Hey everyone!
I can’t believe it’s 2020 already. Where did last year go? But, I’m so happy it is a new year. Most of you know last year was… rough to say the least. Now, it’s time for a fresh start and to take on some better habits. So, I came up with a list of 20 for 2020. These are a combination of personal and work habits.
- Improve my physical health- this is a combination of things. Drinking more water, exercising more, making healthy meals, using my CPap machine. I track my chronic pain condition so I can better communicate with my doctors about treatment.
- Improve my mental health- After I had my daughter, I developed severe anxiety with everything that went on in the first 3 1/2 months of her life. Journaling has helped and giving in when I need introvert time, even from my own family. Nice thing about my husband only working half days on Fridays is sometimes he can take over care of the baby so I can take a drive or reserve a quiet room at the library to get some work done for a couple hours and it helps me recharge.
- Read- For my own enjoyment and reading to my daughter. Joe got a little nightstand and lap for Christmas. We set it up in her room by the rocker and bookshelf. So, part of our night routine is we get her into her jammies, I’ll read her a book, feed her last bottle (most of the time) for the night, and rock her to sleep. She gets really excited when I reach for a book and it’s so cute.
I also need to work on reading more for my own enjoyment. This includes audiobooks. I have a 40 minute commute (in good traffic) when I work and sometimes up to an hour to get to a doctor appointment so I can get through a good chunk of a book. - Regular Date Nights with Joe- We haven’t had a date night since we went to my cousin’s wedding in October. And, even then, we were visiting family. Just the two of us went out before Anna was discharged from the hospital to celebrate. We need more time just us to recharge.
- BFF Dates- One of the good things about my best friend living an hour away is it’s relatively easy to meet up and have BFF time. Hard thing is finding free time when she isn’t busy with her 4 kids. Her youngest is about 7 months older than Anna so when we get the clear from the doctor that she doesn’t have to be as sheltered, heck yes! Playdates! And it’s going to be adorable. But, also leaving the kids with the husbands so we can have some just us time to get loud and act crazy, vent, whatever.
- Participate in March of Dimes- The March of Dimes does a lot for NICUs. The first hospital Anna was in, a representative had a weekly parents support group. They provided pizza and salad and it was a place to meet other parents. To cheer accomplishments of our little ones or to support when there was a struggle. If Anna didn’t have to be transferred, we would have continued to go because it was really great.
- Keep up with Social Media on platform- All the planning in the world doesn’t help me if I don’t actually execute. My goal is to get back to regular posting on various platforms. I’m on Facebook, Twitter (which I haven’t touched in months) YouTube, and Instagram.
- Monthly write-ins on YouTube- Starting next Friday! Well… as long as I don’t catch whatever bug my daughter and husband have been passing between each other. But, next Friday at 7pm EST, I’ll be hosting a live write-in. More info on Facebook and Twitter and I’ll include a reminder in any future blog posts. It’ll be at least an hour depending on how many people join in. It’s gonna be fun.
- Decorate dining room- Once we get all the Christmas stuff put away, we’ll be able to see our dining room table. I have a few things I want to put up on the walls and organize things and we’ll actually be able to use the room.
- Quarterly dinner parties- Since we’ll have use of our dining room, we can have friends over for dinner parties or game nights. I enjoy entertaining so having a nice space to do it will be amazing.
- Host a Friendsgiving- My sister and her husband have a Friendsgiving every year and it looks like a lot of fun. I’ll have to learn how to make a turkey or ham and my mom’s bourbon glaze.
- Pay down credit card- Because I need to pay it down. No extraordinary reason
- Weekly life vlog- I’m getting better at gathering footage. Putting it together and editing… needs work
- Watch my swearing- I have a toddler nephew and God daughter and my infant daughter. I do not want one of their words in their currently limited vocabulary to be a bad word because of me.
- Treat morning work time as real work- Part of the reason I can’t get into the work mindset is I just trudge into my office right from waking up. I need to complete my morning routine and actually get dressed, take the time to wake up a little, pretend I’m going to an out-of-the-house job. Then, maybe I’ll be able to concentrate better.
- Regular content on Patreon- So far I’m getting a post up once a month. More content is in the works.
- Work on book 3 (and beyond)- I started brainstorming book 3 last week. Haven’t touched it much since but I have a ton of ideas.
- Journaling twice daily- Morning pages, night pages. And, an occasional entry in the journal for my daughter.
- Keep up with memory books and scrapbooks for my daughter- So much has already happened in her short life. I want to remember all of it. I have a baby themed Happy Planner where I’m writing about her first year and I regularly print pictures for a scrapbook. I also write to her in a journal that I’ll give to her when she graduates high school.
- Massive declutter and reorganize office- Because my office has become a catch-all space for crap and it’s one of the reasons I can’t get into work mode.
What are your goals for the coming year? I’d love to hear. Any tips to stick to mine?
Thanks so much for reading. Talk to you soon.