Happy New Year, guys! It’s been a minute, am I right? Taking off two weeks from blogging and social media (mostly) was definitely restorative but I truly missed it, something that I never felt in other jobs, which made me realize just how lucky I am to be doing the work that I love on a daily basis. So today I’m back with a post I’m really excited for, and spent a lot of the break thinking about.
New Years resolutions aren’t really my thing. They always seem to fizzle out around mid-February and are completely forgotten by March. So this year, I took a note from Victoria, and am implementing a word of the year instead. Her word for 2017 was focus, and in her post she wrote about how she was going to focus on focus (get it?!) in different facets of her life.
After reading that a few weeks ago, I’ve thought daily about what I want my word to be. I bounced back and forth between different ideas, and finally landed on mindfulness.
Mindful of my time
Working from home is an incredible thing, but it’s easy to get lazy, to push things off to the last minute, and to procrastinate like a boss. I mean I’m with my dog and TV all day long! While I’m incredibly organized, towards the end of the year I started to slack off more than usual and feel now like I’m paying the price. I didn’t have content lined up for the holiday break, my blog posts felt kind of blah, my Snapchat Q&A’s (previously my favorite part of the work week) fell totally off the radar, and I’ve been in a constant state of trying to play catch up on my own work and for the projects I manage for my husband’s business.
Yesterday, after 10 days of houseguests and traveling with no break, I finally had a minute to myself to make some lists, pump out some work, catch up on email, and feel on top of my sh*t again. For Christmas, I got a new computer (pictured above!) that is going to make “going to work” a lot easier. I was on my laptop 100% of the time until now which made my neck and shoulders hurt, and gave me anxiety about sitting at my desk, a place that I should be excited to head to in the mornings.
Goal: To be more organized about my work, and stay on a schedule during the weekdays.
Mindful of my body
My relationship with working out has always been spotty. I go through phases of intense exercise followed by extreme laziness. This past year has brought me more balance, but I still feel like I need to up my game. I always fee better on the days that I workout, and in addition to scheduling my workdays, I’m coming up with a system to schedule my workouts every week. Luckily I have Madison (who works for my husband) to train me once a week, and I hike 1-2x/week with the dog, but I want to add yoga back into the mix for a mind/body connection that I’m seriously craving.
Goal: Complete three workouts weekly, including lifting with my trainer, a yoga class, and a hike with the dog.
Mindful with my mind
As per the yoga comment, sometimes I feel as if my brain is turning to mush with all of the daily screen time that’s inevitable these days. While yoga is one piece of the puzzle in grounding myself to reality, I know that I need more. I’m literally craving it! I’ve backed off of my meditation practice in the last few weeks, and my goal for January is to meditate every single day. I’ve written about Headspace before, and I’m totally jumping back on the bandwagon.
While the phone and computer are unavoidable in my line of work, I can cut back on one screen in particular: TV. In the last few months I’ve been doing more TV time than usual and, while in the moment, it feels good and relaxing, after a binge session or too much Real Housewives, my brain feels more tired and fried than it did when I started. Does anyone else ever feel that or am I just cray?
Goal: Practice yoga weekly, meditation daily, and watch less TV.
Mindful with my money
Anel and I try to save money whenever we can. We saved for years to buy our house, but since then, the urgency has been less and we’ve been more lax in our savings goals. In 2017 we want to start a family, and with that will come many expenses that I’m sure I haven’t even thought of yet! We already sit down once a week to review our finances which has helped immensely… It keeps us in the loop on what’s going on financially in each other’s businesses and holds both of us accountable for our spending. I’m adding a new piece to that puzzle this year to always talk, in those meetings, about our savings goal for the month and if we’re going to hit it or not. I’m hoping it will light a fire under us to keep at it!
Goal: Create a monthly savings goal and stick to it. Setting a weekly budget and sticking to that!
I’d love to hear your word of 2017! Comment below and let me know.
Desk / Good Vibes Only Sign / Un Deux Trois Print / I Am Busy Print / Floral Print / Stripe Print / Desk Calendar / Gold Pens / Gold Frame / Lamp c/o
