Semi-annual Life Review: Writing for Accountability

I used to have an annual tradition of reviewing the past year’s resolutions, and making a bunch of a new ones. Somewhere along the way, amidst turmoil and the desire to forget, I abandoned that tradition. In its place arose a more frequent internal review of my life, happening every few months, that allowed me to improve my life and respond to issues within it more frequently than the tired, old New Year’s resolutions would allow me.

Thus the name of this post, and thus the nature of these resolutions. I’ve had most of them floating about in my mind for a while now, but I figure writing them down nurtures a new kind of commitment to them.

On we go. This year, I resolve to:

• Use up all the yarn in my stash before buying more – unless I come across a yarn so unique, I know I won’t find it easily again; this caveat is for trade shows.
• Never have more than one shot of espresso in my daily coffee. More than that leaves me buzzing nervously, anxious, unable to concentrate, often irritable, and with an afternoon crash that I simply want to avoid. Most days, I would like to aim to cut out the coffee completely and stick to green tea – however, we’ll see how that goes in the coming semester, as lack of sleep catches up to me.
• Cut down the time wasted on rss feeds daily: I’ve already unsubscribed from a bunch. If I’m going to spend time on RSS feeds, it should probably be about my industry, and not so much about crafting. After all, I need to earn money – and crafting? Doesn’t.
• Cut down time wasted on facebook/email/other often updated mediums – this means closing my perma-tabs that display Facebook and my RSS feeds, and probably also opening my email maybe only 3 times per day, instead of leaving it open all day. This way I can focus better on current tasks, and get more done.

All of this is to help me manage my time better, as there are now about 10+ personal projects I want to tackle in the coming months, on top of a part-time job and full-time school. The thought of it all is leaving me very stressed out about how I’m going to manage everything, and I’m already feeling guilty every time my thoughts even turn to doing something fun. The only thing that’s making it all seem manageable is that there are only four months left of school. If I can survive those – the worst of the storm will have been weathered. But it’s not just that I need to survive – I need to be successful in all my coming endeavours, and I think this pressure is what’s worrying me most. Alas, I must now forget all this worry and instead focus on the tasks at hand. Onward, ho, to my imminent success, and greatest dreams coming true!