Solving for Tsundoku: Mid-Year Goal Resetting – Part 1

June 24, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

is a series of posts focused on making peace with the piles.


 

I love writing goals. Goals are the target of our ambitions or efforts; aiming for the desired result. Setting goals are great. They give you long-term vision and short-term motivation. They focus you and help you organize both your time and resources to make the most of those efforts. Goals transform your life from a passive state to an active one; they are a constant reminder of the things which inspire you.

The better you get at writing goals, the more your goal will work towards achieving your vision. What I mean by this is that some of my goals aren’t great. I most certainly wrote things which can easily set myself up for failure without achieving the intention behind my vision. Oops! It’s time to re-evaluate and realign my goals for the year. There’s nothing worse than knowing when June hits that it is literally impossible to achieve your year-long goals!

As I set my goals in two buckets, I’m breaking this post into two parts. I have both reading goals and blogging goals. First up: Let’s check out my current reading goals!

Jackie B’s 2018 Reading Goals:

  • Read at least one ARC each month: If I achieve this, and I don’t request any more ARCs from NetGalley, I will have achieved the coveted 80%! — 5/12 (41%)
  • Read 80 books (fewer than last year): I don’t want to force myself through books for numbers read, instead, I want to read more of what I want to. — 50/80 (62%)
  • 15% of my total read books should be non-fiction: I love this genre and I barely touched it last year — 5 books; 10%
  • Read 20 Newbery Award Winners: On my quest to read all 100 Newbery Award winners before the 100th winner in 2022, I need to read 17 books a year from here on out; this will give me a buffer. — 7/20 (35%)
  • Participate in at least one read along: I want to participate in an online read along. Not a book club, but something a blogger hosts with related posts and Twitter challenges and all that. — 0%

Unlike my reflections on my goals last year around this time, I don’t feel like I overcommitted myself. These goals are perfectly attainable for me. So, why haven’t I achieved them? Always ask why. Let’s break it down.

I am a huge mood reader. I rarely read something under a timeline unless I have an interaction with people at the end of it. I love reading for book discussions. But ARCs? Nope. Rarely do I feel compelled to pick up an ARC. Plus, so many of my ARCs have been disappointing…

This doesn’t mean I’m changing my ARC goal, actually. The intention behind this goal was to achieve an 80% reviewed rate on NetGalley. But it turns out that isn’t what I want. I actually want NetGalley to stop hanging over my head. Now I will be reading these with the intention of eliminating my interactions with NetGalley. I’m writing off ARCs.

The intent is there with my second goal — reading 80 books instead of 110+ should give me the flexibility to read more books I want to, particularly the larger, longer ones. However, I haven’t freed up my schedule enough to read the books I want to read. Instead of reading, I am filling my time with other tasks: Practicing music, seeing friends, blogging, playing video games. But that’s okay. I need more diversity in my free time.

Oh, non-fiction. How I love you. Particularly in audiobook form. I’m waffling on this goal. The intent is there! I want to make certain I push myself and read more non-fiction. But with all the book groups I’m involved in… Will reading these non-fiction books bring me more joy than others? I think we’re too early in the year to throw in the towel. Perhaps I lower the goal percentage to make it achievable?

I am certainly not changing my Newbery Award winner goal. This is a long-term goal and I’ve got my eye on the prize. It’s been a challenge, as lately I’ve been listening to more digital audiobooks and very few Newbery winners come in that format at my library. But I’ll make it work, no matter what I have to do!

Oh, the read along. This goal is the most disappointing. The intent here is to use my love of book clubs to better immerse myself in the book blogger community. Alas. I haven’t found any read alongs. I just want to read a book, write some posts, and interact with other people who are also doing this with the same book at the same time. Is that so much to ask?!

Now that I’ve reflected a bit, let’s see where we ended up.

Revised 2018 Reading Goals:

  • Stretch Goal: Read at least one ARC each month: A stretch goal is a goal you know you’ll have to work extra hard to achieve. I am motivated to eliminate the weight of NetGalley from my life, but perhaps not enough to crank through these. If I read 8, I’ll be happy. 12 would be magical!
  • Read 80 books (fewer than last year): No change, but for different reasons. Skyrim calls my name.
  • 10% of my total read books should be non-fiction: This changes my total non-fiction books from 12 to 8, which is more along my current path. Less pressure, still there.
  • Read 20 Newbery Award Winners: No change!
  • Bonus Goal: Participate in at least one read along: I am going to keep an eye out and participate in one if I find it, but I won’t waste time hunting for the grail if it’s only a myth. Think of it as an achievement badge! XD

I’m a bit surprised with myself! I expected my reading goals to change more drastically. I only changed three things and I already feel tons better. Knowing that I won’t be pushing myself to read an ARC every month I’m sure makes Evelina disappointed, as I’ll be leaving the State of the ARC, but this is the right thing for my mental health.

I’m looking forward to part two, where I break down the 5 goals I made for blogging. I have a feeling these goals have the intent correct, but they… they aren’t specific enough. This will be my downfall.

 

I already feel better having taken the time to sit down and critically think through my reading goals. Goals are great but poorly tended they just create unneeded stress. Are you feeling stressed out about your reading? I encourage you to take a step back. Look at what you’ve asked yourself to do. And be honest: Do you have the time, passion, and resources to make this happen? If not, make a change! Just table your goal for a while. And who says goals all need to be set during New Years Day? Just set them whenever you want. It’s easier that way.

See you for Part 2 soon!


What do you think?

  • Do you set reading goals for yourself? What are your current goals?
  • Have you ever reassessed your goals like this? What did you learn?
  • What are your tips and tricks for managing your goals?
  • Will you be adjusting your reading goals for this year?
  • Does anyone know of a read along another blogger is hosting? Am I the only one who likes these things?

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