Year in Review – 2020

This has obviously been a difficult year for everyone, myself included, but I do look back at the year as a mixed bag with rather a lot of bright spots. I have been incredibly lucky that from March onwards I have been able to work from home full time, so I have not been affected financially by COVID-19, and I have been able to carry on relatively as normal.

One goal I mentioned in last year’s review was that I was hoping to sacrifice less personal time to work this year, as I racked up a few hundred hours of overtime in 2020. Although I averaged less per month this year, I did still sacrifice a lot of time to work in 2020, there were a mix of causes for this. Hopefully in 2021 I will be finally able to work on that and free up some more personal time.

My mental and physical health was tested hugely this year. As I live alone it meant that I spent the first lockdown alone, and I spent a lot of the year not seeing family, friends, and I missed a lot of my nephew’s first full year. I have put on a fair bit of weight in 2020, so that is something that will be front and centre at the start of 2021. One huge positive that really made my year was that I leave 2020 in an amazing relationship, and I am looking forward to the experiences that brings this year.

Below are as usual some of my favourite things I have watched, read, written, and listened to over the last year.

Concessions of a Millenial

Despite what everyone – older people – would have you believe, it’s tough being a young person in today’s world. In spite of the constant protestations of boomers that we’ve never had it better, the evidence is to the contrary. Sure, we’ve grown up around social media, the internet, increased globalisation and mobility, and we’re more connected to each other than ever before, but in so many ways we are much more disconnected and worse off than previous generations. Where past generations could seemingly have it all, we are faced with choices and concessions.

When it comes to working, competition is fierce, and job security is more uncertain is ever due to the rise of zero hour contracts and servicing jobs. We may get a bad reputation in the workplace, but the reality is that we often work long hours and have to compromise or sacrifice other areas of our lives to get ahead in the workplace. Comet, a financial intelligence business surveyed a group of young people to identify just how high their work is prioritised, and the results are stark.

41% of the respondents said they would end a relationship to get a big break or promotion at work, and for a life-changing promotion the average surveyed millennial said they would stay single for 11 years, delay marriage for 7 years and wait to have kids for 8 years. However, the same survey found that millennials are willing to make job sacrifices for a long-term relationship too, but the key theme is these choices are now a part of our lives.