The beginning of a new year has always been a motivation for me to better myself. And 2018 will be a great, stressful year for me. I just finished writing down my 2018 Milestones and plan and boy. I really need to stick to my schedule to make sure I achieve my goals for the year.

Sleep is for the weak, and goodbye to social life!

I procrastinated for almost a year to taking my PMP exam, and now I have only a month to prepare for it. It isn’t enough, but I have to sacrifice a lot of things to make sure I meet my deadline.

2018 is also the year I’ll be putting one leg out the door of the UAE, which is exciting and equally terrifying. I am writing this all down and sharing it with you so feel free to check up on me to whether I’m still alive and whether I’m progressing how I should be.

January

January is solely dedicated to PMP preparations. February until mid-March is for the setup and launch of Ambisyosa Phase 1. March until the end of April I will be studying for my IELTS exam and hopefully get the score I want. When May kicks in, I will be studying for TEF. I honestly have no idea how long I need to consider TEF since the only French words I know right now are basic greetings. And words related to eating and food. With or without TEF in the bag, I will be submitting my immigration application to Canada by the end of September.

The rest of the year

I will keep studying, focusing on revisiting CSS, HTML (I’m such a nerd), and the Fundamentals of Design.  Phew!

Resolutions are making a comeback!

I cannot remember the year I deliberately stopped making New Year’s Resolutions. In primary and secondary school we were always made to write and think about them. This year, I’ve written down my resolutions for 2018, and I tried my best to make them as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) as possible.

• Ditch multitasking completely, starting today. I’ve read so many articles about why we should ditch multi-tasking, and I agree with this. My primary reasons for giving it up are: it’s exhausting, I don’t get to reflect and optimize my work, and it’s not ideal if you have multiple projects and you commit more mistakes. If you are interested in some tips and articles on this, read this or this.
• Purposely unplug for at least half of the day. While I have been somehow successful in detaching myself from my phone this 2017. I still believe I need to be offline more. This 2018, I will not be using my phone before I leave home for work. I shall remain online until 8 o’clock in the evening. I’m purposely unplugging, and turning off data on my mobile phone. I initially thought of switching it to Airplane mode.  But living far away from my family, and everyone is in different time zones, I thought I should at least keep the communication line open for calls.
• Wake up at 5 am, every day, including weekends. Since I will be on a rigorous schedule starting in January, I need to wake up at 5 am. This is to make sure I have enough time to hustle and study outside of my full-time job. This also means I can enjoy some time to myself and prepare myself for the rest of the day. While I do like sleeping, I don’t mind waking up early. The only problem is waking up early during the week and not having any sleeping schedule during weekends. It ruins my sleeping cycle. Hence, I have to get out of bed at 5 am even on weekends.
• Write in the morning. Writing has always been a passion of mine, and it works for me as therapy. I want to write more and go back to journaling.
• Record at night. Last year I was given a voice recorder which I barely used this 2017 and hope to use more this 2018. I realized it is perfect for when I couldn’t sleep at night. Sometimes my brain works too much and gets a lot of ideas at night, and I forget them in the morning. I tried keeping a notebook on my bedside table, but it doesn’t work for me. Because then I have to turn on the light, and then I couldn’t sleep even more.

More resolutions to keep…

• Do yoga again, in the morning before breakfast. Yoga and stretching are something I enjoy and an essential part of my workout plan which I’m trying to get back on.
• Keep Paypal money untouched. I earned quite a bit from my freelancing work this 2017. And it was disappointing to me when I saw the total and then did not have a clue where all the money went. So, instead of using my freelancing money on silly things, I will keep it as extra savings.
• No Spend Year. Over the years, my shopping habits have changed drastically. Until two years ago, I will spend between 2-3,000 dirhams a month on clothes without having any second thoughts. There’s still a lot of room for improvement though, and since I also most likely will need to get rid of most of the things I currently own before moving to another place, I’ve decided 2018 is a No Spend Year.
• Take more photos.
• Read a minimum of 22 books this year. I barely read anything this year, shame, and I’ve already listed down the 22 books I want to read this 2018. But, as I was organizing my things last night, I found my other pile of books to read. The pile includes Little Flies Everywhere by Celeste Ng, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me : A Memoir  by Sherman Alexie, Sourdough by Robin Sloan, 300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso, The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero, and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.

Oh, sh*t.

I have no other choice but to try and succeed this year, no matter how stressful and tiring my plan looks. 2017 was definitely not my year, I’ve been depressed and lazy all year, and this can’t go on. To be honest, all of these are just the tip of the iceberg for what’s in store for me and everyone this coming year. I wish you all the best (a bit of luck won’t hurt) this 2018!