5 Goals for 2020

In a previous post I wrote my review of 2019. Here I wanted to set a few goals for myself for 2020.

I'll revisit these later in the year to see how I'm doing and which goals I've kept to and whether things have changed as the year has gone on.

Less commuting

This one is my main goal for 2020. I currently travel by train to work. The train journey is just over an hour each way but add in the journey to and from the train station and I spend almost 4 hours a day commuting.

I do work from home on an irregular basis but my goal for this year is to make remote working a consistent part of my schedule. My goal is to work from home at least 3 of 5 work days every week.

I'd love to hear suggestions on how to approach the subject with a manager. What are your thoughts on working remotely? In an organisation that isn't primarily remote, does this affect your chances of promotion?

Music

I turned 40 this year and got a new banjo as a gift. I've been learning to play it ever since. I'm currently practicing the basic techniques (rolls) but my goal is to have mastered 6 bluegrass songs to a good level by the end of 2020.

Reading

I talked about using the Goodreads reading challenge as a motivator in my review of 2019.

I intend to use the same tool again for 2020. I have completed 24 books in 2019. That might get to 25 if I can finish the one I'm currently reading by midnight.

In 2020, I'm setting my target a bit higher: 26 books (fiction/short stories). As a bonus goal, I want to include at least 4 philosophy, technical or non-fiction books.

Writing

At the beginning of 2019, I set myself a challenge to do some more learning in public and be better at passing on knowledge to the web dev community.

I ended up writing several chapters for a book and course published by Packt, The HTML and CSS Workshop.

This has motivated me to write and create more content but not necessarily another book. I hope to focus more on writing blog posts and articles.

My goal for 2020 is to write 12 technical posts. I intend to use this platform to post for now although I might actually get round to creating my own blog if I can keep to this goal.

Drawing

I am not terrible at drawing and I have been looking for hobbies that I can do away from the glare of the computer screen. I mostly doodle and draw in a cartoon-style. I want to improve at drawing and get better at a more realistic, sketching style. My goal for the year is to draw 3 portraits.

Happy New Year and good luck with your goals for 2020!