2017
A list of (totally not generic) objectives to make my life a bit better than 2016
Be healthier
A general life goal that probably everyone has going into the new year, here is how I want to be a little healthier in 2017:
- Do some running - maybe 365 miles over the course of the year wouldn't be too bad (link).
- Cut down on sugar - I don't think I could cut out processed sugar like some people do, but to reduce it by cutting out on biscuits and other sugary snacks during the day should be good.
- Eat better in general - I've got a few books with healthy receipes, better start using them.
- Drink more water - I know I should do this, but normally forget.
- Drink less alcohol - it's too easy to drink too much, a beer after a hard/stressful week a work becomes very tempting. Limit myself to only drinking socially, (preferably not enough to get hungover)
- Be more sociable - 7 day work week limits socialising and provides excuses when I should be out... Say no less, have people over, go visit people.
Train better
I have a couple of goals for cycling in 2017, I'm aiming to finally get to Cat 3 road cycling, which hasn't happened the last few years due to lack of time to train properly and you actually have to turn up for races, should have more free weekend time this year.
I've only entered one Sportive-type ride this year which is the Flanders 130km event in April, should provide a good motivator for training in the first par of the year.
No milage goals set for training, would be good to match the previous years' distance though.
Make or borrow a training plan - training should be better if I have something to follow, I might also stick to it.
Less distractions
I think this will be the hardest to stick to, it's also a little vague which doesn't help.
- No laptop/computer/smartphone time before bed (read a book instead)
- Less checking the news, Facebook, Strava, Twitter, Hacker News etc.
- Limit my time on YouTube - cutting out TV is good, but it's easy to spend too much time watching vids on YouTube and checking my Subscriptions for updates.
Do More | Work Harder
Spent too much time watching Casey Neistat blogs this year (and last), he lives by these phrases and if I had a little bit of his drive and motivation I would probably be better off. But you don't get given this so I plan to do a few little projects in order to learn some new things.
- Use Raspberry Pi to operate PIR light and camera - I've had a RPi for a while now and never made good use of it, now is as good a time as any.
- Blog - I've written a few posts over the years but never really posted them, I may not be a good writer but you don't get better by doing nothing. Also should be able to save my old posts and re-add to this.
- Coding - I don't do enough of this, I need to brush up on my skills and actually make something.
- Apply for new job(s) - being in a job for a long time does not give me more motivation to work harder, I always assume that there are better jobs out there, but I don't know for sure if there are, (or that I could actually get one)
Finish things
Starting things is easy, finishing them is a whole lot harder. I've started a lot of things without following through all the way to the end, not sure if I will finish many of those but hopefully I can finish what I start this year. Here the main projects (all related to my house) that should be completed by the end of 2017:
- House - it's been a two year project and I've only just moved in, a few more months and the interior should be done
- Garden - As I've been working on the house for two years the garden hasn't been touched, it may take quite a lot of work
- Garage / Training Room / Office - it may turn out to be too cold be an office, but to finish these 3 things would be a huge load off my mind
I often make paper lists and tick of the easy one's before losing the paper, by typing this out somewhere where it will stay I hope to be able to come back to it and try to actually stick to my objectives for the year.
Rob