New Years Resolutions: 2020

Happy New Year!  It's that time of year again where I set goals for myself.  This year is going to be one of great change and so on top of this, I am also approaching my goal setting in a slightly different way that I have previously.  First, I will not be setting nearly as many goals for myself as I have in the past.  Last year I set 12 goals for myself across the categories "personal," "media" (meaning my online presence), and "professional."  This year I have 6 goals that melds these worlds together, but hopefully in a more focused way so that I'm more likely to accomplish a majority of these goals.  I also have some action steps outlined that I hope will help keep me focused and help me feel like these bigger goals that I set for myself can actually be accomplished.

Without further ado, here are my goals for the year 2020:

1. Get ready for our baby!  We have already started work on this goal, but since my due date is in May, we will have to be intentional about getting some of these things done sooner rather than later.  Preparing for a small human is no small task, as it turns out.  In order to accomplish this goal, we'll need to do the following:

• Build furniture and arrange the room (I know that baby will be in our room for a while to start and that this isn't 100% necessary to complete prior to his arrival, but this is something that will make me feel better about bringing home a newborn).
• Take parenting classes (we'll sign up soon, but won't take them until sometime in the third trimester)
• Fill out hospital paperwork (again, this is a 30+ week thing, not a right-now thing)
• Research birth options (I want to go in with a rough idea of how things will work even if things ultimately change)
• Choose a daycare (we're working on this)

2. KonMari the whole apartment.  The first book I finished this year was "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo.  I am feeling very inspired to take back my house and make it a place that is comfortable to live in.  Ideally, this would be done before baby arrives, but I'm not going to put that kind of pressure on myself.  My action steps will be to follow the order that Marie Kondo outlines in her book, but after discarding and putting things away, I want to work on rearranging the house.

3. Get a handle on my grading life.  This is part of my mission to pursue balance in my life and some separation between work and home. 

• Avoid bringing grading home as much as possible by grading at school
• Stick to grading schedule + staying after school schedule.

4. Post on blog 1-2 times a month.

• 1 reading blog post at the end of each month
• 1 life blog post in the middle of the month (could be about school, home, or something totally unrelated.  I just want to use my blog more)

5. Successfully complete InCoWriMo 2020.  This occurs in February and I will write one letter to someone (a current pen pal or a new one) each day.

6. Yoga or other exercises 5 days a week.  This is a goal I keep having each year, but I'm hoping my action steps will help me be successful in accomplishing this goal by the end of the year.

• Build up to this number of days (I'll start with 2 days a week and add a day every 2 months so that I have a long stretch where at the end of 2020, I'm exercising 5 days a week.  I think that's how I can get myself to stick with this goal).
• Find supporting classes + YouTube videos (if you know any resources on prenatal yoga, that would be really helpful.  After May, I'll use Yoga with Adriene as much as possible)
• Consider signing up for an at-home program (I follow a couple people on Instagram who use a program that sends a really good message, but I'm unsure about the cost and some other things.  But I don't want to totally rule it out until I have some answers).