I’ve noticed lately that I’ve actually been a lot better at achieving my goals than any previous years, so I decided to share a few tips. Hopefully, you will find them helpful!
My 3 Simple Tips On Getting Things Done:
- Do the goals you loathe the most at the beginning of the day. My example is exercise. I never get a high off of exercise. It’s painful for me every time. I’m doing insanity at least 3x a week now, and I like to get it done and over with before I can give it another thought.
- Make things easily accessible. I noticed that even a simple thing as leaving my gratitude journal on my desk where I sit everyday helps. And not only placed on my desk, but open with a pen on top. It leaves me even less of an excuse. It’s unbelievable how much of a difference it makes. Having to open the book and search for a pen turns out to be huge obstacles when the habit hasn’t formed.
- Don’t bite off more than you can chew. We all like to be ambitious, but sometimes it’s better to start small. I learned this after reading The Power of Less. For example, I’ve always wanted to make it a point to read my bible everyday, but I’ve never been able to manage to until now. Recently, I gave myself a goal to at least read one verse a day. One verse I can do! That’s not as daunting as telling myself to read a chapter or even a book a day. Usually while I’m there, I sometimes end up reading more anyways.
Lately, I’ve been teaching myself how to cook more, so I guess you can call that a recent hobby of mine. I don’t dread it like I used to. What is something you’ve picked up recently that you enjoy?
Last Week On the Blog:
- november’s 10 goals
- san diego zoo
- snail mail collective and gratitude
- korean ddukbokki recipe (which means I learned a new recipe!)
Health and Exercise:
We did insanity twice and hiked twice (once at temescal gateway state park and once at runyon):
We went twice to the farmer’s market in hopes to eat cleaner and support the farmers. :) The first one was a fail / learning experience, the second time was a lot better!
100 Days of Less Challenge (See previous posts):
I feel like I’m constantly purging all my stuff, but I always end up hoarding more somehow. After reading everything I own by theminimalists, I decided to take inventory of my things and get rid of some of my clothes in the process. The idea isn’t for you to constantly keep an accurate number of what you own, but to be more aware of what you own and learn more about yourself.
I’ve counted all the stuff in my closet so far including clothes, sleepwear, accessories, bags, travel and outdoor gear and I’ve counted 234 things. The only things I didn’t include were undergarments. I don’t think I can ever compete with these minimalists, but it’s helped me toss out a few unnecessary items from my closet already:
Our no spending freeze has also helped me be acutely aware of my spending habits. We’ve been really good about no spending for the past 7 weeks, but then we ended up purchasing a waterpik ultra water flosser. I first noticed it on buzzfeed’s list of 30 life-changing items that are worth every penny, but I know my mom also uses it.
I loathe flossing. I do it when I feel like I absolutely have to, at most once a week and then maybe every day the week before my dentist visit. haha It’s terrible, I know. I might just have to consider this a necessity seeing how we spent over 5k in dental bills the past few months because of our stupid dental insurance policy. I think a $40 investment on a water flosser is a good thing. So far I’ve been using it to floss every day, and hopefully, my dentist will be pleased!
What I’m working on this week (11/11-11/17):
- Writing out some of my Christmas cards.
- I think I may have an idea of what pinterest project I want to do this month.
- Finished reading The Bell Jar, and now I’m reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
- Start working on Rosetta Stone lessons or I won’t get done this month!
- Inventory the bathroom.
What’s a habit you want that you absolutely dread doing? Maybe one day I will enjoy working out, but it’s still the one I dread. Any new workouts you’ve been trying that you enjoy? These are all part of my November Goals, and you can see some of my other goals by clicking on the banner below:
Wow, what a busy woman you are! Your number 1 tip on getting things done reminds me of a book called “Eat That Frog”. I tend to procrastinate a lot, so I got that book in the hopes of helping me snap out of it… of course, it’s been an epic fail since I keep putting off reading that book. I should go dig it up soon.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I’m just starting out on doing similar things (downsizing my closet, 2 bin liners gone so far!). Hopefully your success can rub off on me! :P
I haven’t really heard of that book. Maybe I’ll check it out. I usually try to interject a non-fiction book every once in a while.. like 1 in 5 or 1 in 6. haha
I liked reading the power of less by Leo Babauta. It got repetitive and boring after a while.. but I use a lot of his advice to this day! I think it really helped me focus and get things done.
Thanks so much! Let’s do it together. :)
oh! i was going to read ‘the brief wonderous life of oscar wao’ also. let’s do it together! i’m far behind on my reading goal for this year, i need to catch up.
k! i’m only on page 4-5. :P are you gonna start today? :)
You’re doing Insanity?! Wow! That exercise routine looks and sounds painful. Good luck with it, though. I recently migrated to the desk in the corner of my living room and I’m definitely finding myself being more productive leaving stuff on there for me to do! Great tip!
I’m really happy you’re teaching yourself to cook! I LOVE to cook – it’s my favourite thing to do :D You should check out foodie.com for some cool recipes. Good luck with this week’s wishes and hope you have a great week!
– http://theinvisiblechild.info
i am! i promise it’s not as bad as it sounds. well.. maybe if you followed the exercises 100%, but i just end up pushing myself as far as i can go and i modify some of the strength exercises. just checked out foodie.com! i like it so far. it looks like they have a lot of similar food recipes that i’ve pinned on pinterest. i’m pinning way more than i can ever cook in a lifetime though! haha
I was meant to do Insanity with a friend a while ago but I chickened out, ahah. Yeah, foodie.com has the same premise as Pinterest but just focused on food :) I love pinning! Haha
Try it!! At least once! It’s so much better with a friend. :)
I feel like we are SO alike! I could relate to pretty much EVERYTHING in this post, as usual. I really enjoyed your advice, too, and saved it to reference again later! Especially because I think that stuff is so true and I should try to incorporate that more. I’m so much more productive in the morning, I definitely do things that are convenient and it’s so much like: out of sight, out of mind for me. I’m going to keep this in mind for the small changes I’ve been wanting to implement lately. Thanks!
i’m glad it could help! :) i’m the same way with convenience.
Flossing, bleh!! I may have to look into that waterpik too! I used to hate working out too but I try to make it more enjoyable like running outside instead of on a treadmill. Looking forward to seeing your Pinterest project!
You should get it and try it! I think it works. :) I’ll let you know what my dentist says. I definitely enjoy hiking because the change of scenery much more than going to a gym. Right now, though, I’m trying to finish insanity because it’s been on my bucket list for such a long time! Once I’m done, I can look into other options again. haha
I love your design in this post…so wonderful to look at! I have had to really sit back and assess what I need to do right now vs what I want to do, and prioritize, and then leave what I don’t need to do behind. It’s a hard lesson, but very needed. So this was a good read. I have also been trying to stick to a clean diet, which means lots of trips to farmers markets and fruit stands! Have you thought about trying canning? Good luck on your workouts…I can’t even think about doing Insanity!
Thank you so much! :) I feel like I need to evaluate on a week to week basis what’s necessary and what’s not. haha Maybe I’m just a fickle person and some of my priorities shift that fast. I haven’t seriously thought about canning, but it is on my bucket list of things to try. I think you can do it! I end up just modifying the workouts. I still don’t think I can properly do push ups. I do them on my knees.
I’ve been getting into cooking since I got here in the US and I’m enjoying it!
:) What are some of your favorite dishes you like to make? I’m still working on the super easy ones.
I have a lot of favorites, the easiest would be chicken adobo. It’s a Philippine dish. :)