August Goals
1) Make my bed every morning. Complete! Okay, I didn’t do this every morning, but I did it most mornings and I have loved walking into my room throughout the day to see a made-up bed. It makes me feel so accomplished! I do have to fight with Ellie every morning as I’m making the bed (she’s not a fan, I guess?) but then I find her curled up on the bed during the day so she’s being a little trickster.
2) Figure out the 10 categories I want to use when recategorizing my blog posts and update all of my blog posts from 2009. Yes to the first, no to the second. I worked through probably half of the 2009 blog posts but then I got busy with some other stuff, so I put it to the wayside. I need to push this project back to the front of my list!
3) Fill up my water bottle nightly. Lol, remember how excited I was to have figured out how to make sure I fill up my water bottle every day? I failed hard on this goal in August. Oops.
4) Start time blocking. I did this for about two weeks, but then I grew tired of doing it every day. I still enjoy the practice of time blocking, and I would like to figure out how to be better at time blocking in the evenings, but I failed at this goal in August. Or if I’m being optimistic, I was somewhat successful at this goal. Ha.
5) Post regularly on our podcast Instagram. Complete! I’m posting every Tuesday when our episode drops and then every Friday with a fun memory of Bri and me so people can get to know us better. I’m not sure what I will post when we’re on our short breaks between seasons, so I need to figure that out soon!
6) Be in bed, lights out, at 10:45pm every night. Nope! Most days, it was 11:30 or later. Oof.
7) Organize my iPhone photos from 2019-2021. I got through 2019 and 2020, but that’s as far as I got.
8) Clear out my junk bin. Complete! I mean, I did it yesterday so way to wait until the last minute, Steph, but it got done.
9) Brush the cats once a week. I only managed to do this twice in August. Every time I brush Lila, I feel so accomplished because I always come away with a pile of cat hair. But she is very resistant to letting me use the brush on her. (And Eloise is the opposite, so when she sees me brushing Lila, she comes running to get some of that good brushing for herself.)
10) Bring my bank savings account back up to $500. Nope. Maybe in October? Wah.
September Goals
1) Do a 30-minute workout three times a week. I give myself these audacious workout goals because that’s what I see everyone else doing. But I need to remember that I have a completely different relationship to exercise (as in, if I didn’t have to do it for my health, I probably wouldn’t), so it’s okay if my goals are small and what other people would consider a “bad” workout week. So I’m challenging myself to three workouts per week: a spin class, a strength class, and a walk. That’s all I need to do every week.
2) Update all of my blog posts from 2009 and 2010. This will be a big goal for September, but I imagine I can do a lot of this while watching football with the fam!
3) Drink water every day. New water goal. I’m not giving myself a certain number of ounces to drink, but as long as I drink some water every day, that’s good enough for me.
4) Establish a better nighttime routine with lights out at 10:30 p.m. I really must figure out my nighttime routine, where I’m not starting my wind-down at 9:30 p.m. I just need to be diligent with myself to make it happen! I’d love to be in bed by 9:00, to give myself a nice hour-and-a-half for reading and ASMR videos.
5) Pay off my credit card. I should be able to make this happen in September, since it’s a three-paycheck month for me. And then I can focus on building up my savings accounts again!
6) Find a reasonably priced course on growing a podcast following. It’s been super fun to launch our podcast… now it’s time to figure out how to grow it! I honestly don’t really know how you grow a podcast (other than by word of mouth?), so it would be helpful to learn some tips and tricks of the trade to make our podcast stand out a bit more.
7) Organize my iPhone photos from 2021. One year seems to be the best I can do with this photo organizing project right now.
8) Make a doctor’s appointment. It’s time to talk to my doctor about adjusting my anxiety meds. I also have a few other things I want to follow up with her about, so I just need to make an appointment to do all of that.
9) Brush the cats once a week. Rollover goal—need to make this a habit!
10) Make myself dinner three nights a week. I am not the best at making myself dinner. I have fallen into a habit of eating like a frat boy (minus the beer) with too many frozen pizzas and homemade nachos. It’s time to be a goddamn adult and make myself a goddamn dinner with a protein, starch, and vegetable. Three days a week is my goal! It’s way more than I’m doing now.
These are great goals! About the 3x/week workouts…. you’re completely correct that people have different relationships to exercise. It’s probably kind of irritating to read my blog and see “then I did three Peloton strength classes, and then I ran 5 miles, and then I did yoga…” blah blah blah. But remember- this is my antidote to my own personal brand of crazy. I’m not necessarily “more healthy” than someone who doesn’t work out as much. Everyone finds something that works for them.
