February was a very busy month with two work trips, high workload and some challenging financial stuff Al and I had to navigate. So by the time it got to the end I was very ready for a new month! And with our camping mini-break, it already started well!
I like to set regular goals, and this year I'm trying Sarah's nested goal system. Briefly, this means making annual goals, then pulling from those annual goals to make seasonal goals, from the seasonal list to make monthly goals, from the monthly list to make weekly goals/tasks, and from the weekly list to make daily goals/tasks.
So what are my March goals? I usually divide these into Personal, Home/Family, and Work.
PERSONAL:
Blog most days. This is one I'm really excited about, I've wanted to start a blog for ages and here it is. I have so many post ideas and looking forward to writing them! Also, good to post most days because that's the best way to build the habit so it lasts.
Walk every day. I love walking outside, and brisk walking is exercise I can manage basically every day. It really helps me maintain a good headspace, as well as being good for general health. Although, it can be difficult to get my walk in if either a) it is the middle of the day because of the HEAT at this time of year, or b) its a solo day with the kids (if Al is working). But on those days, an early morning walk at say 6am would solve this problem, as its a much nicer temperature and Al hasn't left for work yet. So I just need to plan this a bit better.
Visit the GP. Now I'm over 40 I need to get some regular preventative health checks which I haven't done yet - its time to stop procrastinating on this! I have to visit the doctor anyway for a script refill so its a good time to get this done.
Discover somewhere new each week. We've lived in our current neighbourhood for just over a year, and our region in Australia for just under two. One of my loves is to travel, and I realised during covid lockdowns that a big reason for this is because I love to visit new places and learn new things about them (this was one reason I struggled SO MUCH during the covid lockdown periods). I realised in the last few years, with kids, that new places do not have to be far flung and exotic, even a new local town, new beach, new cafe, new walking trail etc, can really make a day and week more memorable and enjoyable. So I plan to try something new once a week in March, and see if this conscious effort makes a difference to my weeks (I suspect it will).
HOME/FAMILY:
Rearrange living spaces. When we moved into our current home just over a year ago, we set our two main living spaces up in a certain configuration, and it just... doesn't work that well for us. The kids play area is right next to the kitchen, which is a major thoroughfare to another room, and so tripping/stepping over toys becomes a daily occurrence. By swapping that space for the living area, the toy area would be in a more contained space, and adults cooking dinner could chat to other family members who are in the living room. This move is totally doable, but we just need a quiet weekend without other major events to get it done. There are a couple of those coming up this month so its going on the list!
Regular homework routine for E. We discovered that E's daily homework routine is best done in the morning, when she's fresh, usually when sitting up at our kitchen island bench during or immediately after breakfast. That way I can supervise while packing the kids lunches. This does mean, however, that I have to be on top of this routine in the morning, which didn't consistently happen in February. In March, I'd like this to become a routine to the point where we just do it every day, without thought.
Daily tidy up routine. One thing my husband and I struggle with is keeping the house tidy. Neither of us are particularly neat people, and with two young kids who have A LOT of stuff and like to play with IT ALL at ALL TIMES, this quickly gets out of control. Our 6 year old (E) doesn't like to part with anything (she even gets emotionally attached to toy packaging, let alone the toy), and our 3 year old (O) is still at an age where he will come behind me and pull out anything I just packed away.
WORK:
Submit a long overdue research paper for publication. For various reasons, this paper has been on the monthly goal list for many months and has not yet been completed. It WILL be submitted this month - I need it off my task list!
Create professional website. I've made a start on this (decided on the style and page titles)- but it is one of these multistep projects that is hard to make progress on. Perhaps I need to break it down further. My step for March could be to decide on the content for each page on the site. Then April I could focus on writing that content.
Enjoy an interstate work trip. I have a few nights away for work this month, and I want to make the most of my kid-free time, including some socialising with colleagues/friends, some solo time in my hotel, and some networking. I think I can be strategic so that the trip is valuable from a work perspective, but also fun too. Lets see how it plays out.
And that's enough (or more than enough!) for the March! I will report back at the end of the month.