If you've been following this blog for long, you know that I like to set annual goals and then I do quarterly check-ins. You can see Q1 and Q2 results. Here's my Q3 update.
Area 1: Professional
1. Do a networking event on campus at least once a month ✔
July - So much! I did a lot of interviews, even with people who are not in my office.
August - I presented at a college-wide event and went to a "work friends picnic." Let's call it good.
September - I went to an ice cream social in the STEM building and am part of a campus-wide book club. I also purposefully went out of my way to go visit a new hire in a different unit to welcome her to campus.
2. Do another Excel course at a a slightly more advanced level ✖
July - Zero progress made. I haven't even looked into a course to do.
August - Still with no progress made. I don't know when I'd have time to do this.
September - LOLOLOL. What was I thinking with this goal?
3. Maintain fifteen or fewer emails in my work inbox ✔
July - I didn't do a check until 8/3, but I have eight in my work email, zero in my gmail, and nine in my hotmail account. Yay!
August - Oops. I never did an August inventory.
September - As of 9/30, I had five emails in my work inbox, one in my gmail, and two in my hotmail account.
4. Take off one mental health day for myself as a do nothing day during the quarter ✖
July - Nope.
August - Okay. I took off two Fridays in August. One was my birthday and we went on an adventure with Hannah. The other was the Friday of Labor Day and I prepped food and packed for the weekend. Neither of those was really a do nothing day, but I didn't go to work? Would you count those?
September - No. Just no. Why is this so hard to do?
5. Set up my office with plants (and a grow light or two) ✖
July - I bought a succulent garden with six or seven plants in it. Only three are still alive. LOL. I still have it at my house and need to bring it into the office.
August - LOLOLOL. No.
September - I did not. I am scared the plants will die in my office.
Area II: Pets
1. Continue to track the number of times I walk Hannah, as well as the length of the walks ✔
July - Literally our worst month of the year. Lots of things working against us here. Dr. BB took over some of the afternoon walks since he's on summer break, which frees up more time for me to exercise so we're not eating dinner late. It's been suuuuuper hot and humid so H doesn't like to go out anytime other than morning (same, girl, same). AND. The fireworks are an issue and she won't do anything other than reluctantly go out in the backyard at night, so our evening walk mostly isn't happening. Average of just over 2 miles a day.
August - Ha ha ha. I thought July was bad. We went just over 55 miles this month, with an average of 1.78 miles a day.
September - Slightly better, but I'm not going to lie. It was very hot for several days, Hannah was sick quite a bit, and my husband has taken over some of the afternoon walks, so this number is still not great. We did 59 miles together, just under two miles a day. (Days with four or five walks were typically days when H was sick and we were just going around the block, including middle of the night walks.)
2. Grooming of some sort for Hannah every week (bath, nails, etc.) ≈
July - Done! Her nails are looking so good.
August - We did it!
September - Ugh. We didn't do it.
3. At least one brief training session for Hannah 70% of the time ✖
July - Ooof. I only did four dedicated training sessions with her the entire month!! Poor baby. Sometimes we do mini-sessions out on walks (practice coming when called, walking nicely on steps, stopping at intersections, etc.), but I don't record those.
August - Eleven is better than four, right? Sadly, that is not even close to 70%.
September - Five times. Sigh. I can tell her behavior is NOT awesome, but she's also been sick a lot and I can't really train her when she's sick. Grr.
I do feel like I need to defend myself here. We do a fair amount of training on walks. We practice loose leash walking, staying and coming, and going up and down stairs politely on walks a lot. Those aren't dedicated training sessions, but she is getting reinforcement for good behaviors every day and those are behaviors we really care about.
4. Play with Zelda at least once a week ✔
July - 2/4 - Hey, 50% is better than 0%. (Poor neglected kitten.)
August - Look, the brown ball returned in August and I maintain that's good playtime with her.
September - There are now three toys in rotation and she and I play with them regularly. I feel like this is true improvement in her kitty life.
Area III: Health
1. Formal exercise of at least 30 minutes or more on 80% of days ≈
July - 25/31 (80.6%) days of working out for 30 minutes or more. Check.
August - 20/31 (64.5%) days of working out for 30 minutes or more. Ugh. Not great. I had that lipoma/cyst that honestly made any movement really hard.
September - 25/30 (83.3%). Not terrible.
Overall, it was 76.1% for the quarter. I'm going to have a hard time making up for August.
2. Meditate at least three days a week ✖
July - 10 times. Not quite, but close.
August - 10 times. Still close.
September - 13 times. I'm going to give myself credit for doing it this month.
3. Go outside for at least 24 minutes a day ✔
July - 30/31 days. The day I missed was the day I did my colonoscopy. I'm going to give myself a pass on that.
August - 31/31. Woot woot.
September - 30/30.
Area IV: Reading
1. Read at least one non-fiction book a month ✔
July - No. This is the second month in a row I skipped this. Gotta get back on the non-fiction train.
