New Year’s Resolutions 2009
I’m not generally one to make any resolutions at the beginning of every year but whilst sitting at my desk this year I spontaneously decided to set a few in my beautiful notebook that I got as a prize in London and at that point had yet to use. So I now have a few things to try and do for the year ahead.
- Read for at least half an hour a day (school work excluded)
I want to read more than I do but I simply don’t prioritise it and then run out of time every evening and end up reading virtually nothing. So, on days when I can, I am to read every night in some regard. So far I’m generally doing this, with obvious exceptions for when I can’t, such as last night when I was out at the Oxford Union debating competition - Drink some milk and eat some fruit every day
I often forget to drink milk (though I like it) and my fruit intake is close to zero so I thought this might be a good idea - Keep a diary in [beautiful notebook]
This was another spontaneous decision. While I have this blog, there are daily details and moments that I would like to write down that really would be completely dull and routine to anyone reading this blog. While I must admit that the main reason I want to write it is that I love writing in my new purple-inked fountain pen that I got for Christmas, it’s a constructive thing to do. Moleskine notebooks are amazingly nice to work with - Don’t put off until tomorrow something that can be done today
A common phrase but one that I think rings true: if everyone did this, the world would run a lot more smoothly. I’m particularly prone to putting things aside and then not actually getting them done at all due to my poor memory, so I guess I’m trying to remember this more clearly this year - Don’t take on responsibilities I know I won’t fulfill
I have a tendency to get involved in far too much and find myself then unable to keep up with everything. I’ve hopefully learned from this and I aim to notice it when it happens and do something about it: delegate responsibility, recognise my mistake and pull away and prioritise - Don’t worry about taking a long time to do things
There’s no need to rush. It doesn’t matter that I’m slower than those around me. Just work at things at a reasonable pace - Write a blog post at least once a fortnight
I must admit, I’m really not convinced that this one is going to happen. My blog ceases to be interesting and continuous if I wait too long between posts though so I do intend to try and write here more often. Hopefully my third resolution will not detract from this - Improve my mental maths and learn my times tables by the end of the year
Like everyone else in my class, my mental maths is atrocious: we find ourselves doing sums like 24/8 on our calculators as a matter of routine (and far simpler ones than that). I’m slightly better on things such as surd manipulation because I don’t have a calculator that does this for me and I am very practised, therefore, at manipulating things about in my head. But when it comes to actual numbers I am slow and make many mistakes. So I am going to try not to resort to my calculator when I obviously don’t need to, to try and get out of bad habits. Learning my times tables, which I have never done, also seems sensible - Interrupt people less
I do this far too much. Let’s see if I can improve.
So there we have it, some targets for the year. Wish me luck!
“9. Interrupt people less
I do this far too much. Let’s see if I can improve.”
Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean!
[...] decided to give myself some belated New Year’s resolutions (an idea stolen from inspired by Sean and James R). Here they [...]
I kept a diary for a couple of years. I wrote a fairly beefy paragraph every day. Mind you, you’re right about it being dull. I had a look at it the other day: it’s mostly “Woke, had breakfast. Went to school. Had lessons. Went home. Went on computer. Did homework. Had dinner. Went on computer. Watched TV. Had shower. Went to bed.” So my suggestion would be to only write when something interesting happens, otherwise you’ll get tired of it. I certainly did.
How are you going so far?
Majorly makes a valid point and I am struggling at times to keep writing, so I just keep it very brief. I usually have some pointless Philosophy to ramble on repetatively about linked to what I have been doing that day so it is not too bad – and I am very verbose.
It’s going very well so far aside from forgetting to write it up at night until it is too late to do so (my family can’t sleep with my typing despite me being a floor above) which means I have to do it the next morning and sometimes I then forget again, leading to a few days piling up – but I get it all done.