Happy New Year everyone, I am sure I am not alone in saying that I am glad 2020 is in the past and we have a fresh set of 12 months to look forward to. While things haven’t regained any kind of normal and we still spend most of the day confined by the walls of our homes, a new year still brings optimism.
It seems to me that it wasn’t that long ago I was writing my 2019 reflections, I was looking ahead at a year of adjusting to going back to work after having my son, and organising my home life accordingly among other things.
I went back to work as planned and quickly realised how much I enjoyed (and needed) having it back in my life, only for Covid-19 to take hold. I was furloughed, went back, then got made redundant in September. I now work freelance partly because I know I can make a success of it, but also because my experience in workplaces over the last few years has completely put me off working in-house in marketing again.
Two further losses took place towards the end of 2020, firstly I lost my rabbit, Wini suddenly. Big or small, animals are a large part of our lives and become members of the family, so her loss was upsetting.
And most recently, and tragically, I lost my dad at the beginning of December following several months of sudden illness and watching him deteriorate.
So 2020 really was a truly shit year.
2021: A brand new year
Looking ahead to 2021, setting goals and making resolutions will be done tentatively because who the heck knows what we’re up against. But, lets try to think positively and hope that with further periods of lock down and vaccination roll-out, we might be in a different place come the summer.
Goal setting: Home, health and work
At home I still need to work on improving my organisation. We were fortunate to move house last summer and there’s more of it to keep clean and tidy now which is requiring a rolling monthly list of jobs to tick off. I want to be more like Mrs Hinch.
I also need to be better at meal planning. I really enjoy cooking and have relished recent opportunities to try some new recipes from my subscription to BBC Good Food magazine, but I need to create three to four weeks worth of meal plans that can be on rotation.
I need to be more mindful about how little I am moving. Even though I spend a lot of the day running around after my energetic toddler, it’s not really exercise and while park trips might wear him out, it doesn’t for me. So I have resolved to take myself off to the local park during his naps a few times a week and complete a few laps walking at a faster pace.
Finally, now I am realising my long-term goal of going freelance, I need to build my client base and be the success I know I can be. I also need to do more work on Claireysweetie, 2020 saw my ideas for new content dry up a bit and this needs reviewing.
I love my blog and blogging overall, but running the site costs money and if it doesn’t pay for itself then it just turns into an expensive hobby. It’s something that for the past seven years I have known it could be really successful and I have enjoyed some good periods, but it’s been very up and down. Now I work for myself I might be able to get back into posting more regular content.
What things have you got to look forward to in 2021?
Until next time x
