We’re already halfway through the first month of Q3 and I have yet to do a progress report on my 2026 goals after Q2. Let’s get into it!
Take better care of myself
- Create snack kits for my car, purse, and home, and restock them monthly. This is going really well so far! I don’t really need to restock the kits all too often, although it’s probably time to reorganize what I have and replenish anything that’s been in my snack kits for too long.
- Drink water every day. (43%) While I am still under 50% completion for this goal, the percentage increased by 25% from Q1 to Q2! That’s a level of improvement I can get behind.
- Close my Apple Watch rings. (43%) This total only accounts for April since I didn’t wear my watch in May and June after getting my Oura ring. But I’m back to wearing my watch so we’ll see how I do in Q3!
- Average 7.5 hours of sleep per night. After Q1, my average sleep per night was 6 hours, 44 minutes. And now, my average sleep per night is 7 hours, 9 minutes! Another great improvement.
- Take medications every morning. (85%) This is on par with what I averaged in Q1, so I haven’t necessarily improved here, but I haven’t gotten worse. There are just some mornings when I get busy and forget about my meds. I always take the important meds like my steroid, Prozac, and folic acid (and I never miss an injection!), but I only count this as complete if I’ve taken all meds, including my supplements.
Get a handle on my health conditions
- Start tracking my macros (prediabetes). I don’t think I want to do this. I do want to lose weight and get out of prediabetes, but I don’t want to track my macros. Still thinking about this one…
- Work with my dermatologist to develop a flare/maintenance plan for scalp psoriasis. Complete. I never reached out to my derm about this, but my scalp psoriasis is under control thanks to the meds I’m taking for psoriatic arthritis.
- Be compliant with my CPAP every month (sleep apnea). (4/12) I’ve been compliant in January, March, April, and June! I hope to achieve 100% success in Q3.
- Schedule an appointment with a rheumatologist to figure out my joint pain. Complete! I now have a diagnosis (psoriatic arthritis), and we’re working on a treatment plan.
- Lose 20 lbs (heart disease). I haven’t lost any weight, but I have started to see a cardiologist to determine how my heart is doing. Let’s hope there aren’t any underlying conditions to be concerned about!
Be a more involved friend
- Text one friend every day. (51%) I improved by 6% from Q1 to Q2, so that’s something to celebrate. But I could still be doing so much better.
- Make plans with friends once a week. I’m doing pretty good with this goal! I’ve only missed two or three weeks in the past six months!
- Organize a girls’ weekend. Complete. We had the best time!
- Send three pieces of snail mail every month. I’m still feeling good about this goal. In April, I sent 3 postcards. I didn’t send anything in May (oops). And in June, I sent 5 postcards to try to make up from failing in May. I’m going to send 4 pieces of snail mail in July. Here is my open form for addresses if you’d like to get a silly postcard from me sometime this year!
- Schedule a standing monthly date with at least one friend. No progress made.
Create better daily routines
- Develop a regular morning routine before my workday begins. I am still working on this, but I think I’ve done a better job in the last month. I’m still not where I want to be, but I’m figuring it out.
- Do my hair and makeup and put on real clothes on days when I have meetings. I’m proud of myself for looking like a functioning human being on the days I have meetings! Sometimes that means I have to look presentable every day of the week (the horror!) and other times, I only need to worry about it one or two days, which is great.
- Create an evening routine that includes reading time. In progress. We’re getting there. What has helped is tracking my time for a week and recognizing that I can’t do every hobby every day. The only hobby I want to carve out time for every day is reading, which means other hobbies have to wait their turn. I try to have one “featured” hobby every day, and I’m learning to feel less guilty about letting blogs pile up or email subscriptions get out of control.
- Do some form of movement every day (stretching counts!). (40%) My percentage in Q2 was the exact same as Q1, which isn’t a great thing considering I was still in a lot of pain in Q1 as I waited for my first rheumatology appointment. Sigh. It’s a work in progress.
- Get outside every day. (97%) Look at me go!
10 fun goals
1) Complete my self-created Unread Shelf Challenge – (6/12) This is going well!
