New Years Resolutions

I'm normally one of those people who avoids New Years Reservations like the plague. But I'm going to try something new this year.

I'm always trying to find that ultimate successful long-term strategy to help me keep learning new ideas. I figured if the list of things to do was so short and so sweet so as to not be intimidating, I just might have a chance at actually being successful at it. For the past 6 months, I've experimented with a little post-it note on my desk. I called it my "to do" list.

My goal was to watch something new for 10 minutes, read something new for 10 minutes, do something new for 10 minutes, and write something new for 10 minutes, each work day. I must confess, this simple little post-it note inspired me to start drinking my morning coffee in front of my computer while I attempted to become human. After all, I'm not fit to interact with humans until I've had at least 2 cups of coffee in me anyways. That gives me plenty of time to work at this list. The strategy actually worked for me—early morning hours are when I am freshest. Of course, I couldn't boast a faithful 5 days a week—I considered myself lucky if I accomplished these once a week.

So this year, I'm going to change my criteria just a little:

My modified goal will be to watch something new for 15 minutes, read something new for 15 minutes, do something new for 15 minutes, and write something new for 15 minutes, each week.
If I do each of these once a week, say for 40 weeks this year, that gives me a full 40 hours of voluntary learning time. (It also leaves me plenty of time off for holidays, vacations, conferences, etc. without feeling guilty.) Right now that seems pretty doable! Of course, it is only the first week of January...