So, how about those 2020 intentions …

+ improve posture
If not now, when? My posture is fairly appalling and I’m starting to have the occasional lower back twinge and other aches. I’m not entirely jazzed by the prospect of entering my twilight years all pained and hunched over. Mostly this will involve mindfulness/checking in with myself – am I sitting up? are my abs engaged?
– Strengthen core
– Sit up don’t slump
– Don’t slouch when standing / walking

I’m quite confident I have not improved at all in this area.
– My desk chair at home does stop me crossing my legs, so perhaps a tiny win there.

xxx

+ improve health
I had a few bouts of non-serious, but fairly annoying, lingering illness in 2019, which of course had the associated negative impact on my mental health.
– Some cardio every day. At the moment this consists of 20min on the exercise bike which should be sustainable.
– Take a walk every day when conditions permit. I was reasonably successful with this for part of last year – then the smoke hit!
– Reduce meat consumption, increase vegetable intake.
– Drink more water! I am TERRIBLE at this.
– Be (slightly) more social – a mental health one.
– Don’t compare myself to others – thief of joy and all that! Another mental health one.

Absolutely not where I want to be
– The 20min on the bike was apparently not sustainable, but I’ve been back in the saddle for most of January.
– Have been exceptionally good with daily walk since we first went to lockdown – barely missed a day since (even in torrential rain).
– I’ve been pretty good about drinking water – having an attractive pitcher and adding lemon slices was one of the keys to success, as was attaching it to an anchor habit of a pot of green tea.
– Nope to the rest, but getting better at the last one – maybe.

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+ thoughtful use of tech
There are a lot better uses of my time than the infinite scroll, which truly is the devil’s work, or clicking mindless about. I’d really like to disconnect a bit more.
– Limit instagram use. It’s wonderful to keep up with people, but holygoodness it is way too easy to get sucked into the abyss.
– Just put the phone down!
– Stop reading garbage / hate-reading – unsubscribe!
– Embrace analogue. We’ve started listening to CDs, I’m reading library books, I’d like to drag out the camera again.
– Share more good online things.

Not too bad here. I have been much better this year about disconnecting – it has been extremely helpful to have slow projects for the evening.
– Given up instagram entirely, though have not killed the account. Likely will do the killing in 2021.
– On phone quite a lot less – really want to kick that morning habit though.
– Mostly not reading garbage and have unsubscribed from a few (what have turned to) hate-reads.
– Libraries all closed with covid. I have not been in one since March.
– I shared a bunch of good online things with colleagues. I’ve found it challenging to find a balance with my work digital life and my personal digital life this year.

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+ take action, don’t dither
Procrastination is my watchword, let it no longer be so.
– All those plans you have – stop thinking and start them!
– Make comments on other blogs! Avoid posts languishing in tabs for weeks/months (I currently have at least four sitting there that I meant to say nice things about)
– Perform those bigger household maintenance tasks – keep the Palace from falling to the ground and/or incurring undue and unnecessary expense.

Yeah, nah.
– My dithering is probably worse than ever.
– See above balance of digital life. I’ll have interesting posts open in the browser for weeks intending to comment – but the time passes and it seems too late (which of course it isn’t).
– We did have other people help-the-house-not-fall-down (new windows, plumbing, room building). Still much work to be done here. I replaced part of the carpet underlay in the not-craft room by myself which made me feel like a superstar handywoman.

xxx

+ exercise brain
This encompasses pretty much anything that stretches me beyond the routine
– Get back to daily Japanese
– Maybe undertake a puzzle more frequently than just at Xmas
– Stretch my reading
– Crafting – take classes, learn new things, make new things!
– Pick up that cryptic crosswords for dummies book (#2 on the 60 list)

NONE OF THESE THINGS!
– Alas no puzzles, no stretched reading (you’d think covid times would have been perfect for this!)
– My commute time was my Japanese time and I haven’t worked out a way to seamlessly slot it into my lift now – though I definitely want to return to it at some point.
– I did make quite a few things and was delighted by those giant red flannel pants and that baby sampler. I loved my second glass class way back before we went into lockdown. I’d sign up for another in a heartbeat.
– Picked up that cryptic crossword book and then after a while accepted that while I really saw it as a hallmark of being a certain type of intelligent, cultured, admirable person, I’m just never going to be that person. Sent the book to the charity shop. I’ll stick to the more lowbrow quick crosswords.

xxx

+ be calm | be crunchy
This was my catch-all for a lot of DFH** stuff
– Don’t buy any clothes for a year (#42 on the 60 list)
– Be conscious about what I buy in general – refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle!
– Meditate every day (#21 on the 60 list)
– Attend one bushcare working bee

I’ve probably done more of this category than any other.
– While I didn’t hold to the buy no clothes for a year, I got to a couple of hundred days without anything new and have since kept clothing purchases to a minimum.
– I probably bought things I didn’t entirely need, but they generally made me happy
– Meditation is going okay, could improve (which I think even very seasoned meditators would say). It is a helpful addition to my life.
– Obviously bushcare working bees were not happening in 2020, but I have hopes for maybe toward the end of 2021

** Dirty … Hippy