How will you improve your life in 2020?

[wondering7777]

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?

Oh and make a bloody will. I signed up to Will Aid in September and didn't get the paperwork back in time

1. Get fitter. Aiming for 10k steps per day and exercise 2/3 times per week.

1. Decorate the house. We moved into a new build this year and have been living in a blank shell.

1. Start driving again. I haven’t driven in a number of years and it has built up to be a bit of a phobia.

1. Start TTC. This Christmas has made us realise we are ready to start a family.

Starting focusing a little more on me. I work FT, have three kids and other volunteer responsibilities (saying "no" is something else I need to work on).

I've been stressed and comfort eating recently so I'm the heaviest I've ever been. Need to spend time on meal prep and exercise, even if that cuts into family or other time.

I'm important too.

@Ambrose - I sympathise with that. Something I did was talk to them about why different food groups mattered to their health, so it didn;t matter if they 'liked' the food or not, as long as they didn't hate it. I let them choose what their five a day would be - usually apple, sweetcorn, peas, carrots and then something sneaky like a smoothie or banana milkshake for the last one. It was boring but I got a bit of satisfaction at mentlaly ticking off 'At least they've had their five a day.' I also used to get Abidec vitamin drops and put them in apple or orange juice so they got the vitamins they needed. It's a slow process but worth the effort. My two both really enjoy food now, but didn't at all in their primary school years.

Loving this thread and all the inspiring replies!

The pesky 'to do' list still needs to be worked through

I have a huge and seemingly never-ending to do list, full of really tricksy DIY jobs and that sort of thing. I used to find it really disconcerting, but recently read an article about accepting that your list will never come to an end because there’s always something more you can do.

It’s made me feel much more at peace with my list - and rather than striving to get it all done then feeling like a failure because I can’t, I now just aim to keep plugging away at it and tackle one job every one or two weeks. I’m sure that by the end of the year I’ll still have a list as long as my arm, as I’m continually adding to it, but at least I’ll have completed around 30 more jobs than I have currently.

@TheDuchessofDukeStreet thank you for the website info! I'm making the carrot cake overnight oats for breakfast tomorrow

Trying to go through my recipe books at the moment as a lot of them are library ones which need to go back - made two WW recipes and one SW one today - quite tasty.

@wondering7777 I prefer a 'to do' list that you can tick off, makes me feel more productive! Bullet journalling looks amazing but I just don't have the time. I use Evernote (app/ website) a lot but find physically writing stuff down is better for me when it's for finances - hoping to get everything going before New Year.....

Bite the bullet and change my career - get some work experience then quit my wanky office job (or go PT) for an apprenticeship or college course. I will go from 35k to

Haha daily mail online then flicking back to excel when my boss walks in is actually my work life!

1. Lose weight/ get fit
2. Buy house
3. Get married
4. Get pregnant/ have baby
5. Finish post-grad course

Looks like it’s going to be a busy year [santa]

I would like to be able to go back out to work after being a sahm/carer to ds1 for many years. I am currently working towards becoming a retained firefighter but need to get my fitness up.

Ruby slippers, lovely! Enjoy.

Sounds like 2020’s going to be a very exciting year for you @RebekahVardysAccount!

Either exiting or disappointing @wondering7777 depending on if I manage any of them! Either way, I’m sure it will be an interesting year

@RebekahVardysAccount

We have really similar goals!

I also need to lose weight and get fit.
I’m also getting married.
I plan to build an extension on our current house or move to a new one instead.
I have a qualification to do too

No babies though thank you kindly!

Good luck with all of yours!!!

1. Lose the rest of the weight I gained in 2018

1. Finish my masters and get PhD funding

1. Move into our new house and finally stop renting

Cutting down on red meat, never cooking it at home.

Get fitter.

Declutter / clear out the garage
Keep a tidy show room ready house
Get promoted at work or leave
Save 10k by the end of the year

@ItIsWhatItIsInnit I'm thinking of re-training as well - or more specifically, actually training for something, as I've only ever done office admin jobs before which haven't required any particular qualifications! After a few years out of the workplace being a SAHM I've lost a lot of confidence and would like to train properly for a new role. Just need to work out what I'd like to do now.....

@ItIsWhatItIsInnit

@RubySlippers77

Good luck. I changed careers in 2015 at the age of 37. The best thing I ever did for my mental health.

I took a massive leap of faith by resigning from one job without a new one to go to. Eventually someone (a start up - they tend to be a bit more open minded) gave me a chance doing what I wanted to do and I spent two years doing a post grad qualification part time. It was bloody hard work at times but worth it longer term, as I have so many options available to me now.

I couldn’t stop thinking - I just can’t keep doing this job for another 30 years, it will kill me.

@RubySlippers77

I don’t know if you went to uni but if you did, could you have a chat with your Uni careers service. If not, maybe the National careers service.

@BettyJean I did, but it was many many years ago! I did a humanities degree so nothing vocational sadly. I will have a look into it though, thank you

I keep thinking about things like book keeping, which would fit in well with childcare, but have no aptitude for it. My local college doesn't offer many part time courses either, which doesn't help - not much choice!

@RubySlippers77

Perhaps fill in one of those online careers questionnaires. It might throw up something you’ve never even thought of.

www.opencolleges.edu.au/careers/career-quiz/

Sort a financial settlement through court with ex.
Finalise the divorce.
Pay my debts off
Take the kids on holiday
Lose some weight
Get a new job
Make sure my eldest passes her driving test before she goes to uni.
Stop being so much of a people pleaser
Fix my car or get a new one.
Decorate the house