Since 7 is my favourite number, it is only right that the 7th anniversary of this blog is about commitment to restart writing and do it properly.

In last year’s anniversary post I wrote about personal identities and how writing and my blog are on of the threads in my life tapestry that I want to keep and grow, even if erratically and without a proper schedule. This year it seems that life will once again permit me to set up a blogging schedule – I am looking forward to it, but we shall see.

One of my goals for 2026 is more creativity and more conscious consumption, i.e. quality free time spent away from mindless scrolling and cheap thrill entertainment. To keep myself motivated, I am going back to my roots: more exploration and also in terms of this blog, more travel posts and more recipes. In order to follow through, both engineering design and popular psychology guidelines state that you need to break your large, abstract vision goals into small, achievable steps and make a plan, which led me to my new monthly targets.

At least:

• 1 published blog post
• 1 new experience (roughly anything from a cultural event to a massage session)
• 1 non-fiction book (I’d like to upgrade my overconsumption of fiction and fantasy with some learning)

To keep myself accountable, I will share how I did with you along the way. You can expect the monthly blog posts, an end of the year post for new experiences and 2 half-year posts of book recommendations. Since most of my chosen non-fiction books will probably be work or personal growth related, I am planning to add a fiction or fantasy book recommendation each month as well.

Creating a plan is always all well and good, but plans tend to fail quickly when put under stress, while enabling systems do not. Therefore I am experimenting with a new system for my blog posts: drafting. Since 1 published blog post per month is now the goal, I am trying to break down my process of writing a blog post into smaller, achievable steps. Instead of needing to find and time-block a single large chunk of free time, I will now try to consistently find shorter, multiple time chunks that I can dedicate to my blog, as that is the part I always struggle with the most.

Back when I was still a student, I’d typically select and edit the travel photos in one session and then write the whole text in one go (unless it was a really long post, which tends to happen more often than not). Since my time is now significantly more scarce, I’ve added at mandatory additional stage: a rough draft at the start, a simple 10-minute braindump with a structural outline of what I want the blog post to be about and the number of photo galleries to include. I can then write and edit in as many smaller sessions as needed – If I weren’t afraid for my liver, I’d even give Hemingway’s “write drunk, edit sober” principle a try, but that doesn’t really align with my overall priority of being healthier. 🙂

Now, I know this writing experiment of mine sounds extremely simple and is the basis of every Writing class 101 ever, but the real challenge is the consistent application of theoretical should-dos in real life, particularly for something that is a hobby and often the first item to fall off the daily priorities list. So, let’s see if this will work: I am sure I’ll have a lot to reflect on in the next anniversary post, whether I succeed or fail.

As always, if you are still here or joining anew to follow along with my 2026 blogging journey, I am extremely appreciative that you find my little virtual improvisation corner worthy of your attention and limited free time. Thank you!

Do you have any personal goals for 2026? Or perhaps you have a good system that keeps you going with your blog or hobby project? Come share in the comments. Please also feel free to drop the links to your passion projects, as I am always happy to connect and support your work. 🙂