Quarterly Goals - Last Quarter of 2019

I think tracking my goals by quarter has been helpful, so I’m doing it again this quarter.   It’s weird that this year is almost over!  It’s also the last chance to meet yearly goals, so there’s some pressure to aim high.

Charlie

I don’t really have any pictures to go with this post, and as you know by now, that means I share some random cat pictures.  I always have cat pictures! 

Here are my fourth quarter, or October - December, 2019 goals:

Home:

Actually take the ThredUp box to the post office!  It has been sitting in the living room for entirely too long.  I’m definitely not aiming high with this one.  The box really needs to go.

I need to go through my clothes again, and get rid of things I don’t wear, which probably means another ThredUp box.  I think some of my sweaters will be too big to wear this year, and I have at least one summer dress that was too big when I tried to wear it last week. 

In continuing with the theme of boxing things up (and hopefully taking said boxes to the post office!), I’d like to get another box of books/movies/CDs shipped off to Decluttr.  We seem to constantly acquire new books, which isn’t a problem as long as we also part with some. 

Mortimer

My night stand tends to stay somewhat cluttered, so I’d like to tame that clutter this quarter.  At the moment, one wrong move sends the leaning tower of books, magazines, and notebooks toppling.  I’d like to eliminate that problem.

We’re still working on general organizing, getting rid of clutter, and implementing better storage systems, but I’m not setting any other specific goals for this quarter. 

Health:

I still need to lose more weight.  I stayed at the same weight last quarter which makes me nervous for how I’ll do this quarter with the holidays, and all of the holiday treats, coming up.  Last quarter I didn’t set any specific weight loss goals, so I am going to set a specific goal this quarter to see if that helps.  My weight goal for this quarter is to lose nine pounds.  That would put me at a certain threshold I’d be really happy to reach.

On the exercise front, I’m a little lost.  Here’s my dilemma:

Mortimer

I love, love, love swimming.  The gym we go to has an indoor pool, so in theory, swimming is an option year round.  The gym also has a 100 Mile Swim Club.  You track your laps/miles, and when you reach 100 miles, you get a 100 Mile Swim Club t-shirt.  I want that t-shirt!  There’s no time limit, and they say it takes most people over a year.   I have a very long way to go.  My trouble in setting a swimming goal this quarter is that during the colder weather I’ll have to take the time to dry my hair after I swim.  I know that sounds really dumb, but during the week swimming for 45 minutes to an hour, then getting a shower and drying my hair can put us getting home kind of late for a weeknight.  It’s easier during the warmer weather because I just leave with wet hair and let it dry on its own.  Going outside with dripping wet hair when it’s 30 degrees does not sound at all pleasant!  The gym closes at 4:00 on Friday, which means I can’t go because of work.  It’s also closed on Saturday, so Sunday is the only weekend day available.

Charlie

My other exercise of choice is the treadmill.  I’ve been trying, off and on, to do a Couch to 5K program.  I’m much, much closer to couch than 5K!  On treadmill days I also have the goal of using the arm weight machines.  I’d like to increase my weights on the machines.  I’m still at the lowest weight on one of them, so I’d to at least move up a weight on that one by the end of the quarter. 

I don’t think it’s realistic to set a big swimming goal and a 5K goal, but I’m not sure how to split it up either.  Any suggestions? 

This is new for me since we just joined the gym in March.  The goals I’m leaning toward at the moment are to consistently go to the gym at least three days a week, hopefully four days a week, but a minimum of three.  I think Sunday may end up being my only regular swimming day.  If that’s the case, my goal is to get up to a mile and a half at a time, which would be 54 laps.  The Couch to 5K program is a six week program, at three days a week, so if I do only swim one day a week that means I should be able to complete the program. 

Honestly, this feels very daunting, and not as focused as it probably should be, but it’s something I’m figuring out as I go.  I’d love any suggestions anyone has for narrowing it down, or how you manage your exercise goals. 

