It's the end of the year. Time to look back and forward. At work, we talk about leading and lagging indicators - If you want to make a change, it's better to use leading indicators that will motivate you to do that change. An example of this is setting a goal of going to the gym 3x a week vs. setting a goal of losing 10 lbs.
I don't really goal set a lot of knitting - I have things that I tell myself I want to do, but I don't actually PLAN to do them. I want 2016 to be different, though. So I have 6 things I'm going to do next year.
I don't really goal set a lot of knitting - I have things that I tell myself I want to do, but I don't actually PLAN to do them. I want 2016 to be different, though. So I have 6 things I'm going to do next year.
- Knit for an hour a day. It doesn't have to be continuous. It just has to be 60 minutes. This time can include: the 2 hours I spend every day sitting in the car while Dan and I carpool; the 2-3 hours we spend each night watching TVon Netflix... etc. During NaNoWriMo I realized how easy it was to add writing to your day. Well, I want to add knitting!
- Have no more than 3 WIPs going at a time. I used to be really good at this. I used to have ONE PROJECT that I worked on at a time. I was so confused how people could have more than one. Then I discovered that different knitting patterns are funner at different times. I can't knit fancy lace while watching TV. I can't carry around a blanket in my purse to work on in the spare minutes I have. I like having different projects, but they've exploded to the point where I have so many things going on that none of them are moving.
- No knitting projects in the "dog house" - Why? Because I hit a snag and I set the project aside until I "have time to deal with this." Then... I never deal with it. Poor project sits folded up in a closet forever. Not anymore! I will be dealing with things when they happen. Setting things aside if they really frustrate me is ok, but no packing it up.
- 1 WIP must be an original project. I have so many ideas for projects, but I just don't do them! I'm hoping that this rule will help me.
- Do hand stretching and strengthening every day. I need to get better at this! I do the stretches, but I sometimes forget to do my strength training twice a day.
- Post to my blog once a week. I don't have to read blogs - that's been a ridiculous time ever since Google Reader went kaput ages ago. But I'm going to make a blog post once per week. Setting up articles to automatically publish counts, too.
Six is a lot of new rules to have for myself, but I think that they're easy enough that I can do it! Actually, I'm already doing them, haha. The knitting time I'm squeezing in is leading to projects getting done (what a surprise!)
What do you think? Are you knitting new stuff? I'd love to hear people's suggestions for knitting resolutions and see what other people are doing!
What do you think? Are you knitting new stuff? I'd love to hear people's suggestions for knitting resolutions and see what other people are doing!
If you don't have enough time, you probably don't want to know about The Old Reader, which is a very good equivalent to Google Reader. These look like achievable goals for the year!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! Right now I use Nextgen reader on my laptop, which I like, but there's no good one for my phone... does the old reader work well on mobile?
DeleteSeems like attainable goals...sometimes I get behind in my blog reading...and just spend some time catching up...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I need to do that at least once a week!
DeleteGood ideas--especially the stretching. I have those blue gloves from Lion that I used when my hands were killing me--
ReplyDeleteI'll be glad to see your weekly posts! I've missed hearing from you. These all sound like great goals, and attainable too. My personal goals is to eat healthier, and to hang out with my friends more. I've become a recluse and it's made me depressed and I'm done dealing with that!
ReplyDeleteI miss Google Reader too, but I've found that Feedly works pretty well for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't really make resolutions, but I have a goal to SLOW DOWN so that I DO have time for knitting, reading, and just relaxing.
Slowing down is a good goal, though. I seriously can't slow down haha. As soon as I stop I remember something I have to do.
DeleteThose are attainable! I believe in you. I totally need to put the 'knit an hour a day' into my life. It's just an hour, I might be sitting on my butt staring into space for that amount of time for goodness sake. I could do something fun and useful instead.
ReplyDeleteCarla, Tiny Angry Crafts