For the first time ever, I sat down and wrote some New Year’s resolutions for 2018. I read somewhere that it’s best to keep resolutions (and other goals) simple and specific to make them easier to accomplish. With that in mind, here are my seven resolutions.
1. Launch my website
I’ve been working on my personal site Brittanygervin.com for two years. The site is basically done, but various issues have forced me to postpone the launch multiple times. I’m tired of messing with it at this point.
Therefore, my biggest resolution for 2018 is to get my site up and running, in one form or another, before January rolls around again. I’m currently shooting for a March or April launch.
2. Keep a blog for a year
I’ve always wanted a blog. So far, all I have in that department are a few brief attempts at LiveJournal and WordPress in my younger years. But I’m ready to try again.
I want to prove to myself that I can keep a blog long term. For now, I will keep a personal blog for a year. I plan to publish at least 15 posts. I’ve already created an editorial calendar using Trello and planned out most of my content for the year (thanks to a Lynda.com course I took). The only hard part will be the writing itself.
3. Add two projects to my portfolio
I need more technical writing experience. Unfortunately, I’ve spent so much time working on my website and blog lately that I haven’t had much time to make new tutorials or user manuals. Of the several projects I worked on during 2017, I only finished one.
For 2018, I’ll work on two projects. I don’t have any specific topics in mind yet, but here are some criteria I can choose from:
- Finish one of the projects I started last year
- Use a program besides Microsoft Publisher
- Base a project on macOS or Linux
- Try a new form factor
4. Participate in one Camp NaNoWriMo session
As much as I love all things NaNoWriMo, I’m never sure if I’ll do the event until the last minute. Last year was a good year, though. I “won” both sessions of Camp NaNoWriMo. I would love to do it again this year.
Instead of pressuring myself to do both sessions, I will only promise to participate in and win one Camp NaNoWriMo session. I’ll write 20,000 words or more during that session. Extra points if I do both sessions, though.
5. Figure out my social media strategy
I use Facebook and Twitter publicly. The problem is, I’m not sure whether I want to use either of them anymore.
I’ve been using Twitter for a year now. It’s fun, and the people are hilarious. I especially love the longer tweets. But I still haven’t gotten the hang of it. I hate hashtags. I hate having to follow random people, who are mostly trying to sell stuff, just because they followed me. Plus, the idea of directly talking to a celebrity or company freaks me out. I nearly had a heart attack when I tweeted about an interesting book I was reading and the author “liked” it. Maybe I’m not cut out for the network.
Opening up my personal Facebook profile, an idea I got from Lisa Hall-Wilson’s article “5 Reasons to Use a Facebook Profile (Not a Page) to Build Platform”, hasn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped either. Most of my friends want their FB profiles to be as invisible as possible to the outside world, which causes problems when they comment on a post I intended to make public. Apparently, I also don’t have enough thoughts for two social networks because I have trouble finding things to say on Facebook that I haven’t already said on Twitter.
By the end of the year, I want to resolve this social network situation. I’m going to brainstorm some techniques and research new strategies to see how I can handle things better.
6. Cut down on screen time
Another reason why I want to get my social media strategy streamlined is because of the book Think Before You Like by Guy P. Harrison. I learned some facts about how electronic devices and social networks affect your health that scared me to death. I’ve got to get control of myself.
The book suggested a few things that I’d like to try. First, I’ll wait at least 30 minutes after I wake up before I touch a phone. Harrison says, “Thirty-four percent of girls between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four log on to Facebook before they go to the toilet when they wake up in the morning.” Yes, I’m one of those people. Yes, I am ashamed of myself.
Second, I’ll set an internet schedule. I’ll only check my social media accounts and RSS feeds three times a day (morning, noon, and night) through the week and on Saturdays. On Sundays, I’ll abstain from social media altogether.
Third, Harrison says to “turn off all of your devices at sunset.” I can’t follow that one to the letter because I work best at night and I like to read on my iPad before bed. The best I can promise is to stop using social media after 10 PM.
Hopefully, these habits will help me reach a final goal that’s not in the book: stop getting throttled so much. I’d like to go at least seven months this year without getting throttled. Spoiler alert–I’ve already failed January.
7. Borrow fewer books
I have a bad habit of checking out more e-books from the library than I can read at one time. It’s a viscous cycle: borrow a bunch of books, forget most of the books in favor of one or two of them, renew the forgotten books multiple times until I finish them all, keep checking out new books. This routine has become too stressful for me.
This year, I will only borrow four or five books at a time. I’m not doing so great right now, as there are still eight e-books in the Overdrive app and five books in Hoopla app on my iPad, but I’m slowly working my way through them to start fresh.
Conclusion
So, those are my resolutions. I’ll keep you posted on my progress in future blog posts and on social media throughout the year. Fingers crossed!