The first week of a new year is a hopeful thing. Especially this year. Hope of emerging from a pandemic after a year of collective isolation, grief, fear. The ticking over of the calendar doesn’t solve the problems, but it does punctuate that we might be on the downhill of this sustained total suckiness mountain climb.
And then violent images of insurrection and treason emerged. I took that day off from my pursuit of betterness.
But then the next day I remembered that languishing along with the world doesn’t do me any good. A retreat into lethargy and numbing doesn’t help. So on Thursday, I picked back up with habits that will help.
There is a lot I am tracking this year. Despite my better angels, I am cataloguing it all. Most likely to be abandoned next month. But last year I tracked lots, and didn’t hit my goals, but got farther than I would have. 37 books finished. 27 fiber projects finished. Almost $20,000 of debt gone. Progress.
So I start again this year… here is what I am tracking… this is both boring and overly transparent..
Daily: consumption of 7 fruits and vegetables, 100 ounces of water, keeping my closet neat and tidy, not increasing debt, nightly skin care, 30 minutes of exercise.
Weekly: finish a book, list or promote 10 items on my Etsy shop, walk 6 miles, cook 3 times (my husband does the bulk of the cooking), finish a fiber project
All of this activity to hit my yearly goals: finish 52 books, finish 52 fiber projects, run 3 miles in 30 minutes or less, have 12 epic recipes memorized to become my “signatures”, reduce debt by $24,000, earn $5000 in Etsy revenue, A1C within normal range
It is a lot – but there are things not there – things that I feel a compulsion to track and achieve, but ended up making me grumpy – specifically, learning german and painting every day. I will wait to learn German until the world opens up enough that I could attend some sort of speaking group. On my own is not fun. And having a goal of painting every day has transformed something I love to something that is a chore. Forcing the daily creative works for many – I don’t think for me. I am going to chill out until I feel like painting again. I once loved it – I want to love it again.
Week 1 went well… if I meet my goals today and tomorrow I will have made yummy chocolate chip cookies, a fakin’ bacon pull apart biscuit casserole, finished 2 books, listed 10 items on my shop, walked 6 miles, exercised 228 minutes, made lots of progress on a quilt I am falling in love with. Not bad. And I deep cleaned my bathroom – which isn’t even tracked on a spreadsheet!
I know it is fool’s gold – this much productivity. But I feel happy and better. And I don’t feel like I want a multi-hour nap. And my muscles have that feeling like they are growing. I am a happy sore – mentally and physically. Here is to week 2.
weeknight quilting 