Planning for the Week (and Month) Ahead

I can't believe that it's already the end of September.  This month went by so quickly!

The leaves are starting to change into their fall colors here.  Which feels weird, since we're still having temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s.  It looks like autumn, but still feels like summer.  This led me to wonder how the leaves know that it's time to change color when the weather doesn't feel like it should be happening.  Thanks to the internet, I now know that it has to do not only with the temperatures but also the amount of sunlight as the days begin to shorten.  I feel like I probably should have known that (and probably did learn it in school at some point, but just forgot).

Sundays are my day to think about my weekly goals.  It's a nice way to prepare for the week and wrap my brain around what needs to be done in the days ahead.  Since yesterday was so close to the end of the month, I also took time to look at my schedule for the month and focus my monthly goals.

Last week was a mixed bag of results...

1. Ship at least one order ✔ Two orders, actually.  Thankyouverymuch.
2. Complete order for Winnie the Pooh hat ✔
3. Prep my gratitude posts for October ✔
4.  Drink 80 oz of water everyday - Nope.  Not even close.  I think I made it over 64 ounces only two days last week.  I don't know why I struggled so much with this one.  I think part of it was that I didn't drink my usual 16 ounces as soon as I get out of bed in the morning. 
5. Go to bed by 9:30 PM - I did pretty well with going to bed by 9:30.  Unfortunately, my system was not used to this and I usually didn't fall asleep until 10:30 or 11:00
6. And get up at 6:00 AM ✔

Goals for the week of September 10 - October 6...

1.  Find a dress for my daughter's wedding
2.  Write something for the blog everyday
3.  Ship one order for Etsy shop
4.  15 minutes of cleaning and organizing each day in my office

Goals for the month of October...

1. Lose 5 pounds - Meaning I must behave myself at birthday and wedding celebrations
2. Receive 15 new orders for Etsy shop
3.  Write 15 blog posts for November
4.  Regular posting on business accounts for Pinterest and Instagram stories
5.  Find dress for wedding - I know, I didn't leave myself a lot of time for this.  But I also wanted to give myself time to lose what weight I could with Weight Watchers before I bought the dress.
6.  Read articles or listen to podcasts daily to develop knowledge - I have a bad habit of saving articles about personal or business development to my bookmarks or Pinterest and never actually reading them.  They don't do me much good that way.
7.  Write something for the blog everyday - this doesn't mean I'll be posting every day.  I just want to develop a better habit for writing daily.  Whether it's an actual post, a rough draft, or even just an outline for an idea.

It's going to be a busy month between the Man of the House's birthday and our daughter's wedding (which also means family visiting from out of town).  But by breaking each of my goals down into weekly and daily tasks, I should be able to accomplish everything on my list. 

What are your goals for this week?  What's on your To Do list?  Do you have monthly goals for October?  Share them in the comments!

Sunday Inspiration: It Doesn't

Joyful Gratitude: September 26

I Am Thankful For:

Getting to pick up the Grand Kid from school

Pretty mums for the front porch

New kitchen curtains

White pumpkins

Clean workspace

Trying a new recipe

All my Autumn decorations

Hearing the Male Offspring move about in the morning before work

Sunset

Reaching another weight loss goal

Chilly morning

Bridal shower flowers

The Man of the House picking up dinner

Plenty of help

Bridal shower

Silly games

Mimosas

Relaxing after the party

The Panthers win!

New Week, New Goals

The past two weeks have been c-ra-zy!  While I have managed to accomplish many of the goals I have set for myself; I have also dealt with several last minute changes to my planned schedule.  Low key, sort-of-but-not-really emergency type things. Nothing major.  Just the kind of things that can throw you off kilter a little bit.  Especially when you're in the middle of planning a bridal shower.  But, it's all good...

Interruptions are going to happened sometimes.  It's just a fact of life.  The big thing is how you react and respond to them.  You can let it completely mess you up and divert you from meeting your goals.  Or, you can go with the flow and just do the best you can with the circumstances where you find yourself.  It certainly makes like less stressful.  Even when it is full of stressful situations. 

Honestly, my knee jerk reaction is often to become overwhelmed when things don't go the way I expected.  I think hope that I am slowly learning to better manage when changes come along.  

Hopefully, things will calm down for a little while, (at least until we get a little closer to the big wedding date next month)  and I can stay on schedule and meet all my goals with no problem.