- January (a book that starts with the same letter as your first name): Shark Heart by Emily Habeck ★★★★★
- February (a book written by an author you’ve never read before): Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum ★★★★☆
- March (a book with a one-word title): Homeseeking by Karissa Chen ★★★☆☆
- April (a book with a color in the name): Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson ★★★☆☆
- May (a book that won a prize): James by Percival Everett ★★★★★
- June (a book with a queer main character): All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert ★★★★★
2) Schedule a solo reading retreat weekend. Complete! It was everything I hoped it would be.
3) Try four novels from the Zero to Well Read podcast – (2/4)
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★☆☆☆ 1/2
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (DNF)
4) Take one picture every day and do weekly roundups on the blog – I haven’t missed a day yet!
5) See a Miami Dolphins game at Hard Rock Stadium – No progress made.
6) Decorate my patio – Complete. It’s so pretty. 🙂
7) Visit somewhere new – This is happening in Q4!
8) Watch one season of a TV show, listen to one album, and watch one movie every month. I am struggling with this goal, but I’m still determined to make it happen. I made some progress in that I have completed everything for Q1, but I am way behind on Q2 media. I’m going to give myself some ideas for the categories that are still listed as TBD because I think part of my problem is just not being sure what I want to watch or listen to!
January
- TV show: Only Murders in the Building, season 5
- Album: Sabrina Carpenter, Man’s Best Friend
- Movie: The Cutting Edge
February
- TV show: New Girl, season 3
- Album: Benson Boone, American Heart
- Movie: The Greatest Showman
March
- TV show: TBD (Goal: Company Retreat)
- Album: Noah Kahan, The Great Divide
- Movie: Project Hail Mary
April
- TV show: TBD (Goal: Suits, Season 2)
- Album: The Six soundtrack
- Movie: TBD (Goal: Sleepless in Seattle)
May
- TV show: TBD (Goal: Abbott Elementary, Season 4)
- Album: TBD (Goal: Olivia Rodrigo’s new album)
- Movie: TBD (Goal: ??)
June
- TV show: TBD (Goal: All Her Fault)
- Album: TBD (Goal: ??)
- Movie: TBD (Goal: ??)
9) Go to the movies alone. No progress made.
10) Visit a new-to-me spot in my town every month. (6/12) I’m having fun with this goal!
- January: Corner Kitchen & Coffee House (we went here for book club)
- February: My local Goodwill store
- March: West Coast Players, a local community theatre
- April: Central Diner in Downtown St. Pete (DTSP)
- May: Mythos Greek Bistro in DTSP
- June: Forbici in Hyde Park
Do you have your morning and evening routines down pat?
You’re making great progress on your goals, Stephany! Yay!
My morning and evening routines are completely set in stone and never change, which is good in some ways and whoa, settle down there Ms Rigid in others.
I love that yours are set in stone! I should be more rigid in this respect but I’m mostly a lazy bum, ha.
You are a rock star with your goals! I’m so impressed with how your sleep has improved! I have a set evening routine, but my mornings are very flexible. It all depends on what ranch work is happening, the weather, and how much sleep I got,
I love that you keep your morning routine flexible depending on other factors, especially sleep!
So many goals! How do you track all of this? Have you talked about that before?
My morning and evening routines are set in stone. If there is even a little variation, things GO CRAZY. In the morning, I wake up, brush Queen Zelda, and walk the lowly canine while my husband feeds the queen. Then I feed the dog and then myself (morning meds for both of us). I then get dressed, put on my makeup, make my lunch, and leave for work. I need to leave by 7:42 to get to work on time, but I’m regularly not leaving until after 8, so you do the math on that.
My evening routine starts between 8-8:30 with a walk with the dog. Then I take my evening meds. Then I brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I shower. Then I do my daily journals. Then I start the dishwasher if it needs to be started and then go to bed.
Yesterday I switched the order of the shower and teeth brushing and it threw me off and I almost forgot to take my evening meds. I hate when I can’t stick to my routine!
I was mentally writing a comment to you about my habit tracking system, but it felt very convoluted so I think I’m going to write a blog post about it! Next week!
Working from home has killed all semblance of routine for me. I used to be such a stickler for my morning and evening routines!
You are making great progress on your goals IMO. Look how many are checked off! And figuring out that you have PSa is a big accomplishment!
