At the beginning of the year I set myself 5 goals for 2020. I had meant to write this update halfway through the year but it has been delayed. Better late than never.
What a difference 7 months makes. All the way back at the beginning of January, when no one was talking about covid-19, I set myself the following 5 goals for the year ahead:
- Less commuting - work from home at least 3 of 5 work days every week
- Music - master 6 bluegrass banjo songs
- Reading - read 26 books
- Writing - write 12 technical posts
- Drawing - draw 3 portraits
Less commuting
This one was already in motion when the world completely changed. I had requested and been approved for working from home 3 days a week to help with child care. Then lockdown hit and the whole company have been working from home ever since.
Status: Achieved
Music
This is still in progress. I've improved my banjo playing and I play nearly every day. Even if it is for a few minutes some days. So far I have Cripple Creek going at a decent pace, I'm improving the speed of Worried Man Blues and then have a few songs I'm trying to improve at: Foggy Mountain Breakdown, John Hardy, Man of Constant Sorrow and Old Joe Clark. If I can improve my pace a bit I might still make that goal.
Status: In progress - 2 / 6
Reading
This year I started reading at a much higher pace than last year. With audio books and some graphic novels, I've already hit my 26 book goal for the year. My stretch goal will be to keep that up for the rest of the year and hopefully hit about 50 books for the whole year.
Status: Achieved
Writing
You win some and you lose some. My reading progress has been a win but my writing has not been great.
I haven't written anything meaningful for a while and certainly haven't kept up a good routine. Even my twitter activity has slowed recently. I started the year with 3 articles in quick succession and this post is an attempt to kickstart things.
Status: In progress - 4 / 12
Drawing
My goal for the year is to draw 3 portraits.
Not kept up the habit of drawing regularly. I mostly just do some drawing with my daughter and haven't really progressed with portraiture in the way I'd have liked.
Need to look at how I can add this into my daily habits.
Status: Not progressed - 0 / 3
Summary
The year has obviously been a very strange one. Very difficult for everyone and really tragic for many. In light of the situation, this all feels pretty trivial but all-in-all my progress on these goals has been good.
I've probably had some spare time that wasn't expected due to lockdown. In particular, I have found that playing the banjo has definitely helped me find something calming to get through these limbo days. Not sure my partner and daughter would feel the same.
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