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How will you improve your life in 2020?

151 replies

wondering7777 · 19/12/2019 18:03

With a new year almost upon us, how do you plan to make positive improvements to your life in 2020?

My goals are:

  1. Get out of debt: DH and I are about £4.5K in debt and I’m hoping that 2020 will be the year we finally manage to clear this. I’m not sure whether it’s achievable but I really hope we do it. It will give us a significantly better lifestyle if we can and will be a huge weight off my shoulders.

  2. Keep my home “visitor ready” at all times: I’m so sick of people asking to pop round and having to spend an age desperately cleaning and tidying in order to make it presentable. I’ve been on an organising and cleaning mission in the run-up to Christmas, and the main rooms are looking decent for the first time in ages. I need to make sure it stays that way all year.

  3. Tick off all the annoying tasks on my to do list: including selling or giving away old stuff I never use, and sorting some tricky DIY jobs around the house that have been hanging round for ages.

  4. Be more productive at work: I’ve been feeling really lethargic and demotivated over the last couple of months and it has been affecting my work. I really need to change this attitude and make sure I stay on top of things in the new year.

What are yours?

OP posts:
wondering7777 · 21/12/2019 08:11

Just catching up on this thread and there are so many inspiring suggestions, thanks everyone. I’m feeling excited for 2020 now - bring it on!

OP posts:
Slazengerbag · 21/12/2019 08:19

Put my phone down more. I realised the other night I haven’t watched anything for the last 12 months without having my phone in my hand. I am far too reliant on it.

f00k · 21/12/2019 08:46

I also want to pay off debts too OP. I'm going to stop "popping to the shops" and spending £20-30 here and there when all I needed was one thing. Doing a bit of a No Spend Challenge but not too extreme.

I also want to put my phone down more. I get distracted by it easily while watching something. I want to spend my evenings reading books or watching a movie, rather than browsing on my phone.

Foghead · 21/12/2019 08:53

Organise my life better so I can put maximum effort into my new business around chores and leisure.
Lose two stone by doing 16.8 and no junk.
Yoga 3 times a week. Running 3 times a week.
More reading for work and pleasure.

I think all that is achievable when I start putting my phone down more.

EnterFunnyNameHere · 21/12/2019 09:41

Internet less and read more. Having been an avid reader my whole life I have just seemed to stop the last few months. I think a combination of stress and not being able to concentrate - not helped by spending so much time mindlessly scrolling on here! Oh, and bring back date nights with DH, we need to spend more time actively doing stuff together, not just co-existing in the same room with the telly on!

adhdme2019 · 21/12/2019 09:44

@QueenOfCatan a Monzo card is a great alternative to carrying cash. We changed over earlier this year and are 100% sold.

BettyBatshit · 21/12/2019 09:49

-Stay off Facebook
-Dont argue with tossers online (mostly over politics)
-Embrace the body I'm in (be kinder to myself)
-Go on more dates with DH
-Go back to college! Smile

Ffsnosexallowed · 21/12/2019 09:51

I have an interview for a new job early in New year, fingers crossed!

adhdme2019 · 21/12/2019 09:51

@LivingInLaputa I’m hoping to be diagnosed and medicated this year. How have you found being on medication?

Good luck with your goals. I’m sure they’ll be more within reach now!

LivingInLaputa · 21/12/2019 10:01

Hi adhdme (wouldn’t let me tag you for some reason) - cool name!

It’s been quite a rollercoaster TBH, some people report feeling that instant clarity (as if someone has stopped fiddling with the dial on an old radio, and given you control of it!) but I didn’t. I can see it’s making a difference though especially now I’m up at standard dose. Evenings are more of a struggle when it wears off but I guess that shows it is working! It’s little differences though, for example now I can count reps at the gym without getting lost around 4/5 every single time :o

Happy to PM etc by the way (can recommend a load of FB groups too)

SleepDeprivedElf · 21/12/2019 10:02

Finish my old job

Start my new one - be especially organised and awesome (well, try to)

Go to Pilates

Put down my phone and enjoy my kids

Go on more trips out to the countryside

SleepDeprivedElf · 21/12/2019 10:03

Get my own needs met instead of being squeezed out by everyone else's

BettyBatshit · 21/12/2019 10:42

Get my own needs met instead of being squeezed out by everyone else's

Thats a good one!

adhdme2019 · 21/12/2019 13:23

@LivingInLaputa thanks so much for the info. I’m insanely jealous of you right now being on meds. Did you have to go private for your diagnosis?

