Top Ten Tuesday: Resolutions for 2021, Bookish and Not

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

New year, new me. I promised myself that this year, I'd upload at least 50 blogposts, and here I am, at Week Two of 2021, and I've managed to get my second post of the year up! Sure, it may seem too early to celebrate, but we're leaving that energy behind in 2020, and popping bottles for the little things. Well, bottles of kombucha. And not too many times in one week, or it makes my stomach hurt. Three cheers for implementing positive habits! 

And while we're on the subject of changing our lives for the better, here are some of my 2021 New Years Resolutions, both Bookish and Not! 

bookish

1. Read over 50 Books! 

As you might have seen in the post previous to this one, I didn't make it past my Goodreads Challenge of 60 books last year. I've decided - now that I've done with sulking  - to make a directional adjustment, and instead of punishing myself by trying for an even higher goal, I'm actually bringing things down to a slightly more achievable number. Hopefully, I'll use it as an excuse to keep the pace, and pick up bigger and better books along the way, too. 

2. Conquer the box of 20 Paranormal Romance reads my brother gave me for Christmas.

As you might have seen in the post previous to the one previous to this one, my younger brother surprised me with a box of twenty backlisted Paranormal Romance novels, purchased in a wholesale lot from an eBay retailer, as a part of a Christmas present. Naturally, I'm going to have to read each and every one of them in the next year... otherwise, what am I going to do if he does it again?

3. Read down my home TBR shelves as much as possible.

I say - without any ounce of sarcasm, falsehood, or pride in the slightest - I have almost 200 physical copies of books I have not yet read, sitting on the shelves in my room, right now. That's not even including the ones on my Kindle... or, I think, the aforementioned twenty new Romance novels. I really need to get a hold on this thing, before my room is any more overrun by reads than it already is! 

4. Add in everything I read to my Goodreads... not just the stuff I can "admit" to reading. 

This honestly bears more going into at a later date - and is a subject that will probably crop up again periodically throughout the year - but historically speaking, I have never regularly included Romance novels in my Goodreads Challenge, or even rated them on the platform all that often. Sure, there are some exceptions to the rule, but those reasons only serve to make my threadbare rationalizations all the more stark: the ones that do make it are the cutesy, illustrated covers, not the hardcore bodice-rippers I might find embarrassing. God forbid my friends and family might learn that this twenty-seven-year-old likes to read romance novels. It's time to put my ratings where my reading habit is, and actually own up to everything I read... and that goes for cookbooks and academic reads, too. 

5. Try and update my blog (and Instagram) once a week. 

This is, of course, loosely translated to the idea of approximately 50 posts, total, in a year. For some frame of reference, I haven't managed to do so since 2018, only managing 29 in 2019, and 26 in 2020. So I'm feeling like there's plenty of room to grow here; it's just going to take some special time and attention. At the end of the day, I've got plenty of feelings to talk about, it's just the "sitting down and typing it up" part that gets a little more difficult. And my photography skills are non-existent. Maybe I won't be saying the same thing in the new year? 

non-bookish 

6. Take a financial literacy class, and pay more attention to my math skills in general. 

I was kind of raised on the idea that I was a "words person," not a "numbers person," in a way that really defined itself once math classes became more difficult in my sophomore year of high school. I didn't have to take any direct math classes in college, and have pretty much fallen out of practice in anything I can't figure out on a calculator ever since. After a pretty painful conversation with my parents and younger siblings this past Fall, it's been apparent that my lack of realistic mathematic and financial knowledge is something I'm tired of stumbling over, and I'm committed to getting more comfortable with both in 2020. 

7. Make better use of my planner. 

I've kept the same format of journal for the past SEVEN - count 'em! - years, since my Junior year of college, with the Day Designer as my chosen vessel of life organization. It has room for not only a full hourly schedule, but an equally-expansive to do list, on every single page, plus it comes complete with calendar spreads, durable covers and a gold coil like nobody's business. I store pieces of my soul in these things, so the fact that I flip through them at the end of every year, and think to myself, "I could be doing way more with this," is a bit of a problem. This year, I'm committed to using every square inch to its best capabilities. 

8. Write a completed first draft of my 2020 NaNoWriMo project. 

The last time I made much of anything out of a NaNo draft, it was my Horror shorts from way back in 2017, and even then, I only cleaned a couple of them up a little so my Dad could read them. I've been wanting to make more time for fiction writing in my life in general, and in November, I gave myself a gift: my 50,000 didn't encompass a rough draft, necessarily, but a rough outline, with a full story that's still waiting to be told. In this coming year, I really want to do the damn thing right, and dedicate myself to putting together a really great story. At the very least, even if it sucks, I know my brother will read it. 

9. Respond to all emails and texts within 24 hours. 

Hah. Haha. We are only almost two weeks into 2021, and if my track record so far is any indicator, I have not been succeeding on this particular track. I am regarded - in a serial sort of way - among my friends and family as being relatively unable to get ahold of... mostly on purpose. I keep my phone on "do not disturb" semi-permanently, and schedule out important phone calls and FaceTimes at least 24 hours in advance. And in case you're wondering if it's only restricted to direct, digital communication, it's not: I have eight envelopes and postcards sitting on my desk right now, sent by lovely people I care about, that have gone without a response... in some cases, for over two months. Oops.  

10. Improve my sleep habits. 

Those close to me know that on a regular basis, I go to sleep somewhere between 2AM and 4AM, and wakeup somewhat groggily around 930AM. Not only is this not productive, helpful, realistic, healthy, consistent, beneficial to myself or others... I forgot where I was going with that. I'm too tired. It's gotten to the point where, during an episode of The Bachelor last night, a ZzzQuil commercial was airing on TV, and I turned to see my younger sister pointedly glaring at me from the other couch. 

What's in your Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!