Do you need a new planner for 2024? Check out my planner comparison and review here!
My Goals…Why do I set them? Why do I share them here?
- Setting goals helps me remain focused.
- Sharing my goals helps to hold me accountable.
- I hope that it may inspire you to set goals for yourself.
Are you new to goal setting? Here are a few posts that may help or inspire you:
- How to Set Goals using Short Challenges and Mini Goals
- How Short Challenges and Mini Goals Work for Me
- One Simple Task to Help You Follow Through On Your Goals
Wake-up & bedtimes
November: My goal was to be in bed for 7 hours most nights of the week. My preferred wake-up time is 6:00. I haven’t been getting up quite that early most mornings. Much of that depends on how often my 2-year old is up at night. When I have an hour or more to myself in the morning, I enjoy the time working on the project that I’m excited about.
If you have trouble making sleep a priority, check out these helpful resources: Sleep It Does a Family Good and Make Over Your Mornings.
December: Be in bed from 11:15 – 6:15.
Books
November: Read 2 books.
Nobody’s Cuter than You: A Memoir about the Beauty of Friendship
This is a heart-warming and humorous book!
The Girl You Left Behind
. While there were parts of the book I didn’t love, I was definitely hooked into the story.
December: Read 1 book. I am on 2 book launch teams for books coming out in January, so I will be starting Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World
Exercise
November: My goal was to workout 4 times per week. Not quite. I completed 3 each week.
December: Work out 4 times per week.
Weekly “date” night with hubby
November: One movie, game or date night per week in November. We got in one movie this month.
December: This will be hard to fit in with the busyness of December. We may try for once this month and pick it up again in January.
Organize, Declutter, Simplify
November: My goal was to do 4 small non-maintenance cleaning or decluttering tasks per week. This did not happen. Usually blogging about my goals helps to hold me accountable and forces me to at least attempt the goals I write about. I didn’t even start. I think one of the reasons was that I didn’t write it down and track how I was doing. I also prioritized different things this month and I am OK with that.
December: No goal. Start again in January.
Preschool
November: Homeschool preschool for my girl. I wanted to have the week’s plan in place every Sunday night. I use the term “week’s plan” loosely here, as I have a relaxed agenda. I did not do a good job planning the week on Sunday, which made some of school go on the back-burner. We still did most of our activities, but I can tell that taking even a few minutes to plan the week helps.
December: I need to get back into planning the week on Sunday. I record my exercise and that helps, so I think I need to get back to recording how I am doing on my goals.
Get Outside!
November: My goal was to try and spend time outside each week as winter is coming. We had a warm November and were able to spend plenty of time outside. Our 4-year-old likes to run around our yard as if she is in a cross-country race. I love it and hope she is getting a passion for running!
December: Winter is here. Our 4-year-old is excited to show her little sister all that there is to do in the snow. I hope we are able to get out and play in the snow this month!
Other December Goals
Plan ahead and keep December a low-stress month. I do not enjoy the feeling of stress and overwhelm around Christmas. Frantically finishing up Christmas shopping and having chaotic days leading up to Christmas drives me nuts. I have found that planning ahead and staying organized helps. I want to keep our schedule slow enough and to-do lists less overwhelming so we can enjoy the season and focus on celebrating our Savior’s birth.
Here is a Christmas Planner to check out if you want to do the same. I hope it helps you to plan ahead, get organized, stay under budget, enjoy your traditions and create memories with your family. I cannot promise you a stress-free holiday season, but I hope this helps.
Etsy Shop
November: I opened up an Etsy shop! It is a long ways from what I would like it to be, but it’s a start.
December: Add 6 items to the Etsy shop.
November Blog Goals
- I would like to set weekly goals on my new project. ~ Partially complete.
- Send weekly updates to newsletter subscribers. I decided to not blog about my new project as I am unsure how it will all play out. I will be sending my subscribers weekly updates on the project. ~ Done!
- Include weekly printables from my InDesign experimentation in the weekly update. Sign up to follow along and get the weekly printable. ~ Done. I have enjoyed creating a free printable to send out to my subscribers each week. I sent out the December calendar last week.
- Plan out a loose blogging/editorial calendar for November and December. ~ This is complete for December. It feels great to have somewhat of a plan going into December.
December Blog Goals
- Stick with December editorial calendar. It’s hard to find writing time when I am trying to learn InDesign, but I have a few drafts sitting around that will help me actually have posts out in December.
- Send weekly updates to newsletter subscribers.
- Include weekly printables from my InDesign experimentation in the weekly update.
- Plan out a tentative blogging/editorial calendar for January.
Do you make monthly goals? Feel free to link to your December goals in a comment. I enjoy reading goal lists. I find encouragement hearing what others are desiring to focus on.
This post includes affiliate links.
You will receive free updates, morning motivation, printables, blog post highlights, and occasional deals sent your way. Frequency?? Just a few times per month.
Jill says
You did great with your November goals, especially with the workouts which are so hard to fit in this time of year! I have The Girl You Left Behind on my reading list. The Christmas planner is a good idea too! I’ll have to check it out!
Jill
Doused In Pink
Emily says
The Girl You Left Behind definitely got my attention. It was hard to put down at times!
Yes, it can be hard to fit workouts in around the holidays. I am trying though. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Cat says
Looks like you did a fantastic job with your November goals! I need to check out your printables as I could use some more organization in my life.
Jennifer says
I look forward to reading your goals every month. I do something very similar. Usually mine are related to cleaning/organizing around the house, but after reading what you do, I decided to add to mine a little. Thanks so much for sharing each month. I’m so glad to know I’m not alone.
Erin - Suburban Simplicity says
I like your idea about blogging your goals…it would definitely help with accountability and tracking. Good job!
Keri Snyder says
Love your planner so much! It is hard to stay focused with school without a plan- I am the same way! If I don’t have a plan it will not happen!
Alison [Life of Scoop] says
I love this idea about setting practical goals and monitoring whether or not you’ve met them! I need to do this for many areas of my life – not to be legalistic, but to be intentional about the way I’m living. Thanks for the encouragement!
I will begin thinking about my short-term December goals and some longer-term January goals. :)
Pam says
I found the post very helpful and convicting as well. When I was working full-time, it seemed that setting goals at work and at home were pretty common. Since retiring, I have often lapsed into a more “go with the flow” mentality that has often left things undone or only partially finished. Thanks for this great list of suggestions and sharing about your own battle with goal-setting and keeping. Your neighbor from the Linkup today!
Pam
Erin says
OOh, I love JoJo Moyes! I need to read that book ASAP!
Johanna says
I love setting goals, writing them down and making sure I can reach them intentionally. I don;t want to be legalistic but I want to be a realist. I found you at #100 Happy Days!
Meg Gemelli says
Yes! I just bought my 2016 planner this week:) I’d be lost without it. Your organizational skills are awesome. I just got into a good day rotation and plan for blogging. It’s made all the difference in the world productivity wise. Happy to be visiting from Coffee for Your Heart this week!
Emily says
I finally purchased a planner for 2016. It’s always hard for me to decide what one to get. :)
What is your day rotation and plan you are referring to? