You thought I’d forgotten all about these little birthday goals, didn’t you…
Well the good news is despite my not posting a blog update on my 29th Birthday goals since last September (for shame, I know!), I actually have been making progress on them all year long. And since I said goodbye to 2-9 and turned the big 3-0 a few days before we hit the road for vacation, I thought today would be a good day to do one final goal-tastic update before moving on with my plans for my 30th Birthday year.
If you need a refresher, you can read about my love for Birthday goals and my 29th Birthday goals here or read my 4 month update here.
1. Become a Time Management Guru
Can I say I achieved time zen? No. Guru status? Not so much.
But I can say that in this past year I’ve come a long way from where I started.
I mentioned in my last update I had started using a sketchbook as a place for all my random thoughts, notes and well, sketches. Considering this past week I started sketchbook number 2 because the first one was filled to the brim, I’d say the sketchbook and I are very much in paper-lovin’ non-techy love.
But beyond the sketchbook, I learned two very important time management things this year:
1) Saying NO is key. 99% of my time management problems stem from the fact that I simply take on too much. The look on Adam’s face when I’ve listed out everything on my plate has told me as much. But it’s tough because I have a million ideas and love to help, so it’s way too easy for me to say yes, both to others and myself, when I really need should say no. Or at least, “no for now.” I can’t say I’ve mastered this quite yet but admission is the first step to recovery, right?
2) Paper & digi can go hand in hand. One of the reasons I’ve always struggled with so-called time management systems is that they always seem to be mutually exclusive: either you use a digital to-do list or a paper one. But I’ve come to realize that for my paper & tech-lovin’ brain I need a combination of both. So as of right now, I’m using The Hit List & iCal for tracking long term projects and deadlines and hand written to-do lists in my sketchbook for my daily/week to-dos. It’s not a perfect system by any means (is anything really?) but I’m definitely liking it more than anything I’ve tried previously.
2. Be More Eco-Concious
Some days I dream about starting a green-related blog. And then I remind myself about saying “no for now” and snap back to reality, haha. But how we can be better stewards for the earth is definitely something that’s on my mind a lot, even more so after our outdoor-heavy trip.
We’re still using all the reusable bags I mentioned in my update post and even I have mowed the lawn with our green-friendly push mower. We chose to scrap both the rain barrel and compost ideas because a) we have to rain gutters which made it a bit difficult and b) we were never sure how long we’d be here. In the past 6 months, we’ve thought we might be moving at least 3 or 4 times.
But for now I’m focusing on what I can work on: using less paper in the house (anyone have a paper-free kitchen?), using reusable bags and just trying to find the right balance between good choices and less-good choices. And maybe one day my dream of a super eco-friendly house will become a reality.
3. Make Each Photo Count
I don’t know if I’ve actually taken less photos this past year than previous years but I know that slowing down has pushed me to think more about composition and light which is exactly what I wanted. Now if I could just get all my photos all organized, I’d bet set.
4. Turn Our Rental House into a Home
A funny thing happened this past year. I don’t know if it was because we actually did take the time to hang up some artwork or curtains or replace the dining table (with chairs ordered and arriving soon!) but our rental house has slowly started to feel like a home. A temporary home for sure but at least a little bit more like us.
It’s far from being done but it’s been fun seeing it start to come together even if it ends up doing so just in time for us to move again.
5. Document my 29th Year
Sooo…my plans for Project Life got scrapped pretty early on. But even up to my 30th birthday last month, I was still toying with the idea of putting something together-something that covered more of the highlights.
But as I wrote in this post from January, for me it comes down to busy vs meaningful and where I want to be spending my time. If at some point I feel inspired to put together this album I will, but for now I’m ok with calling this goal done, or uh, undone. There’s way too many other things I’d like to do to guilt myself over an unfinished project of the past. Been there, done that. I must be getting wise in my old(er) age.
Well that’s my official final update of my 5 personal goals from my 29th Birthday year! I wish it included an HGTV-style or Biggest Loser reveal but well, this isn’t TV, it’s life. And in life you set intentions and take little steps that add up to big ones over time which is exactly how I’d describe this past year.
So goodbye 29th birthday goals! I’m sure we’ll meet again as I keep making little steps on all of you this year too.
Great goals. I really need to read your blog from the beginning. Being an empty-nester I find it hard to find as much inspiration for scrapbooking, project life, etc… I am so happy someone put a link on the Studio Calico message board for December Daily inspiration.
Thanks Susi! So glad you found my little corner of the web! I’m happy to have you here. 🙂