Start Your “20 for 2020” List

The new year is upon us! I don’t usually get too crazy with New Year’s resolutions and normally just pick one self-care type resolution that I try to carry with me throughout the year. 2019 was the year of “Speak Up,” which means every time I found myself keeping quiet just to be polite, I reminded myself that it was 2019 and to speak up. This applied to all kinds of situations – from when the waiter is ignoring our table or the movie in the theater is way too loud (yes, I said something, and it got quieter!) to when someone says something offensive that I can’t just let go out of politeness. In the past, I have done things like the year of “Be Nice” and the year of “Just Say No to Non-Mandatory Things.” These resolutions carry forward, so they don’t end at the end of the year.

This year, I am going to pick 20 specific things that I want to do in 2020 that can literally just be checked off a list. I think this will be fun and satisfying, and I hope you’ll join me!

Without further ado, here is my “20 for 2020” list:

1.  Figure out how to use my Nikon camera for real

In a moderately considered but somewhat impulse purchase, I bought a Nikon D5600 a couple of months ago. With a broken foot. So, as much as I’ve wanted to be able to mess around with it and start taking lots of pictures, I’ve been kind of limited.

2.  Learn how to use voice memos while I’m driving (shopping lists, to-do lists, etc.)

I don’t know why, but between Siri and Alexa, I can’t figure out how to get either of them to remind me of things. This is something I literally just need to dedicate 15 minutes towards figuring out, so I’m hoping this will be something that I can cross of my list pretty quick. Once I can get this working, my life will be so much easier.

3.  Plan/take trip to NY with twins

I turn 40 in the summer, my mom turns 70, and the twins turn 5. Jeremy and I go to NYC just about every year, but the twins have never been. I would love to do a trip with my family to celebrate all of our upcoming big birthdays, and I think taking the twins to NYC to see all the museums and the sights would be a blast.

4.  Get an under-desk treadmill

I was planning to ask for this for Christmas because I already have a standing desk at work, but then I broke my foot. Once I’m back in business, I would love to have a little treadmill under my standing desk so I can keep moving – every little bit helps!

5.  Plan an annual girls’ weekend

We all do this every year, right? We get together with old friends and say, “We need to do this more often!” And then another year goes by, everyone gets busy, we can’t find a weekend that works for everyone. This year my goal is to pick a weekend that will be THE weekend every year, so everyone will know what weekend it is and can always plan to be there.

6.  Figure out the Twitter

Guys, I just don’t get it. I am going to make an effort to figure out how Twitter works and get a little more active on my account. I will take any advice or tips here; I have no idea what I’m doing! Or what anyone else is doing on Twitter, for that matter!

7.  Take a flower arrangement class

This is a life skill I never acquired. It’s not common for me to receive a bouquet or bunch of flowers that isn’t already arranged, but when I do, my attempt to get the flowers into a vase is always a real hack job.

8.  Cook 1 new recipe a month

I use Hello Fresh and Sun Basket a fair amount, which keeps me cooking dinner at least 2-3 times a week most weeks, but for those weeks that I skip the delivery, I want to go back to actually searching for a recipe that I want to try. With my schedule, it’s risky to try something that might be a flop, but there’s always Uber Eats!

9.  Monthly one-on-one with twins

I feel like this might be the most challenging thing I have on the list just because scheduling anything is so tough. If I’m with one of them, someone has to be with the other one, and unless Jeremy is planning to do something fun with the other, I can see meltdowns occurring. But I think they would both really love it – they are rarely apart, and when they’re separated, they tend to forget the other one isn’t there. They need a little independence and undivided attention.

10.  Pick a new charity

I’m kind of cheating on this one because I’ve already picked my new charity for the year. I have my bank account set up to send automatic monthly donations to a couple of my favorite local charities, and I’ve picked a new one for the year. If you’re local to Las Vegas, and you’re looking for a great local charity to throw some money at, my current list includes Three Square (providing assistance to food insecure families and individuals in Nevada), Spread the Word Nevada (promoting literacy and bringing the magic of books to at-risk children in Nevada), and starting in January, the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation (providing support services and programs for families with children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses or conditions). I’ve done the research for you. These are all highly rated charities, and a very large portion of your donation will go directly to the services they provide instead to executive compensation and admin costs.

11.  Yoga once a week

I used to be so good about getting to a yoga class twice a week and would generally always do a 60-90 minute class on Sundays. Since I broke my foot, I really can’t do yoga much at all because I can’t put weight on one foot. Even a gentle down dog is too painful. I am pretty concerned about losing flexibility and strength. I’m sure I’ll be back at it in no time, but it’s stressing me out!

