As you may remember, I set some goals in January. Let's see how we're doing with a quick quarter one check.
Area 1: Professional
1. Create and implement a system for onboarding online students by the end of the year ≈
January: Met with some key leaders in the relevant departments and had a brief meeting with my boss about our way forward
February: Ugh. I need to set up a schedule for online orientation in March. This has to be a priority.
March: Ha ha ha. I should have done this when it was quiet over Spring Break.
2. Have lunch and/or coffee with someone on campus at least once a month - basically any networking event will work here ✔
January: I met with someone on 1/31. Snuck it in at the end.
February: I did a lot of socializing on campus this month. I volunteered at the Career Fair for two shifts and met a lot of folks from around campus; I went to a panel discussion and met someone I'd been in email correspondence with, but had never met before; and I went to a yoga class at the student union for the first time where I met some folks in administration.
March: I went to a conference on campus, did a college fair with people from other colleges within our university, and did an advising event with other advisors in the dorms one evening.
3. Do a quick refresher course on Excel (free though Coursera or elsewhere - I've been using SPSS too long and some of my very basic Excel skills are rusty) ✔
January: I didn't start it yet, but my library has Udemy courses available and I've bookmarked a couple to work on when things are slower at work.
February: I started the course!
March: I finished the course! Last Friday it was dead at work (the Friday of Spring Break AND the Friday before Easter), so I just did it then. I'm embarrassed to say that the most useful thing I learned was how to freeze the first row with the column name on large spreadsheets. Mostly embarrassed because how did I not know how to do that before?!
4. Maintain fifteen or fewer emails in my inbox - the rest must be filed appropriately ✔
As of 1/29: My work inbox has five emails in the inbox, my personal hotmail account (this is my main personal account) has four, and my personal gmail account (I used this mostly for job searching) has ZERO.
As of 2/27: My work inbox has ten emails in the inbox, most of which involve an event the first weekend of March and will go away soon, my personal hotmail account has ZERO, and my gmail account has ZERO.
As of 3/29: My work inbox has nine emails in the inbox, most of which I need my boss to help with and she's on vacation until Monday, my personal hotmail account has three, and my gmail has ZERO.
Area II: Pets
February: Walked a total of almost 79 miles (about 2.7 miles a day) and I'll take that for a short winter month.
March: Walked a total of almost 88 miles (about 2.9 miles a day) and that's probably going to be our peak for the year.
1. Continue to track the number of times I walk Hannah, as well as the length of the walks✔
January: We walked a total of 77.46 miles (just under 2.5 miles a day) and that's not bad considering the very cold snap we had in the middle of the month and that I was out of town for a few days.
2. Grooming of some sort for Hannah every week (bath, nails, etc.) ≈
January: We missed one week when I was out of town, but otherwise we did okay on this. 3/4
February: We missed one week when I was not feeling awesome. 3/4
March: We missed one week because it was Easter and when our Sundays get messed up, Hannah's nails get neglected. 3/4
3. At least one brief training session for Hannah each day ≈
January: 25/31 (80.6%) days - Not awesome, but not too bad. We'll keep working on it.
February: 24/29 (82.8%) days - The month started off badly, but we picked it up at the end of the month.
March: 25/31 (80.6%) days - It's just not possible for me to do this every single day. I might have to reevaluate my metrics.
4. Selfie with Hannah and with Zelda (not together!) at least once a week ✖
January: 3/4 with Zelda and 2/4 with Hannah. I guess it's better than 0. I'll keep working on it.
February: 3/4 with Hannah and 4/4 with Zelda.
March: 1/4 with Hannah and 2/4 with Zelda.
It's clear that this goal was not a priority for me.
Area III: Health
1. Formal exercise of at least 30 minutes or more on 80% of days ✔
January: 25/31 (80.6%) days. Woot woot.
February: 22/29 (75.9%) days. Hmm. Close, but not quite.
March: 26/31 (83.9%) days.
Total: 73/91 (80.2%) - Just squeaking in there.
2. Meditate at least three days a week ✖
January: 7/31 (22.6%) - I am struggling to find a routine that works for this. It can only get better than this dismal showing, right?
February: 12/29 (41.4%) - Better! This meets the goal.
March: 9/31 (20%) - Wow. Not awesome.
