It’s October First, and that means two things. One, I’m totally going to spend the entire month indulging in all things Halloween; and two, it’s time for third quarter check-in. I’ve been publishing my progress (or non-progress) on my annual goals and resolutions for a few years now, and I find that it keeps me feeling serious. At least it reminds me that I may have “decided to do something nine months ago and then promptly put it aside.
What has been going well? We moved! We found a new apartment that we absolutely love and ditched the old place. My recommendation, if you want to save tons of money by moving into a studio apartment, is to get one with no upstairs neighbors. Let’s see, what else? We went to Europe not once but twice this summer, once for my birthday and once for our TEN-YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. Our life now feels like a massive level-up compared to our lives six months ago. What hasn’t been going well? We did three things this summer. One was travel (both) and the other two were moving (all four) and oral surgery (just me). There were almost no days over the last quarter when one of these things didn’t take up the entire schedule. It’s been pretty distracting. Our dog has been having a rough time, and it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that we happen to be quite close to his vet’s office. Personal: My personal project is to submit a book proposal. I have not done this yet and the year is winding to a close. Time to make up my mind. Is this something I am really going to do, or am I always going to find reasons that it’s “not quite time” or “not quite good enough yet” for another million years? Career: My career goal for the year was to complete the work for my Distinguished Toastmaster. I still have one more piece of paperwork to process on this. I knew I have until next June and I put it aside during the move. It embarrasses me that I could have had this finished back in May and it’s still in my desk. Physical: My fitness resolution is to work on hip openers. Not only have I not been doing this all year, I feel like I haven’t done anything fitness-related at all. I’m at the heaviest I’ve been in twelve years, and struggling to break through a plateau. The energy I would like to feel about my energy level, strength, and agility is nowhere near where I want it to be right now. Which direction do I want my timeline to go in the next few months, up, down, or flat? Home: My home project was to set up an outdoor writing area. We did this at the beginning of the year and I love(d) it. Since we’ve moved, I actually have access to an outdoor writing area with an ocean view and almost zero foot traffic. I just have yet to use it. Right now I’m writing with a keyboard on my lap and sitting in bed because the temperatures are getting cooler. Couples: Our couples resolution is to do bulk meal prep. Now that we’re back in a proper kitchen, we’ve both been cooking from scratch every night. We had emptied the freezer in preparation for our move, and now we’re filling it up again. Stop goal: My stop goal is to stop being sick and tired. Finally making progress here! I’ve been able to sleep SO much more in the new place and even take a nap a couple of times a week. I think I’ve also figured out my problem with constantly catching colds from last winter. My husband has picked up a cold twice in the past two months, and I’ve been able to escape with maybe 5-10% of the symptoms he has. Two differences: we switched roles with the intensive martial arts training, when he enrolled and I went on hiatus, and I started taking a zinc supplement that he doesn’t like to use. (It’s called Super Bio Veg and it’s expensive and tastes like bouillon cubes, but I swear by it). Our experiences this year have firmed up my conviction that over-training quickly starts to impact the immune system. Lifestyle upgrades: My lifestyle upgrade resolution was to buy a new desktop computer. I finally did it. I also went out and got a wireless scanner. I’ve been slowly digitizing and culling our remaining paper files. Do the Obvious: My “Do the Obvious” this year is to schedule everything in time blocks. This has been a really useful concept. I no longer feel like I “should be doing something” every single minute. I’ve been able to look at the clock and sign off in the evening. I’ve also been able to keep most of my projects going in spite of the move, travel, oral surgery, veterinary emergencies, etc. I’m realizing that I can do 95% of the stuff with 80% less of the stress by taking relaxation and downtime more seriously. Metrics: It is not a coincidence that I quit logging HIIT exercises like burpees and push-ups and had to revert to logging my food intake. Playing with a more formal bullet journal/habit tracker for the rest of the year to see what happens. Quest: This year it’s SleepQuest 2019. I started having night terrors again this year, which has been dreadful, and I even had them once in the new apartment. (Should have known better, but I went to bed two hours after eating dinner and I know I need to wait for three). My sleep is improving. Now I need to focus on my body mass and my workouts, two factors that I have successfully identified as key to my personal night terror episodes. More on this as I write about SleepQuest during Fourth Quarter. Wish: My wish is to be signed by a literary agent. I actually talked to two of them at WDS and it was not unpromising. I had a follow-up call with one of them. Then our summer got a bit... vivid... and we’re only now settling in again. I’m one of those people who lowers themselves into the pool inch by inch, let’s put it that way. Personal: Book proposal Career: Distinguished Toastmaster - IN PROGRESS Physical: Hip openers Home: Outdoor writing area - SUCCESS Couples: Meal prep - SUCCESS Stop goal: Stop being sick and tired Lifestyle upgrades: New desktop computer - SUCCESS Do the Obvious: Schedule time blocks Metrics: Sleep, fitness, reading, writing, speaking Quest: Sleep Project: SleepQuest 2019 Wish: To be signed by a literary agent. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI've been working with chronic disorganization, squalor, and hoarding for over 20 years. I'm also a marathon runner who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and thyroid disease 17 years ago. This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesArchives
January 2022
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