August - FOUR!! I listened to three non-fiction books this month and read another one.
September - TWO!! I listened to two non-fiction books this month. I feel like listening to non-fictions books is my secret to accomplishing this goal.
2. Read at least one book I already own this quarter ✔
July - Not yet, but I have a non-fiction book I own that I might get to in August.
August - Nope. All library books.
September - I read Black Beauty, which is a book I bought really cheaply for my Kindle quite some time ago.
3. Keep my reading spreadsheet up to date ✔
4. Read at least one book every month to complete the top fantasy books by women authors list ✔
July - I read a T. Kingfisher book and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
August - I read Vengeful and another T. Kingfisher book.
September - I did not.
Area V: Fun stuff
1. Finish the dress I'm currently sewing and complete at least one more clothing project ✖
July - Ha ha ha. Do I even have a sewing machine? *sigh*
August - My husband asked me to hem a pair of pants WEEKS AGO. I still haven't even done that.
September - Those pants still aren't hemmed.
2. Go out of Wisconsin at least once (trips to Michigan and Iowa don't count unless I don't see family) ≈
July - Ha ha ha. Nope.
August - Nope. Just to Iowa for a family event. Twice. And a trip to Michigan for family stuff. We did take an overnight with Hannah to someplace fun in the state. That's close, right?
September - No.
3. Track number of pieces of snail mail sent ✔
July - Four parcel returns, a package to a friend, two birthday cards, a bill, and a thank you note for a total of nine pieces.
August - Five thank you notes and a birthday card for a total of six pieces.
September - One thank you note, a bill, a note where I sent Birchie my business card, and ten postcards for a political campaign for a total of thirteen pieces
4. Do at least one thing outside of my work, household, grocery store, or public library every week ✔
July - Absolutely. I was a busy beaver in July and did lots outside of my house. Yay!
August - Yes. Some of those things weren't fun, but I did them.
September - Yes. Sometimes I had to count my workout class at the community center and that seems like a technicality, but I'm going to count it.
5. Continue tracking expenses ✔
Q3 Fun Stuff
6. Research volunteer opportunities in my town. ✖
July - Nope.
August - LOLs for days.
September - I feel bad, but this is a no.
7. Increase the percentage I'm putting into savings. ✖
July - Egads. Nothing.
August - Still nothing.
September - Have we talked about how pets are not a good financial investment?
8. Frame and display three photos ✖
July - Sigh. Nope.
August - No, but hear me out. I looked at frames. That's something, right?
September - I continued to look at the frames and discard the idea of buying them because I am too frugal to do it.
9. Go on a weekend adventure with my husband ✔
July - No, but I requested that this be my birthday present. My birthday is in August, so I think we will do it in August or September!
August - Well, we went on a one-night adventure! I'm going to give myself credit for that. I think it was in the spirit of the assignment.
September - No.
10. Visit at least one of the following museums in the quarter. ✖
National Mustard Museum, but only if I go with Anne.
July - No. Huh. This seems like such a good get into the AC sort of summer activity. I need to get on planning something!
August - Of course not.
September - I just couldn't get up the gumption to leave my house.
11. Clean up my RSS feed. Add three new-to-me blogs to follow. ≈
July - Not yet. I think this might be a September project.
August - LOLs.
September - You know what? Forget my RSS feed. I just created a Blog Roll for my blog. I did add a couple new blogs, but only two, so I have a bit of work to do on that still.
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Well, that's quite a mixed bag, isn't it? I think we all know that I should hem my husband's pants, schedule a day off work (you know what? I just looked at my work calendar and blocked off a random Wednesday in November when I didn't have any meetings scheduled and I TOOK IT OFF and then, because I am a rebel, I took off the day after Thanksgiving, too), and visit museums in my area.
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When is the last time you took a day just for yourself with no commitments or appointments?
Engie, from where I sit, you are KILLING it with your goals and life in general. You have had a challenging few years and you continue to Do the Things while regularly bringing entertainment and joy to the blog world. SO GLAD you took off a couple of days in November. Excellent work.
ReplyDeleteI am EXCITED for those days off in November. I talked to with my husband and he's not sure why I don't do that on a regular basis.
DeleteI think you are doing great with those goals! Taking a few days off is such a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing mediocre on my goals if we're being honest. But taking the time to reevaluate them indicates *something* to me, doesn't it?!
DeleteI'm glad you're taking some days off, but I hope you're not going to tightly schedule them. There's nothing wrong with simply Taking A Mental Health Day and having it be a breather. Allow yourself that luxury. Don't get me wrong; having goals is wonderful, but not if they make you feel frantic.
ReplyDeleteI think you're doing a terrific job. Kudos.
Yes, the idea behind these days is that there's nothing I have to do. If I want to sit at home on the couch and watch reruns of Great British Bake Off, I can!
