2018 Resolutions

I love New Year’s Eve. Not for going out (always overrated, in my opinion), but because of  the fresh start it promises. I enjoy looking back on my year, seeing what I accomplished, and setting new goals for myself. It’s a good way to ensure that you never stop growing. Because if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

2017 was a big year for us. We bought a house, became vegetarians, decluttered, and actually did some traveling for pleasure, including Cuba and Nashville. But I also crushed the professionals goals I set out for myself last year:

1. Attend more networking events: I attended every single PRSA Charlotte luncheon, helped plan the PRSA Charlotte Communications Symposium, and at the end of this year, I ended up taking over the PRSA Charlotte New Professionals Committee. My mantra for the past couple years has been “bloom where you are planted,” and with every step I take to get more involved, I set deeper, stronger roots here in Charlotte.
2. Volunteer regularly: This past summer, I joined the Junior League of Charlotte. While I’m still in my provisional year, I’ve already met so many wonderful women and made new friends, all while helping to improve our community.
3. Make more time for the things that truly make me happy: I’ve gotten better and better at saying no to things I just don’t want to do. Life is short, and I want to fill my days with what I enjoy, not obligations.

Now we’re on the eve of 2018, and my resolution is much more broad:

Earlier this year, both MPR and I conducted an experiment where we deleted all of the social media apps from our phones. (The only exception for me was Instagram, because I manage accounts for work, and there’s no way to post on Instagram from a computer.) I found that the apps kept sending me irrelevant notifications, and it’s nearly impossible to ignore those red badges on your home screen. I was tired of feeling the urgent need to open those apps, especially when 99% of the time, the notifications were pointless and after scrolling through my feeds, I was left feeling unfulfilled.

So I deleted Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Slack. At first it was a little challenging, but I did successfully break the habit of mindlessly pulling out my phone and scrolling. And as a result, I decreased the amount of time I spent on Instagram, even though it was still on my phone.

As a PR girl, I never thought that I could delete social media from my phone. But the truth is that I wasn’t any less informed and I didn’t become a recluse, I simply learned to use the networks more intentionally.

This fall, I ended up re-downloading Twitter because I help manage the PRSA Charlotte social media accounts, and we like to live tweet the luncheons, but I turned off all notifications. (Pro tip, if you try to turn off notifications on any app and it doesn’t seem to work, delete the app, re-download it, and when it prompts you to receive notifications, just hit no/not now.)

So to prevent a backslide in 2018, my resolution is to do more things that make me forget to check my phone. This includes reading more books, discovering and listening to more music, and watching higher quality shows and movies. (Side note: I forgot how overwhelming cable TV is! When we were home for Christmas, the act of trying to find something to watch on the thousands of channels made me just want to shut everything off. Netflix + Hulu for life!)

My resolution also includes getting into yoga, spending more time outside with Rufio, and continuing our quest to clean eating. It’s pretty incredible how much time you realize you have after you cut out mindless apps.

What are you working on in 2018?