Total: 28/91 (30.8%) - Not even remotely close.
I have to do better with this.
3. Go outside for at least 24 minutes a day ✔
January: 30/31 days - I just missed one day when I was out of town.
February: 29/29 days
March: 31/31 days
4. Figure out a decent post-workout recovery shake - It has become clear that what I need is more protein in my diet. ✖
Area IV: Reading
1. Read at least one non-fiction book a month ✔
January: The Wager by David Grann, Accountable by Dashka Slater, and Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer and The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
February: I read 60 Songs That Explain the '90s by Rob Harvilla, The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson, and A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
March: The Less People Know About Us by Axton Betz- Hamilton
2. Read at least one book I already own every quarter ✔
I read My Brilliant Friend!
3. Keep my reading spreadsheet up to date ✔
4. Read at least one book to complete the top fantasy books by women authors list every month ✔
January: The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey
February: Eye Spy by Mercedes Lackey
March: Spy, Spy Again by Mercedes Lackey - I finished this trilogy this quarter!
Area V: Fun stuff
1. Finish the dress I'm currently sewing and complete at least one more clothing project ✖
I have not even so much as taken the dress out of its storage.
2. Take at least two sewing classes ✖
I was signed up for one and then I had to go to Michigan, so...I don't know if I can get this done.
3. Go out of Wisconsin at least three times (trips to Iowa don't count unless we go and don't visit any in-laws) ✖
January: Went to Michigan in late January
February: Nope.
March: Went to Iowa for Easter, but that doesn't count.
4. Track number of pieces of snail mail sent ✔
January: Seven birthday cards and one bureaucratic piece of business for a total of eight
February: Seventeen Valentine's Day cards, a postcard, five birthday cards, two packages, three shopping returns for a total of twenty-eight
March: A couple of birthday cards, a bill, some St. Patrick's Day cards, and a few Easter cards for a total of twenty-two
5. Learn to play chess ✖
To be entirely transparent, I totally forgot this was even on the list. No progress made at all.
6. Do at least one thing outside of my work, household, grocery store, or public library every week ≈
January: Only 2/4 weeks did this happen. In my pseudo-defense, it was really cold there for a while and it was unsafe to do much.
February: Yes! 4/4 weeks.
March: Yes! 100%
7. Go back to tracking expenses ✔
Q1 Fun Stuff
8. Photograph the cows - Our town's beautification council recently installed sculptures of the seven types of dairy cows around town. I want to get a photo of each one this quarter. - I did it. I snuck it in on a day when I was working from home and running lots of errands around town. All seven are photographed! ✔
9. Get both pairs of my Mephisto sandals resoled - I sent out one pair to get resoled at the end of February and it was just returned to me at the end of March. I don't actually think the other pair needs to be resoled yet. Probably next year. ✔
Overall
I set myself 25 goals, which seems ambitious, but totally should be doable.
14 (56%) goals accomplished, 7 nowhere close (28%), and 4 (16%) some progress, but not really done.
This was a real mixed bag, wasn't it? Stay tuned for how I go about switching up some of these goals for next quarter.
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Have you accomplished anything you're proud of recently?
Surviving March. Crossing a lot of to-do's off my list so far in April.
ReplyDeleteCan I admit I have zero desire to learn how to play chess or solve a Ruibx Cube. My son loves both and desperately wants me to learn (both), but I don't wanna so I'm not gonna (*she says while emphatically stomping her foot like a toddler*)
You traveled during this quarter!! That is infinitely more work than anything I did!
DeleteYeah, I don't really want to learn to play chess, either. I just feel like I should, you know?
You got a lot done this quarter! I have made a lot of progress on a big goal I had for this year, which I'll share about soon (I hope) (maybe) (don't want to jinx myself).
ReplyDeleteOoooohhhh...I can't wait to see the big reveal!
DeleteI feel like I haven't done a damn thing compared to you. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDelete😉
Actually, like Elisabeth, I survived March: two illnesses, a basement wall rebuild/waterproof that turned into a much bigger project, and being isolated from my family really took a toll. Add in the shitful weather, and I feel like still joining the upright each day is a triumph.
Love the cow collage. The Brown Swiss reminds me of Hannah.
I think surviving the first quarter is definitely an accomplishment for all of us! Sickness! Terrible weather! Home repairs! I bet you were busier than I was!
