Ten things to do in 2020

I know that we are already a few days into 2020, but for me the New Year really starts today - the Christmas decorations are packed away, the house is tidied, most of the extra food is eaten, and the children are back at school.

This year, alongside my usual resolutions (go to the gym more, lose weight, declutter and so on) I've decided to come up with a list of ten things that I want to do this year. They are specific, one off things rather than vague goals, and I can tick off as I complete them.

So here is my list of ten things that I want to do in 2020, in no particular order:

Learn to play Moonlight Sonata on the piano - I've wanted to do this since I was a teenager, and I even bought the sheet music, but it was too difficult for me. I recently bought Harry a piano book which has a simpler version of the piece that I can just about muddle through - I just need to practice and increase my speed and confidence!

Read at least five books from my bucket list books poster - For my birthday last year I received a very cool gift, a scratch off poster with 100 bucket list books to read. I've read quite a few already and I've been working my way through a few more over the last few months. This year I want to read at least five more from the list.

Play the Minimalism Game - I've completed this month long decluttering challenge several times over the last few years and found it a great way to quickly pass on lots of things that I no longer need and clear some space. I'm thinking about aiming for February with this one to make it a bit easier!

Take my sketchbook to the beach - I bought a sketchbook at the end of last year and I've been bringing home bits of seaweed from the beach to draw. When the weather warms up a bit I want to take it down to the beach so that I can draw in situ.

Sort out my books - It's been a while since I had a book clear out and I'm suffering with an overflow. I want to fit all my books into the bookcase and leave room to spare for new ones.

Do 100 days of something - I'm not sure what yet, but I'd love to complete the 100 Day Project. It officially begins this year on 7th April, but I may choose my own dates as we'll be away for some of that time, or else I'll need to choose something portable to work on.

Sort out our 2019 photos - We are quite good about copying photos from our phones and backing them up, but not quite so good about sorting them out and deleting the duplicate and rubbish ones. I need to go through the 2019 photos, get them organised, and then choose the top ones to make my computer screensaver for the next year.

Use our English Heritage membership - We've already got our money's worth from the passes that we bought last summer, but as a minimum I still want to visit Kenilworth Castle, Battle and Portchester Castle before they expire in July.

Fill up my sketchbook - There are 100 pages if I use both sides, so plenty of space to keep me going!

Proper meal planning - I do meal plan to a certain extent but my repertoire is quite limited and we do eat the same things over and over again, I need to list out the meals that I can make and try and incorporate some new ones. I'm thinking about making up a Trello board which lists the ingredients in each recipe so that I can easily add them to the weekly shopping list as part of my planning.

Photo credit Glenn Carstens-Peters via Unsplash

I'll update with my results at the end of the year!