My much more straightforward exercise goal is to get my daily step average up to 10,000.  According to my tracker my daily average as of today is 9,827 steps.  I think I should be able to get that up to 10,000 by the end of the year. 

Environment:

One goal is to definitely keep being diligent about composting, and not getting lazy and tossing compostable things in the trash.  It’s a little more of a challenge for me during the colder weather since it does involve going out into the cold. 

Caroline

Additionally on the compost front, I have the goal of not composting things that should have been used in the first place.  The compost bin is for things like veggie scraps and tea bags, not bunches of celery that I neglected to use in a timely manner.  Obviously composting spoiled produce is a little better than just throwing it in the trash, but it’s far from ideal.  My goal this quarter is to get better about using up food before it goes bad, weather that means freezing it, changing up what I may have planned to cook, or getting a little more creative in the kitchen. 

The other, bigger, goal is to reduce the amount of plastic waste we generate.  My goal for this quarter is to stop using the plastic produce bags.  I bought reusable produce bags, and I’ve used them twice in three months.  I almost never remember to bring them with me.  So my goal for this quarter is to switch exclusively to them for produce, and not to use any of the plastic produce bags the stores provide. 

Personal/Miscellaneous:

I still feel like the human version of a fixer upper house! 

My goodreads goal for the year is 52 books, and I’m currently six books behind schedule.  I would love to actually meet that goal.  I think it’s possible, especially if I watch less TV. 

I’m also setting the goal of reading more non-fiction.  I think fiction will always be my favorite, but I think I would definitely benefit from reading some non-fiction.  My non-fiction goal for this quarter is to read three non-fiction books, basically one per month. 

Since this quarter includes November, there’s also the question of participating in NaNoWriMo.  I’ve signed up off and on over the past six years, and never even come close to the 50,000 word goal.  Earlier this year, I had no intention of even going through the motions of signing up this year.  Lately, though, I’ve had an idea that I want to try out. 

Realistically, I know the chances of writing 50,000 words in November are extremely low.  Basically nonexistent.  But, there’s something about the sense of hope and optimism at the beginning of November with that goal in place.  So my goal is to sign up, and get as many words written as I can.  I know it’s not the most ambitious, or even specific, goal, but it’s one that makes me happy.  Something is better than nothing, right?

I’m hoping to make much better crochet progress this quarter since I’ve finally been shown some things in person.  Aunt Diana suggested granny squares as a good way to learn.  I’ve also read that dish cloths are a good place to start.  My plan is to practice the stitches some more, then look at patterns for granny squares and dish cloths to figure out which one seems more doable.  My goal is to complete at least one this quarter. 

Howard

Blogging:

This year has been my worst blogging year ever.  I don’t think that’s likely to change in just three months, but I would like to improve it.  I love blogging, and I really don’t know why it’s one of the first things I let go when things get busy.  My goal this quarter is to post at least twice a week. 

I’d also like to post at least one video this quarter.  It’s something I’ve never done, but have wanted to try for a while. 

So what about you?  Are you working on any specific goals this quarter?  Are you really pushing yourself to accomplish something by the end of the year?  How do you determine which goals to really focus on? 

Blog Ahead 2015

Sign Up Here

Anna at Herding Cats & Burning Soup is hosting the 2015 Blog Ahead event during the month of October. The idea is to build up your number of scheduled posts by 31 during the month of October by writing and scheduling 31 posts during October that won’t publish until after November 1^st. You can read more, and sign up, here.

I don’t normally schedule very many posts ahead of time. I like the idea of having posts scheduled; I just never get around to it. I have two scheduled right now, which is actually a lot for me. 

I do like the idea of guaranteeing that this will be the first year I don’t blog less than the year before, so I decided to sign up this year. I’m really not sure about getting 31 posts scheduled during one month, so I’m setting my goal a little lower, at 15 posts. That seems a bit more doable to me, and means that as of October 31^st I should have 17 posts scheduled for November 1^st and beyond.

So what about you? Do you usually schedule your posts ahead of time? Are you participating in the Blog Ahead event?