DeleteI'll echo the other commenters here and say you're doing pretty great. I'm impressed that hemming your husband's pants is even a possibility, as I don't know how to sew at all. I remember learning it in Home Ec, but that was middle school and it obviously didn't stick.
ReplyDeleteGlad you've scheduled a mental health day! I have Wednesdays off from work, but not from being a parent (sigh.) Also, every single Wednesday this month is scheduled with an appointment, sigh.
I mean, that's the temptation, isn't it? To stack those days off with appointments and necessary adult things like cleaning and getting my shit together for Christmas. But if I do that, I won't be able to count it as a do nothing day!
DeleteI can't believe you feel like you have to defend yourself AT ALL, but especially not to us. I would feel like a superhero if I got even close to any of these. You are the BEST PET OWNER bar none, and walking her when it's too hot and trying to train her when she's sick would be a terrible thing, and not doing it IS fulfilling the goal of being a good pet person. You are KILLING IT.
ReplyDeleteHa. I was mostly defending it to myself. Hannah's training has fallen a bit by the wayside, but...she's still a pretty good dog. I appreciate your compliment that I'm doing a good job with my girls.
DeleteGirl, you get a pass on not doing the Excel class. The more I think about it, everything that I know in Excel was learned on a needs based basis via Google or what I've picked up from my coworkers.
ReplyDeleteFor folks who don't know why you sent me your business card==>I have a very nice business card holder but I haven't have business cards since my last in-office job and the holder is too nice to leave hidden in a drawer. So now my business card holder has your business card!
I *almost* included the photo you sent me of my card in your business card holder, but I refrained since I would have had to blur our all the info and it seemed like more work than it was worth. But now everyone knows!
DeleteYou're doing awesome on your goals! I got many good chuckles from your list, so thank you for that. Some goals just aren't meant to be, such as hemming pants! I love to sew, but I don't count hemming pants as sewing. I tried commenting on a couple of your previous posts and got the message that it failed. So please know that I'm thinking of you and your pets - you are such an excellent pet mom!
ReplyDeleteThose pants have GOT to get hemmed. This Sunday I'm going to cut the dog's nails, hem the pants, and take a closer look at ordering those frames. I'm going to get things done. (Note: It is unlikely even one of those things will happen.)
DeleteI'm so glad to hear you took those days off! I mean, made plans to take them. Yay you!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to take them off! What will I do with a lazy day? No one knows!
DeleteDo mental health days count if they're do-something days? If so, I met my (nonexistent) quota last month.
ReplyDeleteI mean, if you find do-something days relaxing, awesome. I am not a fan of do-something days myself.
DeleteEngie--your goal-setting and meeting skills are... goals as the kids say. I wish I could! I love the idea of a do-nothing day also... but I don't think I'd ever dare to...
ReplyDeleteWell, we'll say how those do-nothing days actually work out, won't we?
DeleteI really do hope you'll update on the do-nothing days!
DeleteNo one does data collection like you. Thumbs up. (I apologize because) I'm semi-retired so 65% of the month is (finally) for mental health which includes (reading, YouTube, walking, writing, drawing/creating, yard-work, refreshments on the deck, and no pets).
ReplyDeleteNo apologies for being retired! Your life sounds delightful, minus the no pets part. Pets are a delightful part of my life.
DeleteI can't hem pants, so Dr. BB is lucky it can happen in house! More generally, I hate anything to do with fabric and sewing. When my husband asks me to sew on a button I shudder, so hemming pants would leave me in a real tizzy (and they'd look horrific).
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you have some days scheduled to be off. Yay!!!
Hmmm...the pants haven't been hemmed yet, so while *theoretically* I could hem them, the *reality* does not match!
DeleteI'm so proud of you for taking some days off in November! If you don't schedule them in advance, they just don't happen as meetings get scheduled and then you feel like you can't take the day off. I haven't taken much time off this year so I scheduled some days off in November and December! I also have a few days off when Paul doesn't have school and the after school program doesn't provide childcare on those days. Those kind of days are different since I'm not alone but we tend to do something fun together so I really enjoy those days, too.
ReplyDeleteI think you accomplished A LOT!! I need to update my reading tracker. I am very behind on that!
Yes, I totally got the idea of a do-nothing days from you! And I am realizing that I definitely need to schedule those ahead of time or it will be realllly hard to fit them in.
DeleteUpdating my reading lists is so time consuming, but I really feel like it's worth it.
So impressed with your way of keeping track of your life and making your goals happen. I know you'll enjoy your days off in November, enjoy every minute of them. You deserve to.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely enjoy those days off! It's just that it takes a bit more planning than I realized last quarter.
DeleteOnce my work announced flexible time off, it has been my goal to schedule one day off every month unless I have a vacation or something (lol). But if I don't have anything going on and haven't just taken time off for a vacation, I schedule that day off with PLEASURE. It's such a wonderful luxury!
ReplyDelete