I recently saw an idea for tracking goals on a quarterly basis. I love the idea, so I’m going to give it a try. I mostly like the categories she uses at She Picks Up Pennies, but not all of them apply to my blog, so I’m changing them up a little.
Here are my third quarter, or July - September, 2019 goals:
Home:
Clutter has been an ongoing battle for us. We actually started the year off great, and made a lot of progress in getting rid of things we don’t use. Unfortunately, though, we’ve slowed down lately in our efforts to conquer our clutter.
I definitely need to go through my clothes again, so I plan to do that this quarter. Beyond that, conquering the clutter is a little harder to quantify. We’ve gotten rid of a lot of clutter and excess things, so have small, random things left. We’ve also started to reach the point where taming the clutter doesn’t necessarily mean getting rid of things, but it does mean we need to implement some better storage systems, and generally organize some things.
Health:
I still need to lose more weight, so that’s an ongoing goal. I’m getting somewhat close to a weight that isn’t where I need to be, but that would be a real milestone for me. I thought about setting reaching that weight as my goal for this quarter, but I’m trying to break old/bad habits when it comes to weight loss (and gain in my case!), so I’m choosing less focus on a number (though, if I hit that number, I will be thrilled!), and more focus on some of my habits.
My exercise of choice is the treadmill and swimming laps. I haven’t done any strength building or weight lifting exercises, so this quarter I plan to incorporate some upper body weight lifting exercises into my weekly exercise. I’d also like to increase my lap distance. 35.2 laps in the pool at our gym is a mile. My personal best at one time is currently 20 laps. I’d like to get that up to at least 30.
Food is of course a huge part of health, and of losing weight. My approach so far has been trying to make healthier substitutions for most things. That seems to be mostly working, so I plan to continue that. I also need to work on incorporating more vegetables.
Environment:
This will most likely be a much longer post or two at some point, but I have a lot of room for improvement here. I’m finally beginning to realize that sudden, major changes don’t work for me with anything. I do much better with small, consistent modifications that become habits.
So my goals for this quarter are to switch from paper napkins and paper towels to cloth napkins and reusable cleaning rags. Realistically I don’t expect to ever completely stop buying and using paper towels, but I think I can drastically reduce the amount. My other goal is to compost more. I’ve never been very consistent when it comes to composting, so I plan to become much more diligent about making sure that compostable items actually get composted rather than trashed.
Personal/Miscellaneous:
I definitely plan to read more. Over the years the time I spend watching TV has crept up, which automatically leads to less reading. My goodreads goal for the year is 52 books; a book a week. I’m a few books behind, but it’s definitely a goal I can still make, so I plan to be on schedule with number of books read this quarter. I also need to focus on reading some nonfiction. I love fiction, and it will always be my first choice, but I think some nonfiction would also be beneficial. I read a lot of historical fiction, so I think I may start to supplement that with some nonfiction related to the historical fiction.
I’m also still trying to learn to crochet. My progress is very slow, but I’m enjoying it. I think I finally have the single crochet figured out. I’m currently trying to learn the half double crochet. At the moment it feels like I will never get it, but as Nick pointed out, I said that about chaining and the single crochet, and I seem to be able to do those now. My crochet goal for the quarter is to learn two more stitches. Blogging:
I’ve barely blogged at all this year, and I miss it. It seems to always be one of the first things I let go, but I think I’m happier when I write and post on a more regular basis. My blogging goal for this quarter is to post at least three times a week.
In looking over my list I kind of feel like the human version of a fixer upper house! I definitely have a lot to work on.
As I’m sure you noticed, the pictures aren’t really related to this post. I took them earlier this year when those flowers were blooming, but never got around to posting them before now. They’re late, but still pretty.
So what about you? How do you track your goals and the progress you’re making on them? Are you working on anything in particular right now?
If you have a tablet or iPad, download Kindle for free and there are lots of places you can get free books or even see if your library does borrowing of e-books. I read for 40 minutes when I'm on the treadmill using my tablet. It makes the time go by faster and I get my reading in!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried cauliflower rice? That's a great substitute for regular rice. And zucchini noodles over spaghetti or similar pasta is great for anything you would use pasta noodles in. A doctor I once typed for said to people losing weight to divide their plate in fours. One half was healthy veggies (so no starchy ones like potatoes or corn), one fourth starch (rice, pasta, etc.) but I would eliminate that if possible, and the other fourth protein. I think that's a good healthy model to strive for. Since we are maintaining our weight loss now, the nights that we don't cook healthy or splurge because family comes over, we have a Lean Cuisine and I make a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and mushrooms and we have another veggie, maybe a zucchini or summer squash or some type of frozen veggie like green beans, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli.
Good idea to track your goals, which are all reasonable, in this format. I don't usually set goals, but when I did last year in 2018 I wrote them down on a piece of paper for what I wanted to accomplish in the year's time. I did it this year but it wasn't as firm as I did last year's and I'm trying to remember where I put the paper, LOL. Last year I definitely knew I needed a change so that's why I committed to goals and wrote them down.
Do blog more! I miss when you don't!
betty
De-cluttering can be a challenge. We moved 5 times in the last 6 years so we were forced to do so! Now since we are settled, the clutter may start to accumulate so we must be careful. I hope you are able to reach you weight goals. Keeping bad foods out of the house can help a lot. We need to get rid of paper towels too. We do have a compost barrel and keep a covered bowl of scraps in the fridge. When it is full, we dump it in the composter. The barrel works great with little work. Pretty flowers!
ReplyDeleteI don't usually make quantifiable goals for myself, but I did this year with trying at least one new thing a week. It's been easy and fun and as an added bonus, has given me something to blog about. Blogging 3X/week is difficult, unless you do short posts. I tried to do that early on, but ran out of things to talk about!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that helped me read more non-fiction was to think about topics that already interested me and then google search books on the topic and see which ones sounded decent. For instance, when my son worked in sales for DHL, I found a book written by a trucker and I learned all about the business; it gave me something to talk to my son about.
You are getting organized at home and in your life, Danielle. Well done so far. Great goals! Keep going! Glad to see you back.
ReplyDeleteThose are great goals. Good luck with them.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to lose some weight too, now that I'm well enough to do a bit of exercise. My exercise is playing with and walking the dogs though - especially now Logan's allowed out - because I lose interest quickly with anything else. I'm also focussing more on making better food choices (healthier alternatives to snacks, and less take-away, for example) and have a goal more of being healthier than actually hitting a certain number on the scales. I mean, I have a number in mind that I'd like to hit. But I'm worrying more about making lifestyle and eating habit improvements than watching for number decreases.
A lot of my goals get tracked on my blog. But some I forget to mention.
I think you are doing quite well, all things considered. And you are focused on it, which makes a big and important difference. I'm disappointed with my weight stuff, too. I have tried to cut some on plastics. I haven't really tossed anything but rather than buying plastic tupperware-type storage things I'm getting dishes that have lids. I rather like them because I can use them for soup bowls or whatever, too. I'm still a mix on napkins -- at home, more cloth; at the lake, more paper. But overall, being conscious and working on it. Trying to eat healthier (though a little indulgence is OK, as long as it is a LITTLE!) My flood helped with some declutterng -- well, trashing, really. Now I'm getting to the point where it will be a matter of making decisions -- and there are LOADS of those to be made!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to keep a list. Good luck with your goals.
ReplyDeleteLife's busy-ness does have a way of just taking over, doesn't it? I think it's great that you're setting quarterly goals, Danielle. I like that yours are clearly defined and measurable - like getting to 30 laps in the pool, and blogging three times a week. Good luck! You're doing wonderfully!
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