Sometimes you plan a month and then you do something completely different. That’s what happened to me this month. I gave myself a pass because January is a chaotic birthday month, so being productive is a challenge, and sometimes you just need to prioritize the things that revitalize you over productivity.
January Review
January was very productive, though not in the way as I had planned. I went into January with very little to do because I knew I would feel the letdown from the holidays being over, and we had two family birthdays this month. I only had three monthly goals for January, but I let myself off the hook for two of them.
I ended up being exceptionally productive, however, just not in any way I could’ve foreseen. I decided to create an actual system for something I’ve been wanting to do and just haphazardly throwing stones at. I also created and re-did systems for other goals and tracking. All of this system management has made me more productive on those habits and goals!
February Planning
When I gave myself that pass in January, I realized my monthly goals have been the same for months. Not only that, but I’m only focusing on the same couple of areas for months at a time, and I’m not really making progress on other goals. I decided to try something different for February. It’s not generally the best practice to try to work on all of your goals all of the time, habits aside, but I have a tendency to take that belief too far and never create action steps for some goals. This month I decided to create an action step for each yearly goal just to shake things up.
I always try to find ways to work my goals into routines I already have because trying to add something else is usually the quickest way for me to fail. For example, for two of the new goals, I simply set reading goals; I will read books that will better inform me about the topics. Since I already read more than a book a day, I’m not adding anything, simply being intentional about the choices I make. I did add one thing to my plate, but I set the bar very low to ease into it. I have no idea if it’s something I will be able to maintain, so it’s just an experiment this month.
Other Thoughts
I have done some other brainstorming inspired by YouTuber Kate Cavanaugh. She did a video about trying to live her ideal author day, and I decided to write down what my ideal author day would look like and see what I can do about making my days look like that. So far I have not adhered to my ideal schedule even once, but it’s only been a short while since I wrote it down. I’m not looking for perfection, just progress.
I made a change in how I view my productivity, and so far it is proving very positive. I decided that I will not adhere to my daily productivity goals or schedule any work for myself on the weekends. If there’s something I want to do, I will do it, but I will not set myself up to have something to do on Saturday and Sunday. I am really feeling calm and much less stressed about my to-do list by intentionally leaving Saturday and Sunday open.
Wrap-Up
So I guess January was a month of figuring it out. I like that I am someone who is always learning and evolving because I'm a lot easier on myself than I used to be when I thought I had to pick something and stick with it. I already have ideas of changes I'm looking to make for March, but I'm not going to rush into anything. One step at a time.
How did you do in January? Are you making any changes for February? What kind of goals do you like to set? What works for you?
No comments:
Post a Comment