I started this series of posts at the end of October 2018. I had just cut back my hours from full time to 90%, and wanted to use my new free time wisely. Some of that time was to relax, but I also wanted to improve my fitness, make my home a more pleasant place to stay, and work on becoming a more well-rounded human being.
My last update was in January of this year, with a few wins, and a bunch of misses. I set new goals, many of which are not going to be possible to hit given the new recommendations around social distancing (#flattenthecurve).
I had planned to follow up at the end of May, but I would like to review my progress so far, and offer some course correction to my goals for the next few months.
The Goals: Past, Present, Future.
The first 2 months of the year were pretty unexceptional. Some work, some vacation. I was supposed to go away to a meeting in March, around the time the novel coronavirus really arrived in the US. I stayed home.
Here’s how I did in the past 9 weeks, and my thoughts for the coming months.
Exercise.
My goal continued at 150 minutes a week of exercise, with plans to ramp up my strength training.
Between hospital work, winter weather, and a winter cold, I didn’t do all that well, achieving my goal of 150 minutes of exercise 4 out of 9 weeks. I did also did some strength training in 4 of 9 weeks, though not necessarily in the same weeks I managed to hit the 150 minute exercise goal.
Managing this goal will need some adjustment, as the gym is closed and I am not sure that a yoga class will be a good idea for a while. However, I think I will keep this goal; I am already thinking about Skype/Facetime for training sessions, if my trainer is available.
Connecting with friends and family.
I had hoped to average one social event per week, seeing friends and/or family.
Including visits with family, I actually managed 12 events for 9 weeks.
While social distancing is still recommended, I think this goal will have to go on hiatus. I am not sure when I will be able to restart, as I will need to worry about coronavirus exposure and the possibility of asymptomatic carriage. As in, I don’t want to make others sick, because I will likely pick this virus up from work.
Adventures.
I had hoped to get out of the house to do something (explore a neighborhood, see a museum, go to a street festival), though I worried it would be too challenging, partly because of the season and partly due to travel plans. I had hoped to manage one “adventure” every 2 weeks.
I hit this out of the park, thanks to taking visiting children out to multiple places: 5 museum trips, 1 nature center trip, and a visit to a conservatory in 9 weeks.
This goal will likely be on hold as well, since most local places are closing in order to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Reading.
I wanted to keep reading, as I clearly feel better if I do.
I declined to set a goal for overall reading (no goal of X books per by June) to avoid spoiling my reading time. But I did want to work on “worthy” books.
I ditched the directive to read The Scarlet Letter, and planned instead to work on my To Be Read pile: 2 full books or 4 partial tries from some of the worthy books my family have given me.
So far, I have read Educated by Tara Westover. Plus a number of other books that I chose for myself and enjoyed very much.
I think achieving 1/2 the goal in 1/2 of the time counts as doing very well. I just need to power through another gifted book. This is certainly a goal that I can continue despite the pandemic, given how many books I have at home.
Clear the Clutter.
I had a number of goals under this heading: clearing 14 books and multiple items from the bookshelf I have been trying to clear for the past year, working on clearing out my overstuffed closet. I planned to post one item a week in my local Buy Nothing group as a way to get started.
I did deposit 5 books in the local Little Free Libraries over the past 9 weeks. At least 3 of them disappeared when I checked back.
I also made some progress with the Buy Nothing group: I posted 10 items over the past 9 weeks. 2 had to be reposted, in order to get some interest. Someone stood me up (twice!) for their item, but I have so far given away 5 of those items.
I think this is another goal that will have to be put on hold while we deal with the pandemic. It isn’t quite clear how contagious this virus might be as far as fomites, and I probably shouldn’t be meeting up with strangers to give items away.
I suppose if I can 9 more books and 1 item a week in a “giveaway” box, that would be a worthy goal. The trick is giving away the items in the box once the crisis passes.
Creative Activities.
To be honest, blogging is using a lot of my creativity these days. However, I had wanted to work on more material efforts.
The baby blanket project had stalled after I dropped a bunch of stitches. I do not know if I will be able to fix it at this time, and a fiber project seems like the wrong thing to work on if I might be exposed to or carrying the virus. We will see on this one.
Finishing the photo book for 2019 was an easy goal for me. However, I haven’t yet started it. I think it may be a mood lifter for me and Mr. PiN to be able to review our travels together, as we figure we won’t be going anywhere for a while. I would definitely like to get this done, and maybe our book for 2018 as well.
I had been writing more about a possible piano, thinking that I would consider it a win if I just looked into how to get lessons. I think this will need to be on hold as well until the need for social distancing abates.
Connecting with the community.
I had wanted to attend services and be open to volunteer opportunities. Given that religious services are being canceled, I think I am letting both of these goals rest until the situation with COVID-19 improves.
Financial goals.
I had quite a few goals, listed in my post in January, divided up into 3 themes:
Hope for the best:
- Increase savings each month. Done.
- Fund a spousal IRA for Mr. PiN. On hold, as right now, we would like to hold on to our cash in case we have more emergencies.
- Fund my Backdoor Roth. Also on hold for the same reasons.
Plan for the worst:
- Have Mr. PiN manage the bills in February. Done.
- Fill out an instruction sheet with accounts and passwords for him. Partially done. I want to finish this up this week.
- Consider purchasing and filling out the In Case of Emergency binder. I’m not sure if I have the mental or emotional wherewithal to do this right now. I will keep it on the list.
Live for today:
- Travel. Preferably stretching our travel rewards to make this possible. I think all plans are on hold for right now.
- Replace Mr. PiN’s ancient, barely functional phone. Done! Finally.
- Home projects. Including putting in overhead lights, replacing window trim, getting new carpeting. Still no plans for this, we will have to see how things go in the coming months.
How about you? Have you had to revise your goals for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic?