10: Mute or unfollow social media accounts that inhabit the extreme ends of various spectra. Those that are slavishly pro-admin and rabidly in opposition to it, for example; those that are too aggressive and those that are too apathetic; those that are too egotistical and those that say nothing at all about the account holder; and so on. While I still believe that the way to get the most out of social media is to cast as wide a net as possible, these kinds of extreme accounts add no value to the discussion – no matter how expansively you define the concept of “value” – and actually end up being unwelcome distractions from things that matter.
9: Update all hosting accounts and domain names. Ever since my techie ex- sneered at me for not knowing the difference between having an email address and owning a website back in the late 90s, I’ve been a URL packrat. As of latest count, I believe I own at least 6 TLDs, of which I regularly update only two. Some I’ve held on to for sentimental reasons, but others … I guess I just haven’t had the time or heart to let go off. Oh, and tumblrs and Live Journals included.
8: Redirect. I’ve been on the internet since 1997. In all that time, I’ve accumulated a crazy number of email addresses – several with Yahoo, a couple with Rocketmail, and so on – that need to either be deleted or redirected to the email addresses I use now. Time to retire blowfishrulestheworld@freeemailservice.com
7: Organize hard drives. Folders within folders within folders. During the year, the number of files on my hard drives multiply like rabbits in heat. Each new file gets tucked away within various folders and classifications that made sense during their creation, but which do not do anything in terms of search ability. Worse, I have duplicates of duplicates!
6: Identify key projects for 2017 and map out each. Define wildly ambitious goals, decide on first steps, identify available resources … I’m going to have to 7Habits this shit.
5: Look into this online banking thing. I may fancy myself a digital native but I’ve always been leery of online financial transactions. Not too confident with the state of PH internet, mostly. Still, things seem to have gotten a little better – more reliable – and maybe it’s time to go feet wet with this.
4: Upgrade mobile data plans. If you can’t beat them, bow your head in embarrassing surrender. The Fair Use Policies of my mobile provider are oppressive and, lacking both the time and energy to battle them on it any longer, I shall capitulate and ask them for a higher data cap. Note that this is under all sorts of protest and duress.
3: Get a murse. I’ve always known that the need for a man-purse was real, not imagined. Chargers, cables, smokes … there comes a point when you just don’t have enough pockets for all this crap.
2: Inventory unread books. Because books.
1: Simplify. Jettison deadweight of all sorts. 2016 was tough and haunted. No reason for 2017 to be anything other than a fresh start.