Q1 review, and Q2 plans

Time for a review of my first Quintile of the year (I divide my year into 5 seasons - the four school terms, plus the summer). We've just finished the first term of school which ran end of January until early April, so time for a recap of how I did on my goals so far.

A pretty local spot for reflecting on the year so far.

1. Paint O's bedroom - complete! This took a whole weekend plus an extra evening or two during the following week. Its exhausting so can really only do one room a season. E's will be next!

2. Declutter 4 spaces in the house - yes, I actually did 5. I did the pantry, a part of the linen cupboard, and bathroom cupboard, the medicine shelf, and the kids toy shelves in the playroom. Some of the rest of the house is fairly chaotic, but as long as their is progress, I'm happy.

3. Go on a monthly date night - no. Al and I have gone out to dinner with other adults and no kids, which is nice, and we stayed home one night on our own and watched a movie, which was fun, but haven't had any one-on-one dates out. BUT because we've had a few nights "off" in Q1 when grandparents have had the kids, I feel like this hasn't felt like such an issue as it has in seasons past.

4. Write my novel regularly and book my masterclass travel. I've booked my travel, which is coming up in May! My writing has been more inconsistent - I started out strong, but petered out as work and life got more crazy. I'm not going to stress too much about this. I'll go to the Masterclass in May and hopefully come home inspired and with a strategy for more writing.

5. Get new reading glasses. Done! Two pairs, I love them.

6. Go to the dentist. No. In my defence, we did have a number of doctors and specialist appointments this season, which kept me busy. Q2 for sure.

7. Go to 3 new places in my local area (aiming for one per month). Umm, no. This is a bit disappointing, as this is one of my "fun" ones. I might have gone to one, but I didn't really keep track. Want to be more intentional about this next quintile.

8. Buy some new work clothes. YES! I got two new tops, one new long skirt, and new cute tennis shoes which are work-friendly. This was a fun one!

9. Finish three work manuscripts for publication (one book chapter, two journal articles). NO. Sigh. The chapter was finished, but the two journal articles aren't quite there. I wasn't quite ruthless enough with my writing time. I'm determined Q2 will be different.

10. Implement a Journal Club with my team at work. YES! We started this, and its going well. Glad I did this after years of thinking I should.

11. Start a family games night once a week. Umm, no. Haven't even attempted! But we are getting better at all eating dinner around the table a few nights a week, and having less screen time overall. This might be a goal for later in the year.

OK - that will do for now. In Q2 I want to focus on painting E's bedroom, finishing the current manuscripts for work I have in progress, attending the writing Masterclass, decluttering a few more areas of the house, working on our kid routines as school progresses, and maybe plan a trip to Melbourne to meet some friends new babies!

Hows the year going for everyone else? Any progress or setbacks? I hope 2026 is starting out well!