My routines are so very set in stone because I have small children. I don’t have much margin in my morning routine because I want to get as much sleep as possible. Part of the morning is spent getting ready and the other part is spread herding the kids through their morning routines and packing their lunches. It’s kind of a mad dash to get out the door at 7 but I’m used to it. Evening routines can slide a bit if we let Paul stay up a bit later, but he’s usually in bed at 8:30 so that gives Phil and me an hour to watch a show. Then I go up to bed and read for 30-60 minutes.
Have you watched any of the Netflix Quarterback or Receiver docs? They are very good IMO. There’s a new season of QB out now so Phil and I started that last night. That could be your tv show for a future month to kind of get you “warmed up” for football season!
It makes sense that you have to have a very strict routine when you have young children and have to get to the office! My routines were a lot less flexible when I worked in an office. I was a machine!
I watched the first season of Quarterback but didn’t catch Receiver and I just heard about the new season of Quarterback. I don’t have Netflix right now but have been contemplating adding it back for a few months!
The only problem here is that I’m starting to feel like a lazy bum- you have so many goals!!! Well, it’s a good thing- that’s the way to make improvements. You’re doing well- and the thing is, you can see where you need improvement since you’re tracking everything.
My morning routine is always the same, but I don’t have a consistent nighttime routine. Maybe I would sleep better if I did…
JENNY YOU RAN 60 MILES ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!!! I would cry if I had to do any physical activity on my birthday, hahaha. We are all doing the best we can, and you are the furthest thing from a lazy bum!
Re: morning routines – I was recently reading about the idea of having a “floor” – small non-negotiable actions that you do every day in the areas that are important to you. So I decided that my morning “floor” was 10 minutes of yoga (body), making my bed (home), and 10 minutes of reading (brain). I try to meet this floor first thing in the morning. But then, some days might get bonus activities – like some days I might do 20 minutes of yoga. Some days I might also get to put away the laundry in the morning. Some days I might read for an additional 30 minutes after lunches are packed. But the idea is that I recognize my mornings can be a little unpredictable and have changing needs, so having in my head a minimum to do lets me not feel bad when, say, I spend my morning trying to help a kid find their swim suit, or answering email from work.
I have no evening routine. I should probably work on this because I need to go to bed earlier on a regular basis.
That’s great advice! I do have a “low-effort” routine for those days when I don’t have the energy for much. Mostly it’s to brush my teeth, feed the cats, take my meds, and deal with my CPAP machine. The lowest effort there is, ha!
I would love to add 10 minutes of stretching to my morning routine. That sounds so amazing!
I love that you are getting more sleep! What differences have you noticed from that? My daily average is similar to yours now (6.75 hours) and it’s NOT it. LOL.
I feel ya on not wanting to track your macros. I know that works for some people but it is HELLA triggering for me. Ugh. I wish food was easier.
I love how you are evaluating your hobbies and prioritizing which are dailies and which aren’t!
I do have morning and evening routines depending on what is going on that day (morning) and the next day (evening)!
I think the biggest change is that I don’t need a nap to get through every day! But I still don’t feel as if my sleep is where I want it to be. I also wonder if some of the energy I’m experiencing is due to steroids, lol, so now that I’m tapering, we’ll see if that affects things more.
Look at you making strides on all front. It’s amazing how many things you’re trying to optimize at once! It’s not easy … I have a pretty good morning routine (workout, shower, coffee, drive to work) but my evening routine fluctuates (unless you just count the “getting ready for bed”-routine, that is pretty nailed down.)
Yeah, I’m thinking about just those “getting ready for the day” and “getting ready for bed” routines. I used to be such a stickler for mine when I worked in an office, but working from home has turned me into a lazy bum, haha.
I am so late to the party but here I am. I love this post. I love goal setting. And I love tracking and a list.
You have done an amazing job chipping away at your goals. I am happy to hear that especially on the health/pain front lots of progress has been made.
I am struggling a lot with my weight. After the arctic I have gained everything I worked so hard to loose in the last two years. It is frustrating.
Oh and your postcard arrived this week. Thank you so much. I loved getting it in the mail. It has been a while since fun mail arrived. And the illustration is so cute too.