My goals for this week include:

1. Ship at least one order
2. Complete order for Winnie the Pooh hat
3. Prep my gratitude posts for October
4.  Drink 80 oz of water everyday
5. Go to bed by 9:30 PM
6. And get up at 6:00 AM

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

Sunday Inspiration: What We Need

Joyful Gratitude: September 19

I Am Thankful For:

Finding the energy to run errands

An exciting end to the first Monday Night Football game of the season

Cute little pumpkin decorations

Vegetarian tacos

Getting a lot accomplished

Finally watching season 3 of "Victoria"

Conversations with the Male Offspring

Last minute text for a lunch "date"

An unexpected day with the Grand Kid

Supplies for bridal shower

The Man of the House helping with shower prep

Big wholesale orders

Running into the Female Offspring and the Grandkid at the store

Gumbo

Finalizing plans

Having the family together for Sunday football and dinner

Sunday Inspiration: Inside of You

Joyful Gratitude: September 12

I Am Thankful For:

Bird watching

A new rug for the kitchen

A good start to the day

Getting back on track

Invitations mailed

When the Man of the House walks through the door at the end of the day

Sunshine days

When the Male Offspring feels chatty

Pumpkin spice coffee

The perfect sunglasses for game day (on sale for $1!)

The cat sticking out his tongue

A weekend away

Game day

Cheering on the Panthers

That feeling when you walk into the stadium

Enjoying the game - even when your team lost

Sunday Inspiration: Be Not Afraid

Joyful Gratitude: September 5

I Am Thankful For:

Another week with a weight loss

Essential oils in the diffuser

A delicious low point breakfast

Rainy days

The first peek of sun after a few days of rain

Filling the bird feeders

Bridal Shower invitations

The first falling leaves

Perfect blue skies

Picking the grand kid up from school

Baking banana muffins

Playing "The ABC Game" in the car

Perfect weather

Braving the heights

Bedtime

Currently... September 2019

Finally, it's here!  September.  The month when Autumn begins.  My favorite season of them all.  I love everything about Autumn.  Cooler temperatures.  Leaves changing colors and beginning to fall.  All things pumpkin spice.  Soups, stews, and chilis in the crockpot.  The beginning of football season.  Bring.  It.  All.  On.

Reading:  As the month starts, I am reading  Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and The Book Of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  This isn't unusual for me.  I often will read more than one book at a time, especially if one is a novel and the other is nonfiction.  Later this month I plan to read another book for my Before 50 list, perhaps Great Expectations. 

Celebrating:  This month is our daughter's bridal shower!

Working On:  Planning the above mentioned bridal shower and helping finalize wedding details. 

Enjoying:  How I'm feeling since I started losing weight.  More on that in a minute...

Wanting:  To find an exercise that I can actually enjoy and look forward to doing.  So far, I'm not sure that exists.

Needing:  To find a dress for our daughter's wedding next month.  Come to think of it - I should probably do that pretty soon!

Making:  If last month was all about washcloths and exfoliating bath puffs, this month it's washcloths and cotton facial rounds - both exfoliating and original.

Feeling:  Pretty good about myself! During August, I reached 20+ pounds of weight lost and just before that I reached the threshold where I lost 10% of my starting body weight.  I'm starting to see some differences in how my clothes are fitting and how my body feels. 

Anticipating:  The Man of the House and I have our tickets and travel plans set to attend 2 NFL games this fall.  One in Charlotte, because... The Panthers!!  The second is in Cleveland, because he was born in Ohio and is a life-long fan of the Browns. I can't wait!

That's my life in a nutshell as we head into September.   What are you up to this month?

Feeling Behind? Here's How to Fix It!

It was ten o'clock on Monday morning and I already felt as if I was running behind.  Yikes!!  Not a great way to to begin.  Right?

Nobody wants to spend the week playing catch up.  So, what do we do when we find ourselves in that position?

1.  Prioritize your tasks.  I know, I've talked about this before - but it bears repeating.   Take a look at your to do list and decide what are the most important or urgent things.  Steven Covey recommends prioritizing tasks as "Urgent And Important", followed by "Important, but not Urgent", and lastly "Urgent, but not Important".  
2. Do your most challenging or difficult task first.  Get it out of the way while you have the most energy or focus.  And prevent putting them off, which will only leave you feeling more behind later.  
3. Put away the phone!  Turn off your email.  Or anything else that distracts you from the task you should be working to accomplish.
4.  If you don't have time to complete a large job, break it into smaller tasks and do what you can in the time you have.  Every step completed is a step closer to being done.  
5.  Don't take on any more.  If you already feel buried under a pile of incomplete tasks - don't say "yes" to anything else.  
6.  Delegate work if you are able.  Or ask for help.

These tips have helped me stay on task and I have been slaying my goals for the past two weeks!  Do you use any of these tips to help you stay on task to complete your goals?

My goals for this week are:

1. Mail invitations for bridal shower
2. Ship 3 orders 
3. Order gift for nephew's birthday 
4. Weight drops below next decade number

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

Sunday Inspiration: Don't Let It Be You