Yesterday’s blog post was about something I just had to get off my chest. I’ve been a little blue for a while now and I sat down on Tuesday night and just wrote and wrote and wrote. It was basically a stream-of-consciousness post, with no apparent theme in mind. I just wanted to figure out what was getting me down. And now I know.
I was up in the air about allowing comments or not. It was a very personal post and I didn’t want to come off as a “Woe is me, leave me ‘Stephany, you are so awesome comments, please.” But, in the end, I did allow comments and received some great advice from some great friends. (And some awesome e-mails!) If I could have, I would have given you a great big hug. Just know I consider you gals some very special people in my life and I think about you daily.
With that said, I need a plan. Now that I know what’s bugging me, I need to begin taking steps to fix it. I need to be more aggressive in my approach to life. There have been special moments in my life where I have faced my fears and seen amazing success. But it wasn’t easy, it was an uphill battle, and most times I just felt like quitting. But there was something in me that kept me going, a fire in my belly.
It’s there, it’s burning. Now I just have to do my best to keep it burning and growing. Here’s how I’m going to do that:
Say no to naps!
I mentioned yesterday about taking naps and lots of them. In this past month, I’ve probably taken close to 4-5 naps a week. While I have nothing against naps and I think they are an awesome addition to any life, there comes a point in time when you stop living life. I mean, is that all my life has become? Just one big, giant ball of sleep? I’m happier on the days when I know I’m coming home and taking a nap, and that’s a little sad. My goal is to save my naps for the weekend. I need to at least try to be more productive with my time Mondays-Thursdays and make these naps more special to me.
Get to bed at 9:30 PM every night.
My alarm goes off at 4:30 AM on weekdays and I’m definitely not getting enough sleep. While my mom can survive perfectly fine on 5 hours of sleep, I need at least 6 to be able to make it through the day, 7-8 if you want me to be happy. As has been the habit for many, many months, I haven’t even started preparing for bed until 10:30 PM, and not turning off my light until after 11. Combine that with my 3-hour daily naps and I’m not getting very good sleep. On Tuesday, I made myself stay up, worked out earlier in the day, and finished eating by 8:30 PM. I went to bed at 9:30, not waking up once until my alarm went off at 4:30. A full, good night’s sleep. It was marvelous. Imagine how much more energetic and alive I would feel if I did that every night?! My goal is to stop eating by 8:00 and start preparing for bed around 9. I think it’ll do wonders for my sleep habits.
Make a list.
A few months ago, Kathleen wrote a post about how she stays productive on her days off, and one of her tips especially stuck out to me: making a list. I get off work anywhere from 10:30 AM – 1 PM, which gives me a whole lot of time to be productive. Yet I waste it napping, being lazy, and spending too many hours reading blogs. I want to begin making a list of what I want to accomplish during that particular day, so as to be more productive. I think it’ll help me out a lot to be more structured with my time.
Start back interning.
I took quite a long vacation from my internship, due to destressing from school and my summer semester. Next week, I hope to begin working for a few hours a day, two days a week. I love my internship. I love how challenged I am, how busy it is, and the atmosphere. It really makes me crave a desk job! (Trust me – spend a day working at a preschool and you’ll long for your desk job back!) I’m excited to get back in there, get some new projects, and feel challenged again.
Get involved.
A rather vague goal, I guess. But I want to get out more! Sometimes, it seems like I am so attached to my mom, it’s just unhealthy. I want to go places without her, take on challenges that interest me but not her, and just get out! The only way to find friends is to be social, right? There are spinning and yoga classes offered at local rec centers. On Wednesdays, I attend a Zumba class with girls from my work. (Although, last night was only my second time going. I’m hoping to make it more of a weekly thing!) I also found Spanish classes that are offered at these centers. Maybe I won’t find my next group of great girlfriends, but at least I’ll be making more out of my life. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even get brave and attend a meet-up!
I’m not a fan of whining and complaining. I don’t enjoy writing posts like I wrote yesterday, but sometimes, you have to figure out what’s got you down in the dumps and how to remedy the situation. This is my plan. It’s done wonders for my emotions over the past two days, knowing I’m doing something about my life.
Yay!! Meetups are fun! I can safely say that you are fully okay to go out with a bunch of strangers from the Internet 🙂
Thanks for the shoutout – I LOVE making these goal lists, and I think having the blogosphere to help support you along with it is going to be really helpful – yay for action plans!!
Also? 4-5 naps per DAY? I'll take some of that! lol 🙂
Naps just mess me up even more than no naps! I have these horrible weird nightmares and wake up feeling completely disoriented, and sometimes think things have happened that really have not (like if L. and I break up in a dream, I'll wake up crying.) So I try to stay away from them, mainly because they're terrifying!
It's funny because my whole blog is about trying to STOP planning everything…I think the middle is a good place to be =)
Huge list maker right here! I struggled with this for a bit, I wanted to be that girl who did not need a list to function. someone who was a free spirit like my mother.. But as I grow I realize that that is who I am, someone who needs a list to get the most out of her day.. And if it works, why knock it?
Best,
Hannah Katy
Meet-ups are great. Also, I love Kathleen's post about productivity—she's a smart one 🙂
I love all of your goals, and you have a great bunch of girls here to help support you along your way!
I do the whole list thing, too. It's SO helpful when I have so much to do around the house and so many errands to run. And for some reason, it bothers me to have a list with nothing crossed off. So if I write things down, even things I may be a little scared or nervous about doing, I DO THEM just for the sake of crossing them off the list!
These are great goals! I probably need to make a list for myself to help motivate me in changing my ways. Change is already hard enough as it is, I need all the help I can get.
Getting a good night's sleep is the BEST. I honestly can't function if I don't get 8 hours of sleep. When I had to open at the coffee shop I would seriously go to bed at 7 in the evening just to get 8 hours. It sucked but at least I felt rested.
Thanks for the shout out! Sounds like you have a great plan in place. Years ago, I gave up naps because otherwise I would be up at all hours-they just totally threw me off schedule. Keep us posted on how you're doing with the plan and we'll be here to make sure you stick to it!
These all sound like great ideas- can I make one suggestion? If you're having trouble getting to bed on time, instead of targeting a time to go to sleep, try targeting a time to wake up. I've never been able to get to sleep on time until I started waking up a lot earlier, and now I'm happy to crash at the end of the day 🙂
But there is *nothing* like investing yourself in things that make you light up to improve how you feel about your life! 🙂
Thank you for being so honest here, and make sure you add "Being Kind To Stephany" to this list
Good goals, gal! You can do this! 🙂
I know this wasn't the point, but…
Now I want a nap.
Yay! What a great way to start. I have to force myself to not take naps or I'm groggy the rest of the day and don't want to do anything else. Plus, it's hard for me to go to sleep at night when I take naps.
These are all great goals and easily measurable. I'm working on doing the same, because I'm spending too much of my Summer sitting inside and my computer instead of out doing stuff.
You wake up at 4:30 a.m.!?!? And to think I have trouble getting up before 8 a.m., holy smokes.
You seem super motivated and, from what I read here, like a person who can easily accomplish any goal within sight. I have a lot of confidence you'll do well here, and it'll be fun watching your progress, then seeing you succeed.
(P.S. Your blog doesn't have a name/url option, so I can't comment as me, but it's Mindy from Behind the Byline…)
Yay! What a great way to start. I have to force myself to not take naps or I'm groggy the rest of the day and don't want to do anything else. Plus, it's hard for me to go to sleep at night when I take naps.