2018 Resolutions

I haven’t made a post like this before, because I usually feel like how I’m going to live my life is really my own business. This year, I feel like I’d like to be a bit more public since, as I’ll talk about later, I feel like the way we’re making use of social media needs some improvement. I also think as a university instructor and a grad student we often keep quiet about how we’re doing, and I think being a little more open we can all make our lives a little better.

via GIPHY

So here are three general resolutions I’d like to work on for next year:

1. Monotask More - I don’t multitask well and inevitably when I set out to do several things at the same time, I don’t get any of them done the way I’d like. My goal for next year is to do that less, I want to pick one thing, do it as well as I can and then go on to something else. In particular I’m going to try to set aside specific time for twitter and email so I don’t interrupt myself. 
2. Hold Fewer Opinions - At some point this year John and Hank Green decided that we all hold too many useless opinions and I think I agree with them. I think I’m already alright at this, there are often times when I feel like it’s not worth getting excited on a particular topic. At the same time, there are points where I get upset over things that don’t really matter and I’d be happier if I could just move on. My goal for next year is to see when I don’t need to hold a strong opinion and if I don’t need one, I’ll try not to have one. 
3. Act More - I think this ties in with both of the previous resolutions, but I often avoid getting stuff done, even when there’s nothing really holding me back from doing it. I’m going to try to cut down on the size of my todo list to make it easier to see what needs doing and to push myself to get more stuff done. 

And I have a few specific things too:

1. Finish my Thesis - this is the year.
2. Be more Engaged on Twitter - I like Twitter, or at least I like how Twitter was in the early days. I don’t know how to fix all of the problems that Twitter has now, but I think trying to talk more with cool people about cool things is a decent way to go. I’m going to try to reply more and retweet less. 
3. Read More - I don’t read enough, so next year I want to buff that up. (And I’ll be making a project to that end soon). 
4. Make More Stuff - I want to write more, draw more, sculpt more, program more. I think I feel best about myself when I’m getting something made, so I want to do that. 
5. See More Things - I have an amazing flexibility in where I work right now and I should make better use of that to go and see cool places even while I’m working. 

I hope 2018 rises to meet us all as we rise to meet it.