Revamping Goals

So, this is week two of April. I don't seem to be able to get things done. Still. I guess it's back to the drawing board with mini-goals and making them achievable. I need to be specific and have goals in different areas of my life. I also tend to do better with daily goals rather than weekly or monthly. For example, if my goal is to blog weekly, I’ll wait until the last minute on the seventh day to write! So it's gotta be daily.

Here goes.

Writing: Each day, I need to write at least 750 words. This can include blogging, or creative writing, as well as journaling.

Creativity: Each day, I need to spend at least one hour doing something creative. This can include sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, stitching, or crafting.

Organizing: Each day, I need to spend at least half an hour doing something to make the house look better. This can include clearing off a surface, putting away clothing or other stuff that's not where it should be, or actual cleaning.

Health: Every day, I need to walk at least a mile (this is definitely going to go up as the weather gets better!). It can be outdoor walking, treadmill walking at the gym, or with my wii Fit.

I have made a chart on which I will track my progress each day. And hopefully by this time next week I won't feel like such a failure!

What's Wrong With Me?

Last month I set a seemingly unattainable goal of writing 40,000 words in five weeks. I met and exceeded that goal.

Last month I also set a goal of losing weight. I’ve failed miserably.

Last fall I set out to organize my life (stuff). That’s also in the dumpster. Unfinished (and unstarted) projects are all over the house.

What’s the deal? It seems anything involving sitting in front of a computer is possible. My bills are paid (online), my classwork is caught up (PowerPoint presentations are done, and papers turned in online are graded), and electronic correspondence is caught up. But everything else is in shambles.

So – do I cut the cord? Go Cold Turkey? Or maybe I should take a page from the parenting book – limit time on this machine. Yeah. I can do that. Set a timer when I sit down and turn it off after two hours (the computer, not just the timer). And then I’ll have to get UP to do something – not watch TV, and definitely NOT eat!

Here goes Plan C!

Agghhh!

For the first time in over seven months, I nearly missed a week of blogging! I guess I could blame it on several things – my writing challenge, my classes, and taking care of mom’s emergencies. But I guess that’s really not necessary. Nothing dire is going to happen because I’m almost 24 hours late on my self-imposed deadline for blogging every Friday. The punishment is merely my disappointment in myself.

So here I am hastily attempting to put together a coherent post in the 30 minutes left of this week. Why? I guess there are a couple of reasons. The first is my disappointment in not meeting my weight loss goals. I have lost two pounds in six weeks. Yuk. I’m eating right (most of the time), and exercising (three days a week). What’s the deal? My daughter gave me a stern “talking to” tonight. She’s disappointed in me too. I hate that even more than being disappointed in myself.

I am meeting my writing goals. If I get this online before midnight, I’m meeting my goal of blogging every week. Also, I’m still plugging away at my story, despite the interruptions in my life. But for some reason, the health goal is eluding me. I guess I need to apply the same strategies toward this as I am toward writing. What’s different? I think it’s probably my accountability. On my computer, I keep track of how many words I need to have completed each day, and I don’t go to bed until that many words are in my manuscript. Some of it’s not very well-written, but the words and ideas are there. I’ve also been sharing my word count totals to my facebook and writers’ group friends. They know exactly how I’m doing.

So I guess what I need to do is what every diet (God, I hate that word!) tells me to do: record my intake. Look at evidence of the food I eat. And then cut it down to a reasonable amount.

Tomorrow starts another week. Let the accountability begin.