I’m with you on the earlier bedtime- I have been TERRIBLE lately and I have to fix that. Arg.
Yes, I love this perspective! I sometimes get really caught up in reading other people’s blogs and realizing I am not working out anywhere near the intensity they are, and then getting down on myself because I have all the time in the world to exercise so I really have no excuse. But it’s also okay to “only” work out 3 times a week. That’s FINE. I have to be okay with that!
I strive to run about 3 times/week. Some weeks I hit 4 but those are outliers. And I think you probably think of me as one of your friends that exercises! I was more like 5/week pre-kids but that is not attainable at this stage of life and at my energy level… Laura Vanderkam has a saying that “3 times a week is a habit” – so don’t dismiss that 3/week goal as not being enough. It’s a great goal!
Your bedtime makes me yawn hardcore. Granted our days start very early since we are out the door at 6:45. Since you are an obliger, is there any way to add some accountability? Like someone who has a similar bedtime that you could check in with at 9 or 9:30? I am so very disciplined about bedtimes because I need sleep – probably more than others. I go upstairs at 8:30 and try to stop reading at 9:30.
Yeah, I think I feel like I “should” be working out more since I don’t have kids, so it’s almost like I’m making an excuse for why I can “only” work out 3 times a week. But I know I need to keep my eyes on my own paper and not worry so much about what other people are doing. It’s okay if I’m only working out 3 times a week! It doesn’t mean I’m lazy or making excuses. It’s just what I’m choosing to do.
I used to be SO disciplined about my bedtime but I’ve gotten so lax now that I work from home and can sleep in a bit or take a nap during the day, lol. I’m trying to get better about it!
When I started exercising, my goal was three times a week. It has taken me YEARS to get to the point where I do it more regularly. It takes dedication, but you can do it!
I brush my cat every day for about thirty seconds. She really, really hates it, but she has long fur and needs help since she doesn’t have a kitty friend to help her groom areas she can’t reach. I wake up in the morning, stumble down the stairs, grab the brush, and brush her. It’s not a great good morning for either of us, but it’s predictable and she knows it will be over soon. (Now, I am terrible at brushing the dog and cat’s teeth, so I haven’t created a good habit for that.)
I probably just need to get Lila in a routine of getting brushed. Her fur isn’t super long, there’s just a lot of it and the brushing is basically to “defur” her a bit, lol. Every time I’m able to brush her, I brush out soooo much fur. It’s insane, lol.
Mmmmm you had me at nachos. I haven’t had nachos for so long and now I’m craving them. I know that was not at all the point of that but mmmmm nachos.
Those are all great goals! Hooray for three paycheck months!
I hear that getting ratings and reviews help to grow podcasts; I gave you one in Apple, at least I think I did, I am pretty bad at figuring things like that out. But I’m pretty sure I did! For example, I have never figured out how to do it in Spotify! But anyway, STEPHANY’S READERS, EVERYONE GO TO APPLE PODCASTS AND RATE AND REVIEW. Oh! And also subscribing. I think that helps. EVERYONE GO NOW, GO GO GO HURRY.
OMG NICOLE. YOU ARE THE BESTEST1 Thank you for being such a wonderful cheerleader for my podcast. It means the world!!!
I think you still did a pretty good job in August, considering that your podcast launched and you have all of the responsibilities associated with that! I also like your adjustment of your workout and water goals so that they align with where you are right now. Drinking ANY water is a good thing. Moving at all is a good thing. You’re already light years ahead of many people!
I did leave a review on your podcast – um, I think – and also subscribed. My understanding is that you can un- and re-subscribe and it boosts the numbers, so… if that’s the case I am happy to do so!
Take care. 🙂
Thank you so much for leaving a review! It means the world. 🙂
I am always impressed with the monthly goals post because honestly, it’s hard to change habits and to try this on multiple fronts takes effort. For that reason, it’s good that you try to keep your goals smaller and manageable… 3 workouts a week is great! As is the goal to cook three meals at home (I can give you some quick, simple one-person recipes, if you like, as I’ve been doing some “solo-cooking” recently myself) and also get some “check off” goals on the list (like paying off your credit card and making a doctor’s appointment!)
I would love your simple, one-person recipes! That’s probably the toughest part about cooking for me. When it’s just myself, I have to be really picky about the recipe so I don’t have leftovers for days and days.