DeleteNow you know how to freeze and that is all that matters! We can't be expected to know how to use every tool available to us!
ReplyDeleteThat is so awesome how much you walk Hannah!
I don't know how other people don't walk their dogs a lot. Don't their dogs have boundless energy if they aren't walked?
DeleteIn awe of your tracking skills and your progress towards goals. I think #6 is my favorite goal, and you seem to be doing AWESOME at it! You go, Engie!
ReplyDeleteThank you. My tracking skills really aren't as amazing as everyone is suggesting, but I appreciate the encouragement.
DeleteThat is SO many goals and you accomplished so many! I missed your David Grann review (got very behind on blog reading early in the quarter) - it would drive you nuts to work at my company because we are not allowed to use oxford commas. So I have to remove them anytime I encounter them when editing even though I PREFER THEM. I don't know anyone on my team that is anti-oxford comma. I don't know who made the style decisions at this firm. I'm giving them major side eye over that decision, though.
ReplyDeleteQ1 was a wild ride for me. I traveled 5 times, did about 100 client meetings, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Work exhausts me so much so I don't have much energy to take on any other goals as lazy as that sounds? I worked out 22 time in Jan, 17 in Feb and 20 in March which is solidly "ok" but probably as much as I can expect in this stage of life. A friend tried to talk me into running the 10 mile over marathon weekend and I was tempted to say yes and then had a reality check moment with myself and realized I would further run myself into the ground if I tried to run a 10 mile race on top of everything else...
If I traveled that much, I would NOT have worked out even a fraction of the times you did, so I think you should give yourself a big high five!
DeleteYou did really well!! I think that you have a lot of goals, but this way you have something to strive for. However, if you don't accomplish all of them, I still say you can call a certain % a win! And yours seemed like a win to me!
ReplyDeleteI accomplished a lot in the first quarter, basically all having to do with getting rid of stuff, and hopefully in the next month, I'll finish the last item, which is my house, and then I will be done with that chapter of my life.
You definitely had a busy first quarter. And have so many big plans for the future!
DeleteSo much accomplished, congrats! I'm super-interested in the "top fantasy books by women authors" list you mentioned. I'm always looking for new recs. :)
ReplyDeleteHere is the list! https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/n713om/rfantasys_top_books_by_women_2021_results/
DeleteI've been working on it for a few years. LOL. Who even knows if I'll ever be able to finish it?
I think you did really well on the goals that were most important to you. Like the Excel refresher course was probably a little more important than taking selfies with Zelda and Hannah. Also, I know you had a big personal glitch- but you really stuck to most of your routines. I'll be interested to see how you restructure these going forward!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm mostly just going to give myself permission to do things less often - like I can't really train Hannah every day for various reasons - so maybe setting it at 75-80% is a better option. I'm still doing it, but maybe not an every day or you fail sort of thing.
DeleteLove how you track your goals. I just intuit and move on lol I am proud of surviving and thriving on a Paris trip with a 6 and a 4 year old :)
ReplyDeleteAnyone who does any sort of traveling is way ahead of me! And adding children to the mix is amazing.
DeleteYou did so much this quarter! Way to go! I also really love the way you track your goals and how you're not saying, "I must exercise X times a week" but rather shooting for an average over the month/quarter, which I think is good!
ReplyDeleteI do think it's important for to have some wiggle room and that's why I structure it in terms of a percentage over the entire quarter. But I can see for how someone else they'd need the weekly count built it. I think it just depends on how your brain works!
DeleteI see a lot of green checkmarks and nothing wrong with adjusting a few goals going forward! I think it's smart.
ReplyDeleteFor sure. Even the goals I don't reach are important for me to do a real soul search if they are priorities or not.
DeleteI think you did a fantastic job, and I also like how you look at the averages over 3 months. Makes perfect sense - January was awful for getting outside, but you did much better the other months. Why focus too much on a month with awful weather, when it's completely out of your control?
ReplyDeleteYou know I don't document my goals like this, so they're a) vague and b) impossible to document. I suspect accountability might help me here...
Accountability is 100% the point of these posts. I'm sure some people do read over every word, but I can't imagine many readers are truly interested in my nonsense. But it makes me more aware of how I'm spending time!
Delete