Goals for 2015

By Steve Claridge on 2015-01-02.

Usually I don't set long-term goals or declare new year's resolutions. I don't set long-term goals because I prefer to tick-off small/short-term targets to progress and I don't set new year resolutions because I think if you want to change something then you should do it now and not wait for a set date in the future.

But this year I thought I'd note down some goals for 2015 and revisit them at some point during the year. So here we go:

Get to 5 figures/month. I co-founded Audiology Engine this year and it is going good guns after five months or so, we have some big plans for 2015 and I think 5 figures/month is a great goal and also a very achievable one.

Write more. I love writing and yet I don't do it very often. I don't think I can commit to a "750 words a day" type of plan because I'm too busy with Audiology Engine, but I definitely want to write more. I might start a Tumble or some other throw-away blog just to get into the habit of getting some words down more often.

Read more. Same as with the writing, I love to read but don't do it enough, I have a stack of books by my bed waiting to be read. I just found scribd.com, which looks like a great service that I'll definitely use if I get through that bedside pile. I gave up watching most TV a while back but I still get into some series on Netflix, I'm on series 6 of House at the moment, so less Netflix and more books in 2015.

Improve my memory. I've always been intrigued by the idea of memory palaces and other tricks to help remember things. I've tired to use them before but I could never get into it, I guess practice makes perfect. I did do the American State Capitals section on Memrise last year, which was great and totally worked - the capital of New Jersey is Trenton, which I remember by picturing a ten-ton truck wearing a jumper - I want to see if I can use this type of association to remember other stuff too.

Stop reading so much shit on the Web. It's too easy to open a tab and read some utter shite on Buzzfeed and it is a big time waster. When I'm taking a short break from coding I need to do something other than read tosh on the Web, maybe this'll fit with reading more books.

Drink more water. Boring but necessary, I drink far too much coffee and tea.

Get more sleep. This has been my goal for the last...forever... and it still hasn't happened. I did briefly get into the habit of going to bed at 11pm, which is very early for me, but I slipped back to my usual time of around 12.30pm after a month or so, and seeing as I get up at 6am most days that is not nearly enough shuteye. Need to get this one sorted, sleep debt is a killer.