This year I’ll be using Cal Newport’s suggestions from Digital Minimalism to structure my goals as a series of objectives and strategies to make those objectives happen. I’m going to add “Tasks” to Objectives and Strategies.
Caveat: For the purposes of tracking and accountability I’m starting the year on January 6th, not the 1st.
Caveat 2: These objectives will evolve over time and I’m not treating these as do-or-die commitments. These are meant to serve me and my health / happiness / productivity, not be a ball and chain.
As I write this on January 5th and have been thinking about the objectives for the last week all of this seems doable but I’m also ending a long stretch of PTO and I know that work will demand a lot of my time and mental energy starting tomorrow. That’s part of the reason the goals from 2024 were so out of touch with reality: I made that list while on a ski trip and totally disconnected from work. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen this year.
Objective: End 2025 in Measurably Better Health (Fitness)
My original version of this was just a repeat of “Lose 40 lbs” from last year, but I’m not convinced that’s the best way to measure what I’m trying to accomplish. I’m trying to be in better health, and while that will involve losing weight, it’s not a great sole measure of progress. I could aggressively do IF for 4-6 months, not work out at all, and probably hit the 40 lb goal. But I feel that would be sacrificing health for weight loss.
Strategy / next step: Decide on ways to measure and start tracking. Lose weight, gain muscle, run farther or faster, increase VO2 max, pick up a new physical activity.
Strategy: Build a weekly, repeatable workout and diet schedule.
Objective: Finish a Half Marathon by the End of 2025 (Fitness)
My first 5k was the Cleveland Half / 5k race in October, 2024. I want to do the Half at that race on Oct. 25th, 2025. From the reading I’ve been doing, going from completed 5ks to a completed HM in 10 months is more than doable. According to the internet’s opinion I could a full marathon in that amount of time. But I don’t know that I want to go that crazy.
Strategy: 3 runs per week – 1 tempo run, 1 interval run, 1 long run
Strategy: 1 running-focused strength and/or flexibility workout per week
Objective: Be in Consistent Bible Study and Prayer (Spiritual)
Self-explanatory. I’m not worried about checking off a box literally every day as much as making sure the habit is there. I think it’s going to be easier on the Bible study side – I restarted SOAP journaling in late December and that kind of forces some consistency and time spent.
Strategy: Keep downtime settings on phone where they are now – most things disabled between 9:30 PM and 7:45 AM – so I can’t just roll out of bed and immediately start doomscrolling.
Strategy: No other forms of input allowed until Bible study is done.
Objective: End 2025 in Measurably Better Financial Shape (Finances)
I want to set hard numbers and especially concentrate on the emergency fund, but like the fitness objective above, I think it’d be better to look at finances more holistically. Not just hitting a number in a bank account.
Task: Decide with Rachel how to measure this
Objective: Finish a work of fiction (Creative)
I don’t anticipate even starting on this in earnest until the middle of the year because the house projects will suck most of my time but I can be story planning and writing small bits during downtime. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I need to get a completed story done so I can decide if it’s something I want to pursue more in the coming years.
Strategy: Write something every day. That’s the reason this blog exists. Not because I believe anyone will ever read it or care, but to give me a place to build the habit of writing things, finishing them, and putting the out into the world. Even if it’s just shouting into the void of the internet. (Thanks for that, Seth Godin.)
Objective: Make Progress on Personal Software Projects (Leisure)
I’m reclassifying this from business to leisure this year. I used to enjoy working on these projects and hope that if I treat them as just fun instead of a business thing I might actually make some progress and maybe allow myself to just code for the enjoyment (and take shortcuts that a “real” software product wouldn’t.) This isn’t about finishing any of these projects; it’s about reclaiming some of my enjoyment of programming.
Strategy: Include a time block for this activity specifically. Make sure it’s on a day where I won’t be mentally wiped out from work.
Objective: Read 24 books (Leisure)
I’m setting this number deliberately low because I don’t know how my reading time will go due to work and the very long list of house projects below.
Strategy: Limit screen time. Fill Reddit doomscrolling time with reading.
Objective: Craft 6 just-for-fun things (Leisure)
Objective: Reduce Clutter
I don’t have a fully-formed articulation of what this means. I don’t mean just physical clutter. I know what I’m aiming for, but I’ll have to work on expressing it.
Objective: Finish all large house projects (Projects)
Finish the list. Don’t start any new ones (not including whatever I’ve forgotten to include in these areas for the purpose of making these spaces finished/livable) unless these are done and Rachel agrees the new project is necessary.
- Playhouse – House
- Playhouse – Ladder
- Playhouse – Swings and monkey bars
- Downstairs – Fix flooring
- Downstairs – Fix hole in ceiling; remove swing and boards
- Downstairs – Trim work in main room
- Downstairs – Trim work in bathroom
- Downstairs – Touch up painting in main room
- Downstairs – Touch up painting in bathroom
- Downstairs – Fix wobbly toilet in bathroom
- Downstairs – Add door to water heater closet
- Downstairs – Paint over awful yellow paint
- Downstairs – Install fireplace
- Downstairs – Complete built-in bookshelves
- Downstairs – Ceiling drywall in office
- Downstairs – Storage closet light
- Downstairs – New CAT5 jacks near TV in office (electrician)
- Downstairs – New power outlet near TV in office (electrician)
- Downstairs – Seal doors
- Downstairs – Get rid of old furniture
- Downstairs – New furniture moved in
- Back porch – Bug netting
- Back porch – Figure out how to get rid of blue painters tape
- Back porch – Touch up painting
- Living room – New fan install
- Master bedroom – Rehang my closet door
- Spare bedroom – Reconfigure
- Spare bedroom – Buy new furniture
- Dining room – Paint
- Dining room – Fix curtain rod
- Outside – Junk cleanup
