Photo by Chelsea Laine Francis
Geez, am I glad January is over! I wanted last month to be a very productive one, and it was, but I also felt like 1) I was constantly playing catch up from my holiday break in December and 2) I definitely spread myself way too thin with a lot of different commitments I shouldn't have made, which really boils down to poor scheduling on my part which 3) Left me feeling extremely overwhelmed and stressed out. Whew! Aren't you kind of exhausted just from reading through those points?! Yeah, you and me both! Anyway, thankfully it's a new month and I'll take January as a good learning experience in my never-ending quest to better manage my time. With all that said, let's see how I did on my January goals.
1) Read a frekkin' book.
Done! I read Big Magic and I have to say I really loved it. It was an easy, relaxing read. I highly recommend it if you're in the business of wanting to live your most creative life!
2) Become a better photographer.
Yes! I am now shooting in manual mode on my DSLR, which in the four years that I've had it, I've never been able to do before. If you're interested in learning how to better use your camera I'm sure if you google "photography classes" in your area you'll find one! I'm taking Photography 1 at The Austin School of Photography which is a six week course and I'm loving seeing my progress each week.
3) Set up an efficient system for maintaining the Pieceology Vintage site.
I spent a lot of time on this in January. I'm comfortable with the system I've decided on for now and I feel a lot less stressed about it after all the planning but I know this will be a constant work on progress and the site will continue to evolve as my business grows.
4) Learn some sewing basics.
I've learning buttons and hems thanks to my girl Emma! Buttons were a bit challenging for me which I was kind of surprised about but I think I've got it down for the most part and I'd like to continue to learn more. I think there is a lot of value here since I run a business where I'm dealing with secondhand clothing all the time.
5) Put together a workout schedule.
So, I did put a schedule together but I can't say I did a good job of following through with it like I thought I would. A lack of focus and some unforeseen challenges arose last month that kept me from my running. I do have to say I did go to yoga a good bit but now, to make up for the lost time, I really have to step up my running game before my 5K at the end of this month.
Five out of five. These goals were pretty ambitious so it feels really good to be able to say that I completed them all! Now, on to February!
Set up an Etsy shop for Pieceology Vintage.
This is something I've been thinking about for a while and after talking with Catelyn (check out her shop, it's amazing!) and my fellow vintage shop owner friends Moth Oddities (check out their shop, too, it's awesome!) I think it will be super beneficial for PVTG to have not only a beautiful website but also an Etsy shop. My hope is that this will be an additional channel for people to find me who otherwise might not.
Find a prepared meals service I like.
In an attempt to stick with one of my goals for this year which is to lead more healthy lifestyle I think prepared meals might help. I'm super busy these days and most nights I don't have time to cook (also, I honestly don't like cooking all that much) and lately I haven't even had much time to go to the grocery. This results in eating crap. If I can find a healthy prepared meals service that isn't extremely expensive it'll save me time and I'll be eating better food. Let me know if there's a place you recommend!
Drink more water!
I'm buying a Nalgene water bottle like tomorrow you guys! I'm so bad about drinking water. Admittedly, I don't usually drink much of anything during the day which is HORRIBLE. Now that I'm starting to run more I really need to make this a bigger priority, even though it always should be anyway.
Get blog posts done ahead of time.
Lately I've gotten in this terrible habit of working on my blog posts the night before they are going to be published. If I want to be posting more often (trying for three times per week) I need to get them all out of the way during the weekend or at the start of the week. Blog posts take up A LOT of time and I don't have the capacity anymore with everything else I have going on to spend almost every evening during the week working on them. Unless I want to stay up all night... which is not a good option.
Slow down.
Read the first paragraph of this post. I have to start being more intentional with where I am spending my time and how I am spending it. I ran myself ragged in January and I don't want that to become a pattern this year. Less random commitments, more focus time on the important stuff.
OK, that's it. Let's see if I can get five out of five again this month. I have hope! Don't forget to link up with us over on Nicole's blog with your monthly goals post, too.
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