More and Less

Last Friday the blog Cup of Jo included a reference to a different way of thinking about New Year's resolutions.   The basic idea is to consider what you'd like more of in your daily life and what that means in terms of decreasing something else.   Like, "I need to walk more and that means that I need to sit less."   It got me thinking about what I could use more and less of in my life.  I don't generally make resolutions, but I do occasionally reflect on what's working for me and what isn't.   

After thinking about it for a while I came up with three ways I could improve things this year .

The first is easy to understand.   A higher than usual cholesterol reading from some recent lab work has me thinking of ways to cut back on fat.  Eating more vegetables and less meat should help.  

The second comes from a realization that I waste time checking mail, Facebook, and Instagram on my iPhone instead of waiting until I have time to look at them on the much large screen of my MacBook.  I've been checking those sites several times a day when I'm on the go.  But when I spot something I really want to enjoy I end up looking on it again on my MacBook.    It's both frustrating and a waste of time.  So I'm experimenting with not jumping on my phone all the time and instead getting on my MacBook once in the morning and once in the evening to have a leisurely look at these image heavy sites.  So far, so good. 

About the third item.  You may have noticed that the iPhone has a news icon on the home screen.  It was an addicting little app and I spent way too much time reading the news items it offered, many of which were quite stupid.  (Like, "Texas baby weighs nearly 15 pounds at birth, breaking hospital record.")  Even away from the phone news is readily available.  Sirius radio provides easy access to all the cable news and every time I was in my car I listened to the various channels.  There's rarely real news, and mostly just commentary, and it was starting to make me feel anxious.  So I'm training myself to not tune into those stations and instead take a minute to Bluetooth to my phone so I can hear my favorite music.   I can read all the news I want when I have my twice-daily lap book sessions, and of course there's always the cable stations on TV which I record so I can zap through the redundant or annoying parts. 

I like the idea of just three "more/less" statements to focus on as goals for a while.   Who knows; keeping it simple may mean I actually achieve results!