Time to Make the Switch

How many of us have heard the term, "A New Year, A New You!" as term companies use to try to sell you their products with a promise of if you buy their product, you will, in turn, be better because of it? I've heard it many, many times, but thankfully so far this year- and by year, I mean the last eight days- I've tried to spend less time on social media than I normally do. 

Photo Credit: Austin Chan at Unsplash.com

I don't buy into the whole "New Year's Resolution" thing because I feel like a failure when I eventually fall off the wagon. I don't know about you, but I am without a doubt my harshest critic, especially when it comes to the things I've left undone or things I've "failed" at.

Instead of a "resolution", I've set myself a goal that I'd like to share with you. 

My goal is to limit my exposure to online advertisements and online posts- I say "online" because it was over 10 years ago when I stopped subscribing to magazines that also made me feel this way- that make me feel not-so-great about myself.  What I mean is the needless and mindless scrolling through social media when I'm bored that often brings me to articles that I would normally never seek out and read. 

Just this morning my phone said it had my weekly wellness report ready, which I never read, but today I felt like looking at it and when I saw my weekly usage amount was taken back. 

I spend over three hours a day on my phone being online. That doesn't include the amount of time I spend on my laptop. Wow. That's an average of 24.5 hours per week. 

I know that may be a low number for some people but for me it's just too high. I plan on reading my wellness report each week and taking a screen shot to keep track of my progress. 

 I want to reduce that number from 24.5 hours per week to more like 10 hours per week, which still seems like a ton. My goal is to spend that time that I'm pointlessly scrolling on social media and pick up a book and read. 

One thing I don't like to do when it comes to reading is to set a goal for myself. I just enjoy reading too much for that. I've tried in the past, but life happens, and there always seems to be a reason why I can't hit that goal and then I'm hard on myself. 

While my "want" for 2024 would to be to read a book with the name of the month in the title, (example: The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Middlemarch, The Enchanted April, Light in August, etc.) I don't want to be hard on myself if that doesn't happen. Plus, it's not easy to find books that have a month in the title!

I do have a few books on me to be read list that I would like to read this year, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't get to each and every one. 

 

A few classics I hope to read this year include:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Anadolu

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

My Antonia by Willa Carter 

(Currently Reading)

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

(Although I won't be reading this copy, the print is MUCH too small)

Light in August by William Faulker

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dufoe

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevensen

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

(Currently Reading)

And many others I don't yet own!