12.  Finish 1 audiobook a month

I feel like many of my 2020 goals come back to falling off the wagon due to my broken foot. I was listening to audiobooks a great deal on my drive to pick up the kids from school each afternoon, or while I was on my morning walk, but you can’t really drive with a broken right foot. . . and walking. . . well. I’m back to at least driving now that my foot is betting better (I am THRILLED about this development), so I can start catching back up.

13.  Don’t open any apps until 7:00 a.m. or after 9:30 p.m.  

I am pretty bad about this these days with my blog being so new. I tend to jump online as soon as I wake up so I can try and get all my social media “stuff” underway before the twins get up and I have to work out, get ready, go to work, do school pickup, dinner, bedtime, etc. Often, I can spend an hour after they go to bed trying to catch up. I am getting more efficient at managing my social media, so I think I can start streamlining this process and making sure it’s not taking over all my free time.

14.  Start a spend/save/give allowance for twins

The twins are 4.5, and I think it’s time they start understanding how money works. It’s important to me that they start early with a habit of immediately saving a portion of what they receive. Now, the big birthday and college savings money from grandma will continue to be handled by me (ha!), but the little amounts they receive for birthdays, Christmas, etc. should be handed over to them to manage. I’d also like to teach them to set aside a certain amount to give to those less fortunate. They already understand about giving clothes and toys to other kids because we go through their things every few months, and they say “Thank you for letting me play with you – I hope you have fun with the other babies!” It’s pretty cute. I’d like to have this idea carry over to any cash they might receive.

15.  Publish 1 blog post a week

I’ve determined that I can make one blog post happen a week. Sometimes my posts take forever to draft, and sometimes they’re quick. One of the things I didn’t realize before starting this fun little activity is how much time it takes to put together quality posts (not just from a writing perspective, but aesthetically, making sure everything looks and works like it should, getting the word out there about your blog and your latest post, etc.). It’s a lot of fun, but I think at this point, one post a week will be my goal for the year.

16.  Increase all automatic savings and investment plans

Ok, I cheated and did this one early too. I jumped online just this afternoon and edited my automatic savings and investment plans to increase the amount going in. I use a dollar cost averaging method to take advantage of fluctuations in the market, so my contributions are weekly – this way, they’re also smaller chunks, and I don’t really even notice or miss the money. If you don’t already have an automatic savings plan in place, this is a great time to start. If you already have one, this is a great time to increase your contributions.

17.  150 Peloton rides

This averages out to about 3 rides a week, with a little wiggle room. I think I can make this happen.

18.  Pay off both cars

Jeremy’s car is just about paid off, and I think if we up our payments on mine and snowball what he’s been paying towards my car payment, we can do this. We are considering trying to build a new home next year, and reducing our car loans can only help our overall financial picture for when we apply for construction loans. Plus, who wants a car payment?

19.  Get new glasses

This one is just ridiculous. Noah grabbed my glasses the YEAR THE TWINS WERE BORN and broke them. They’re not broken enough that I can’t wear them at all, but broken enough that if I turn my head too fast, they will go flying across the room. The reason I haven’t taken care of this in the last FOUR YEARS is that I only wear my glasses for the walk between my bathroom sink and my bed most nights, so it’s hardly relevant to my daily life. Regardless, it needs to be done. Ridiculous, like I said.

20.   Catch up on Chatbooks

I recently started ordering Chatbooks for my Facebook account, since that is the account I was primarily to share to social media when the twins were born. I was pretty happy with the results after I ordered the first one, and I’ve ordered 2 so far. The thing I like about Chatbooks is that it’s SUPER easy to use, and the dates and captions from your posts are included, so none of that extra work is required. Also, it takes literally a few minutes to put one together for a specific date range. This is something I just need to do. Everyone comes over and loves looking through the pictures, and the twins LOVE seeing pictures of themselves when they were little.

What are your 2020 goals?

I’m not saying you have to put together a list of 20 things you want to do, but as you can see from my list, it’s not as difficult as it might seem. My list isn’t comprised of things like “I’m going to run a marathon!” and “I’m going to get a Master’s degree!” All of the things on my list are absolutely doable. Putting a list together of unattainable goals would be completely counterproductive. I’m trying to create a list of things that are a good mix of challenging and simple to-dos that have fallen through the cracks. I’ve already preemptively crossed off a couple of items on the list, and I’m excited to keep plugging along on my goals for the coming year.

What are things you’re looking forward to doing in 2020?