the trick is to keep breathing

Before I go back into the whirlwind that was 2013, I'm in the mood to post more about what needs doing this year and what my goals are. Instead of listing out a big list of resolutions, though, this year I've decided to try something different. I'm giving myself one smaller goal for every month. This should help me focus, not feel overwhelmed, and develop lasting habits rather than try-fail-give up-cry like usually happens. XD

January: Adopt a controlled schedule for housework and workouts. My housework tends to build up until it's severely affecting my mood and then gets done in one fell swoop, which works I guess but isn't great for either the mental state or the pain levels. I also need to get on a regimen for workouts, as we're upping my dose of drugs and exercise helps the meds & wards off side effects.

February: Arrange and clean bedroom. My bedroom has gathered junk it shouldn't have. I need a chair or couch in there. I need to sort through the things in the corners and find them homes, and get the room to the calming & pleasing state it should be.

March: Add writing into schedule. I barely wrote in 2013 and almost all the words were done on work time, which is now non-existent (in fact I lose more hobby time to work these days than vice versa :/ ). I want to write. I want to publish. That won't happen unless I learn to make time for it.

April: Plan & start yard/garden situation. I've a lot of things I'd like to do outside. I actually enjoy gardening a lot (Taurus, you know) and there's a lot of work to be done in this poor abandoned yard I've got.

May: Purchase furniture. By this point I (hopefully) will have recovered from the medical-financial black hole that was 2013. I have lawn chairs in my living room and no table in my sunroom. I want a new grill. I may want a new desk. I need chairs and lamps. If I've saved correctly, May will be the time that happens.

June: get working study/office & crafting room, possibly workout room I've no idea what I need yet, but I need a place to write that isn't the room I selected as my study. It doesn't work. I would also like a space I can leave up my sewing machine and store my knits, frames, other things I work on. I have the makings of a decent home "gym" and need to settle that as well. It doesn't all have to be DONE this month but I should make an interim plan of what I want to do going forward.

July: career focus As of July I will have been Operations Manager for a year. I've had time to get used to the needs and I'll have had the first half of the year to catch up from 2013's deficit black hole clusterfuck of undone to-do lists. This is the time to evaluate the job and the workload and commit to delegating more, reprioritizing; leaving on time, taking less work home; settling on a 5-year plan and putting it in motion; and generally working less wherever I can.

August: add regular blogging/posting to schedule I'm hoping this is something that will happen on its own as the other schedule and hobby related things progress, but if not, this is something I really want to do - for many additional things I don't blog about now.

September: health evaluation I'll have been on serious drugs for a while, I'll have followed up on whatever second steps I'm assigned/prescribed, I'll have been doing yoga and workouts for a while. Any lingering issues? Here's an entire month to deal with them.

October: basement, prepare house for winter My basement is huge and I don't really use it. Time to fix that. Some of it will have been done in previous rearranging months, but by Oct it will be ready to settle itself into the shape I need. Also yard work and other crap that needs doing before the cold sets in.

November: purge and reclaim space This is something else that comes out of all the previous months, but I tend to collect things because I'm a magpie packrat who can't seem to forget the clutchy hands of saving stuff because too poor to replace it. By purging I don't mean getting rid and buying new; I mean evaluating what I use and what I don't and donating things I've stashed away that I don't need.

December: reevaluate, relax, meditate, celebrate I have a lot of things I'd like to change in 2014. Holidays are always stressful. The final month will need to chill out.

I'm hoping that by having one goal or one habit for each month I can keep things in my life moving in a direction I want without shutting down my brain.