It's crazy to think that it's already March and we're now a quarter of the way through the year. As we've reached this milestone, I thought I'd update you guys on how my New Years Resolutions are going. If you're new to my blog, then here's a link to my original New Years post.
Changing Tactics
One of my goals for this year was to develop a new creative skill and I chose drawing. Originally, I was trying to do a small drawing everyday. I've decided to change this method for a few reasons. Firstly, my 2020 hasn't gone to plan so far. I've had a few problems with my health, meaning I've been struggling in general. Secondly, I wasn't finding it as creatively inspiring as I thought it would. It was forced creativity. I was making myself draw everyday and the drawings I was producing were ones I wasn't especially proud of.
The way I approached it at first was to draw three mini drawings to do with my day, but I soon found I became uninspired and lazy when it came to my drawings. I then changed my method for February. I made a prompt page, with a prompt for each day. At first, this was going really well and I was really enjoying it. Then all of my health issues started and I let my daily habit slip. My approach for March is that I've come up with a weekly topic and my goal is to draw a spread on that theme. I'm going to see if this method works for me more than everyday.
The way I approached it at first was to draw three mini drawings to do with my day, but I soon found I became uninspired and lazy when it came to my drawings. I then changed my method for February. I made a prompt page, with a prompt for each day. At first, this was going really well and I was really enjoying it. Then all of my health issues started and I let my daily habit slip. My approach for March is that I've come up with a weekly topic and my goal is to draw a spread on that theme. I'm going to see if this method works for me more than everyday.
Rocky Reading
At first my goal for reading was to try and read two books a week. I set my goal on Goodreads as 104 books. But then I became demotivated each time it would say I was 1 book behind schedule. So, early on I decided to change my goal to 10 books, knowing I would hit this and I have. I still want to read 2 books a week but I'm only on book 13 of the year. By this point I should be on book 20. As I've already mentioned 2020 isn't going to plan, mainly due to my physical health getting in the way. I have to admit that I've been watching way more Netflix than I have been reading. Something I've been struggling with is lack of sleep, meaning it takes a lot for me to feel energised to read.
I've also found that I haven't been reading books that make me go "wow, I loved that!". I've only read one 5 star books so far and the rest have been 3 or 4 stars. I think the problem here is that I'm at university and don't have access to all of my books. I have around 10-12 books at uni from a wideish selection, but I'm not always in the mood for what I've brought with me. I have been reading a wider range of fiction and non-fiction than I normally would, but I have a feeling that I'm in a bit of a reading slump. I'm hoping that as more 2020 book releases come out, I'll find one that makes me go "wow, I love this!" and will break the slump curse.
Life Is Getting In The Way
This is a common theme of this post, but my life sadly is getting in the way of me achieving my goals. I've noticed since my health began to decline that I get these random bursts of energy and creativity. I sort of have to go with it and this method isn't working for me. In the first few weeks of this term, I was actively setting time aside to relax and make sure I was refreshed for each week. However, since I started feeling crappy, most days have turned into relaxing days with the odd few hours of work sprinkled in. I've also spotted that I've become way to dependent on my phone. I have this itch to always be on it and I'm trying to break this habit. I just like knowing what's happening in the world, but I think the best thing for me is to cut down the amount of time I spend on my phone. I've developed this unhealthy habit of after I've finished my nightly reading session, I want to watch Netflix and YouTube. I think I'm going to implement a no phones rule after a certain point each evening.
I know this post sounds like me whinging about my health and to some degree it is, but this is my honest update on how my New Years and Resolutions are going. Are you New Years Resolutions going well?
Carenza :) x
