some of the "growth" targets will be one-off projects, and some will be about developing new habits or strengthening old ones, and will eventually end up on the maintenance pile. I've got a huge longlist of these, and will pick a handful of them each quarter.
I'm going to start with a review of my original 2019 goals and how they went, and then make another post with the 2019 Q4 goals in.
Meta
- Find a to-do list app that works for me and doesn't end up sprawling into multipe apps and text files and inboxes
Yep - todoist still seems to be doing the job nine months in. A few things sometimes sit in my email inbox, but the weekly todoist items of "get email inbox <10" generally get done. Very occasionally I'll use a text file to plan out an individual day with specfic times, because I don't find todoist particularly helpful at that level of granularity, but those are by definition discarded at the end of the day, so it doesn't contribute to sprawl.
- Don't take on any big new commitments or hobbies until after the wedding
I feel like I did reasonably well at this, but it was quite hard, and I still spent quite a lot of time feeling as though I wasn't entirely on top of everything I was trying to do, but I didn't actually drop any major balls, so it appears to have worked. I suspect I may continue to need some kind of system to stop me taking on too much.
- Update DW monthly with progress against these goals and a plan for the following month
This went pretty well - I managed 7/9 in a timely manner, and they definitely helped pull me back on track where I was slipping, or led me to make a concious decision to abandon a goal, rather than just losing track.
Finances
- Review spending vs budget every month
As per the last item, this went reasonably well, and doing it definitely helped keep my spending more under control than it might have otherwise been.
- Earn at least 8% more in 2019/20 than in 2018/19
I'm only part way through the year, but am pretty unlikely to meet this goal. Between surgery and getting married I've had quite a lot of time off this year, so am tracking quite a long way behind. I'm also not sure what the best way to track my income really is, because depending on various tax implications of different types of contract and also things like whether I'm working away from home or not, the difference between my net and gross income can vary a lot, so I should give some thought to the best way to do this - not this quarter though.
- Spend less in 2019 than I did in 2016 in my discretionary budget categories
With hindsight, this was wildly optimistic, being a 34% reduction on my 2018 spending, so it's not terribly surprising that I haven't come close. But I did manage a 12% decrease since last year, which actually doesn't seem too bad. I shall continue trying to gradually reduce my spending over the next couple of years, but at a slightly more realistic rate.
Faith and Church
- Make saying the examen a regular habit
I've been semi-successful in this. I didn't really quantify what I meant by regular habit, although on some level I think I was at least hoping for daily. I've probably managed somewhere between weekly and fortnightly, but somewhat in fits and starts; sometimes I'll manage several times in a week, and then go a month or more without managing it.
- Carve out a decent length of time for private prayer at least twice a week.
This really hasn't happened at all.
- Talk to people after Mass before tidying/counting. Particularly make a point of talking to people who are new, or whom you know less well.
I started quite well with this, but then let it slip somewhat. I'm still doing better than I used to.
- Revive St John's singers for Easter and the Patronal
Qualified success. In the end we managed Holy Week, and since then we've been having monthly singing sessions, some of which I lead, and some where
artsyhonker does so. Health
- Run 1000 miles.
By the end of September I'd run 716. This is close enough to on track that I'm going to call it a success
- Run 40 Parkruns
So far I've run 24, so not on track, but still quite a lot of Parkruns.
- Do 50 consecutive push-ups
- Do 15 consecutive chin-ups
No progress at all on these
- Get a clean bill of health from my dental hygienist
I have an appointment in a fortnight, so I'll find out then.
Hobbies
- Take (and pass!) Grade 5 piano
Still very pleased with this :)
- 5 minutes of music practice on 95% of days
Ahaha nope. I stopped even bothering to track this fairly early. Part of the difficulty with this is not really having a good plan for what or how to practice when I'm living away from home.
- At least half an hour of music practice on 60% of days.
Another nope.
- Write at least one dreamwidth entry each week (excluding the progress updates against these goals)
Qualified Success. I wrote considerably more than one/week on average, but there were a couple of months with only one or two.
- Host at least 4 readthroughs
Only two - Thronescamp and Mark's birthday readthrough.
- Cook at least 26 new recipes
I have a record of 14 new recipes cooked by mid-July, and I think there probably were one or two more since then that I've just forgotten, but not quite enough to take me up to on track.
- See at least 12 plays
I think I've managed more than double this already
- Host at least 6 dinner parties
Completely failed on this, mostly I think due to living away, so not being able to host during the week, and then being loathe to make too many plans at the weekends to protect couple time with
obandsoller. So of 23 I count eight completely or mostly successful, eight partial successes, six complete failures, and one where the jury is still out. That's less than I would have hoped for, but doubtless better than I would have done if I hadn't had any such goals at all. It'll be interesting to look back in another year and see how things compare when I'm setting them quarterly.
