Operation: Clear floor

I’m aiming to spend 1 hour a night doing *something* before I have dinner and ease into my usual nighttime routine of doing very little aside from Netflix/Youtube videos.  Last night I...

- pruned the tomato plants we have in our garden that were very overgrown and kept getting battered by the wind

So far this month I would give myself the following scores;

Work life - 8/10

Home life - 5/10

Fitness/therapy - 8/10

Budgeting/money - 2/10 Maybe my takeaway from this is that there are only so many plates I can keep spinning at once (and maybe that’s ok?)

I’ve been working hard in therapy and I’ve also started a journal again which has really helped to clarify some of my thoughts and where they are coming from.  On Sunday I cycled my first sportive which was 28 miles (and that’s about double length I had cycled in one day previously) I haven’t been going to the gym as much as I hoped but I’m also not going to kick myself too much about that. Budgeting has been a bit all over the shop. Expenses kept popping up that I wasn’t expecting (mainly stuff like extra kit I needed for this bike ride and stuff I had to pay in advance for the ride in the summer)  I haven’t been very good at NSDs either. I haven’t felt very motivated for it when I was also trying to be very “on” at work and make sure I did stuff like make my deadlines, check off all tasks on my must-do lists and study for exams.  Home life has been a 5 just because I have felt a bit stuck a lot of the month and I haven’t really done much with my spare time, just watched a lot of Netflix and played stupid games on my phone.  

The upside to all of this is, the more signs of spring approaching I see, the more my energy levels are picking up.

How did I do with my goals?

-        Have 10 NSDs (No spend days) = TICK! Managed 16 in total

-        Train in the gym twice a week (or less if I do outdoor cycling session) = NOPE – only managed to go 4 times. I was mainly thwarted by a combination of being ill and the weather being SO cold

-        Read 3 books = TICK! I read 7 books in January

-        Do at least 1 new zentangle square = TICK!

-        Finish the socks I started knitting last year = NOPE – but I did make some progress on them

-        At least 1 Duolingo lesson each day = NOPE – I forgot on a couple of days annoyingly.

Finally got around to uploading my 1secondeveryday video that I made last year

Been at home in bed for the last day and a half. I’m trying to get better quickly as I am working as a team leader at graduation tomorrow and don’t want to have to pull out.

I did my 10th NSD this month today which means I’ve already hit my target but I now plan to keep it up.

This week, it’s mine and my partners 8 year anniversary on Tuesday so we plan to go out for dinner after work and my drum lesson (using a 40% off voucher I have) but otherwise I am going to try and keep to NSDs while at work and at least 1 of my weekend days.

The reason I have said I am struggling is more to do with where my head is at right now. I’m doing ok with money but other stuff is hitting me hard. I have little energy and I’m stuffing to keep pushing myself at the gym (even when I am fully rested beforehand and I have days between sessions) I am also having eczema breakouts on my hands and lower legs and it’s making me feel terrible.

Lastly, I’m seeing loads of people online who are watching Marie Kondo on Netflix and are fired up to declutter. Where as I haven’t even watched the show yet because I know it’s beyond me energywise right now. I guess that is sensible but I still feel like I am failing.

January is....going so far. I am actually feeling pretty positive about it all but trying not to get too ahead of myself and set myself unrealistic goals. 

I did a tangle last night (above). In the last week I have also finished reading 1 book and finally turned the heel on my sock (the part that required maths and concentration) so now I just have to carry on knitting the leg which is easy going. I only went to the gym once but had a pretty good sessions - did a 10 mile ride on the static bike in just under 40 mins (hilly cycle)

After somewhat of a hiatus, I’m back!

2018 was a really good year for me in terms of personal growth and motivation. Hopefully this new year can be more of the same.

One big(ish) thing for this year is that I’ve signed up to do the London to Brighton cycle ride in June. I have a fair bit of training to do to get me to where I want to be. I’ve read accounts of people just rocking up on the day with no training and getting through the ride but I’d really like to enjoy doing it and that means training.

-        Have 10 NSDs (No spend days)

-        Train in the gym twice a week (or less if I do outdoor cycling session)

-        Read 3 books

-        Do at least 1 new zentangle square

-        Finish the socks I started knitting last year

-        At least 1 duolingo lesson each day

I have been spending way too much lately (and it’s just been for the sake of it or boredom spending a lot of the time) so NSDs will help knock that on the head. The gym stuff is pretty self explanatory. I started my training in October but I’ve had a couple of weeks off over Christmas/New Year.

The zentangle is because I started this last year and I really enjoyed using that and also drawing some diary style comics to zone out and relax.  I want to finish up some projects I’ve had on the go so I’m aiming to get my socks finished. I’ve knitted one and I’m about to turn the heel on the second.

Later this year I plan on going back to Japan so I’m started duolingo Japanese study. I’ve been using Wanikani to learn Kanji on and off for about 2 years now but I’m struggling with motivation. Duolingo is a little more basic but I figure it’s better to have something easier and to stick with it rather than just keep stopping and restarting another.

I’ve brought some instant vegan cappuccino powder into work as well as some coffee syrup. I also have some maple and apple drink that I can have. I’m trying to avoid buying coffee at work so these are there as my substitutes.  I do plan on having a coffee with my old line manager when she is back later in the month after being off long term sick but other than that, I am going to try and limit myself to only getting a coffee on payday and not otherwise.

- Do some wanikani revision (It will soon be autumn and I am much better at focussing on my language learning when its autumn/winter)

- Bake bread and a chocolate torte to take to my friend's BBQ on Sunday

- Write at least one letter (I’m out of my letter writing habit and I miss it but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed about where to begin so I just need to put pen to paper and start)

Oh dear...I didn’t manage to stick to #minsgame in March but overall I got rid of 434 things.  A lot of it was just clearing out stuff at the old house (which we are now officially DONE with) 

TBH after a month of moving and sorting, I ended up taking March pretty easy. I let a lot of stuff slip, including my shopping (and tracking it) and I ate out way more than I intended.