Things I’d like to do in 2013

Over the past 10 days I’ve spent 20+ hours in airplanes… the result of living on a different continent from family during the holidays. The vast majority of this time was spent watching movies and reading magazines, but as my mind wandered for the first time ever I found myself compiling a variety of New Year’s Resolutions.

This resulted in a list of 6 resolutions, which I intended to whittle down to one key objective for 2013.

As I contemplated the relative importance of each item, it dawned on me that I could achieve the full list in 2013 if I put my mind to it. In fact, the items ended up being things I wanted to do more – opposed to the typical metric-driven resolutions. So, the following is my “Things I’d like to do in 2013″ list:

Music

I want to bring back music to my life. Although I love not having a car in London, I do miss the hour of radio inherent in a typical US commute I’ve played piano for more than 20 years and just last month I received a keyboard for my 30th birthday – so not only do I want to listen to more music, I also want to play more music.

Mornings

I want to wake up earlier. I am naturally a night owl and often most productive after midnight. However, I feel like allowing extra time in the morning will result in a more calm and focused day ahead.

Breakfast

I want to eat more protein for breakfast. My energy level is always higher when I substitute eggs for cereal or a protein smoothie for a granola bar. It’s just a matter of time. Waking up early will allow me to make a healthy, balanced breakfast for my wife and I.

Travel

I want to travel more. I’ve been living in London for 2 years and failed to make a serious effort to prioritize travel. This will change in 2013 as I intend to plan trips further in advance and utilizing more of the glorious vacation time allotted in the UK. Columbia, Turkey, and Greece are just the beginning…

Think

I want to think more often. Not just the typical daily task-based thinking… but really stepping back to ponder things I find important. This could include anything from weighing the pros and cons of an interesting startup during a leisurely museum stroll, to thinking through all aspects of an www.opinsy.com topic while wandering through a park.

Breaks

I want to take more short breaks during the day. In my opinion too many people correlate time sitting at a desk with the amount of work being done. I’m a true believer in quality over quantity, and my preferred way to achieve this is through short bursts of high-quality activity followed by down time. Sitting for more than 90 minutes isn’t productive, and I intend to do less of this in 2013.

About Andy Shannon

Hi, I'm Andy and this is my blog, hope you enjoy. Feel free to get in touch anytime via Twitter or Linkedin