2021 Bookish Resolutions

2021 is almost here and I am very much looking forward to the new year. While a lot of this year's problems will persist into the upcoming year, I also have hope that things will get better. That being said, my reading and life habits have changed drastically this year and I have no clue what this next year holds. 

In looking back at last year's resolutions, there were a lot that I didn't achieve. Most of that can be attributed to the pandemic, but some were just because I wasn't feeling them. Based on this past year and what I think my next year will look like, my goals this year are slightly different. Let's go ahead and just dive right in! 

• Reading
• Read at least 1 book
• In the past, my yearly goals have usually been to read 100 books each year. That's about two books every week. While I love the impressive round number of 100 books a year, I think that making my reading about statistics in the last few years has made me enjoy books less. I am going to change that this year and try to change my mindset away from the idea that I need to read a certain amount of books in order to be considered a "real" reader. 
• Don't force reading
• My next resolution, which ties into the first, is not to force myself to read. Due to my high reading goals, I've sometimes felt like I was forcing myself to read a book when I wasn't actually feeling it. This has made me dislike books that I'm sure I otherwise would have loved. Because of this, I want to develop more of a mood-based reading schedule and get back into reading for fun. I will still have monthly TBRs, but they're going to be just general lists of what I want to read next and not strict schedules of what I have to read in a specific order or timeframe. 
• Review less books
• This seems counter-intuitive, I guess, considering I am a review platform. However, I accepted way too many books for review this year that a lot of titles I was really dying to read were pushed to the side in order to review books. Additionally, I would feel like I was forcing myself to read sometimes which further diminished my enjoyment. This upcoming year, I plan on only requesting or signing up for review copies for books that I'm dying to read. 
• Social Media
• Hit 3,500 followers on bookstagram
• This is a goal I had last year that I just about achieved this year. However, Instagram's algorithm is all kinds of messed up so I didn't quite hit it. I don't want bookstagram to feel like a job, though, so I'm not setting a super high follower goal for myself like I might have in previous years. I simply want to hit my original goal from last year and just enjoy taking pictures and engaging with the community again. 
• Consistent blogging 
• Due to how hectic life got this year, I was pretty inconsistent with my usual posting schedule on my blog. I'd like to get back into consistent blogging, even if it's not my usual 3-posts-per-week that I try to aim for. I don't want blogging to feel like a job so I just want to continue putting out consistent yet fun content. 
• Book Buying
• Buy less books
• I dramatically cut down on my book buying in 2020. Whereas in years prior I would average 15-20 books a month (sometimes more, sometimes less), this year I consistently hauled less than 10 books a month. I noticed something with this, too. I was more excited about the books I hauled because I had to be more selective with what I bought. Part of this was because of money but also because I'm just trying to read through my backlist TBR as much as possible. My goal for 2021 is to continue buying less physical books and only buying ebooks when they're a book I really want and are on sale. 
• Unhaul books
• I also want to unhaul books. I wasn't able to unhaul many this year because the pandemic screwed those plans up but I would like to unhaul a decent amount this year. There's just a lot of books I have in storage that I would like to send to better homes.

Well, those are my goals for this upcoming year! I am trying to take a more laid-back approach to reading and content creation as I am quite busy with school and stressed because of life. I want reading to be an escape and something I can do to relax again. Do you have any bookish resolutions for the new year? Let me know in the comments! 

---

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

---

You can follow my bookstagram here for more bookish content!

To get more awesome posts like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Use LAUREN10 for a discount on beautiful bookish and custom bookmarks from Total Bookish Eclipse!

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

---