I’m on a couple of the groups on Facebook but frustratingly I can’t post in case someone I know sees it.

LivingInLaputa · 21/12/2019 14:47

No it was NHS, I will PM you later :)

MissBehaving1000 · 21/12/2019 14:52

I need to knock drinking alcohol on the head, or seriously cut down.

I've done it before, so know I can do it again.

It's lead to me putting a lot of weight on and I look and feel like shit most of the time.

Here's to a new me in 2020! ☕️

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 21/12/2019 14:55

In 2020 my painful and malfunctioning reproductive organs will finally be given their marching orders. I'm on the waiting list for a hysterectomy Smile. I also plan to start running twice a week instead of once (although perhaps not immediately after the hysterectomy).

PorpentinaScamander · 21/12/2019 14:58
  1. Finish sorting my house and keep it tidy
  2. Try and get well enough to return to work
  3. Mend my broken heart and learn to be single again.
TheBitchOfTheVicar · 21/12/2019 16:28

Run regularly - target is 2020km in the whole year.

Save an average of £400/month.

Set and hit work goals - wfh is quite demotivating for me.

BUJO regularly.

Sarcelle · 22/12/2019 09:42

Lose the final stone. Get back into fitness. In the summer I spent a few months exercising regularly. I looked so much better, but mentally the effects were miraculous.I felt in control and much more positive than normal. I still exercise but in a desultory way so the effects have worn off a bit, so I will be stepping that up.

Limit online activities and return to books, my first love which has been elbowed since I got a tablet a few years back. And use the phone as a communication tool and for info in transit, not an excuse to surf the net every time I am a passenger in a car or on a train or in a cafe etc.

Do something creative. It might just be a bit of knitting but it gets me away from screen time.

Stop trying to win people over. That old saying, those that matter don't mind, those that mind don't matter. Where I work I am like a square peg in a round hole. I contort my personality to try and get people to like and include me. It is stopping. They never will like me, they are not my cup of tea either, so why on earth do I creep around trying to get them to change their opinion. I have gradually stopped the last few weeks and like getting fit, makes me feel more positive and in control.

Live in the now, stop projecting ahead or expecting the worse.

Kathsmum · 22/12/2019 10:48

Fly to the moon that’s a dh problem not weight. How dare he?! I’d be telling him you feel same about baldness if I wanted to stoop to his level!

Seriously, be healthy and fit for you not some stuff idea of what he feels Is attractive. Xx

granadagirl · 22/12/2019 10:59

1 To keep my mh in check

  1. To try and get out more & join in
(social anxiety)
  1. Be kinder to myself, instead of being myself down on what I can’t do
FauxFox · 22/12/2019 11:14
  1. Buy a house and decorate it Smile
  2. Have a year off booze
  3. Get back into regularly running
  4. Instigate proper homework/revision time for my reluctant teens and incentivise/support them to do their best
  5. Take my trustee role more seriously and do a fundraiser for the charity.
IpanemaGallina · 22/12/2019 12:41

Nice thread.

Read more. I’ve read 5 books this year, hope to double that by putting my phone away.

Keep on de-cluttering. I started in September and it’s made such a difference to the amount of time I spend tidying up.

The big one is to move house. We’ve given it 10 years but I can’t bear it anymore (shitty neighbours and constant traffic). It’s made me anxious and depressed. We’ve discussed it with our teen dc and they are now okay about it, even if it means leaving friends behind.

wondering7777 · 26/12/2019 05:47

Sounds good Ipanema! Decluttering is an ongoing mission for me as well. When every single thing in my house can be described as “beautiful or useful” I will be very happy!

OP posts: