Bring on 2014!
Ok, so it's already the 3rd, but you can't rush these things, right? For me 2014 is going to be about balance, hopefully rather than juggling! Personal life and family with creative time, health with happiness and work with play.
For my plan to be successful it needs to be simple and flexible or, no doubt, I will fall at the first hurdle. My work, for those that don't know, involves bank cover for staff who are sick, on training courses, unexpectedly absent etc, so I might not work at all one week and then work 4 full or part days the following week. I think the easiest way to plan is to set aside set days which have one goal to them. I then have the opportunity to swap days around if I'm called to work or can fit in extra tasks if I get the day's main goal completed.
Here we go then: Mondays - cleaning. Yuck what a start to the week! I know that the children will have made a mess over the weekend and I don't want to be on their case about it during their free time, so this is the logical day for the clean up to take place. Expect to see me on the social network sites and blogging most Monday's, long live procrastination - just joking!
Tuesdays - House move. Every Tuesday do something positive towards our planned house move whether it's clean out a cupboard, paint some woodwork or reorganise my unsightly crafting stash so that prospective buyers don't think we live at the tip.
Wednesdays - Free day. Free to be creative, go out on a photography trip, shopping trip or plan ahead so that work doesn't derail the rest of the week.
Thursday - Jewellery designing. Dedicating a daily goal to this to keep me on track. I wasn't able to manage any Christmas fairs this year due to time clashes and lack of preparation. By September 2014 I want to have stock organised, packed and ready to go at a moments notice whether it's for a fair or to take a class.
Friday - Be Busy! Friday is my busiest day of the week and also appears from past experience to be the day I am most likely to be called into work. In light of this it would be pointless to set a specific goal here, so every Friday with a bit of free time will be a bonus.
Evenings - Family time. Cooking, homework, games or just having a chill and a chat. Of course once the children are in bed there's the possibility of creative time. I find myself sat on the sofa looking for something to watch and settling for any old thing, when I could be crafting because there's nothing worth watching.
Weekends - Family time, craft fairs, shopping and at least some creative time each day.
That just leaves health. I walk a lot. I just wore through my boots that I bought a year ago. Looking back I calculate that I walk at least 1000 miles a year and this year I will set out to try and record the actual figure. SMO suggested I leave earlier and add an extra 20 minutes to my journey. Realistically I will only manage an extra mile and I think my body would do better from varying the type of exercise. We have some free weights at home and I think I will try and work with them 3 times a week, then review how I feel about it. The children love going to early swim sessions on a Sunday morning so one of these a month will be good for the whole family.
I'm not going to diet. Diets make me miserable and then the balance between health and happiness is lost. Instead I am going to look at making better, healthier choices for meals and more importantly snacks!
Look out for a New Year - New Me update at the end of next week!
For my plan to be successful it needs to be simple and flexible or, no doubt, I will fall at the first hurdle. My work, for those that don't know, involves bank cover for staff who are sick, on training courses, unexpectedly absent etc, so I might not work at all one week and then work 4 full or part days the following week. I think the easiest way to plan is to set aside set days which have one goal to them. I then have the opportunity to swap days around if I'm called to work or can fit in extra tasks if I get the day's main goal completed.
Here we go then: Mondays - cleaning. Yuck what a start to the week! I know that the children will have made a mess over the weekend and I don't want to be on their case about it during their free time, so this is the logical day for the clean up to take place. Expect to see me on the social network sites and blogging most Monday's, long live procrastination - just joking!
Tuesdays - House move. Every Tuesday do something positive towards our planned house move whether it's clean out a cupboard, paint some woodwork or reorganise my unsightly crafting stash so that prospective buyers don't think we live at the tip.
Wednesdays - Free day. Free to be creative, go out on a photography trip, shopping trip or plan ahead so that work doesn't derail the rest of the week.
Thursday - Jewellery designing. Dedicating a daily goal to this to keep me on track. I wasn't able to manage any Christmas fairs this year due to time clashes and lack of preparation. By September 2014 I want to have stock organised, packed and ready to go at a moments notice whether it's for a fair or to take a class.
Friday - Be Busy! Friday is my busiest day of the week and also appears from past experience to be the day I am most likely to be called into work. In light of this it would be pointless to set a specific goal here, so every Friday with a bit of free time will be a bonus.
Evenings - Family time. Cooking, homework, games or just having a chill and a chat. Of course once the children are in bed there's the possibility of creative time. I find myself sat on the sofa looking for something to watch and settling for any old thing, when I could be crafting because there's nothing worth watching.
Weekends - Family time, craft fairs, shopping and at least some creative time each day.
That just leaves health. I walk a lot. I just wore through my boots that I bought a year ago. Looking back I calculate that I walk at least 1000 miles a year and this year I will set out to try and record the actual figure. SMO suggested I leave earlier and add an extra 20 minutes to my journey. Realistically I will only manage an extra mile and I think my body would do better from varying the type of exercise. We have some free weights at home and I think I will try and work with them 3 times a week, then review how I feel about it. The children love going to early swim sessions on a Sunday morning so one of these a month will be good for the whole family.
I'm not going to diet. Diets make me miserable and then the balance between health and happiness is lost. Instead I am going to look at making better, healthier choices for meals and more importantly snacks!
Look out for a New Year - New Me update at the end of next week!
~ Kate ~
Comments
Glad you are not dieting though as it is better to change your diet for the better than crash diet. That is my opinion anyhoo. I tend to avoid rubbish all week and then have carte blanche on weekends. Works for me anyhoo.
Hugs and Happy New Year.
Hettie