life plan – marginalia and such

There’s a lot that needs doing in October. I have a major library event to manage, a conference event (but a fun one), two leadership workshops to attend, and a car to buy (as soon as the check rolls in). I am barely managing to keep myself from going into a full-on panic. I can do this. I’ve had worse. But it’s always darkest before the dawn (or so they say). I really can’t wait for a drama-free week. I desperately need a few days without prep or planning, just some time to be.

My main goal is to settle the car situation without turning into a mush of nerves. We’ll see how that turns out.
Next goal: continue working on Round 1.2 (because round one became three rounds). This is the stick middle, which needs two rounds of careful revision before I can unravel it. My personal goal is a complete draft by January, but I foresee delays given recent events.
Speaking of delays, I will not be participating in this year’s NaNo. I was really looking forward to it, but I haven’t made the progress I need to even think about working on something else. I’ll keep storing my ideas for later, perhaps Camp.
Healthwise, I want to control myself around the holidays. I’m debating a Whole60 in November, while following most of the Whole30 principles in October. The holidays are my weakness when it comes to bad food habits, and I’ve been doing so well, I don’t want to fall off again.

As of today, I’ve waved the car goodbye and started preparing for a potential storm situation. I’m hoping for the best. Meanwhile, I’ve stocked up on books and cold-brew coffee. Probably no video on Friday.

That’s my plan. What’s yours?

simplicityandbalance

2015 is going to be about simplicity and balance. I’ve started by clearing out my closet and drawers (a much-needed task) and removing everything that went unused for the past year, that never quite fit, that never looked quite right, that I received as a present but didn’t really like, and that I own more than one of (in other words, how many scarves and water bottles do I really need?). This amounts to a lot of stuff to be donated. I regularly cull, but it’s been a while since I went for a full-scale de-cluttering of the bedroom and kitchen. My closet and cabinets are so much easier to sort through now that I can actually see what’s available.

Next on my agenda, a serious look at my shelves. I managed to eliminate a lot of grad school books when I moved out two years ago, but books tend to multiply like bunnies in my place… and while the idea of wall-to-wall shelves is lovely in theory, it just doesn’t work for me. I am not averse to weeding and know when it’s time to let go.

To manage the process without becoming overwhelmed, I joined Apartment Therapy’s January Cure and hope to have a neat and tidy apartment by the end of the month.

I’m also making a concerted effort to adopt a new workout and writing routine. I’ve been unhappy with some of the changes that I’ve experienced in the last few months since taking on my new job and I’ve come to accept that there are limits on my time that I just can’t help. I just don’t have the time to workout for an hour and write for two on weekdays. I’m lucky to find the time to workout at all in the mornings, so I’m just going to aim for short morning workouts and 1-2 hours of writing in the evenings. Small steps are better than none. I can’t go back to the amount of productivity and time that I had in the past, not so long as I have a 2 hour commute and life responsibilities. There was a luxury to living at home and working fifteen minutes away that I didn’t learn to appreciate until it was too late.

This month, I’m working on finding little ways to be purposeful and enjoy the little things. This means taking a step back and assessing my goals and ways to meet them, rather than diving in without a plan and crashing headlong into the tangled mess of trying to make sense of it. Simple, balanced, and purposeful, that’s what I’m going for.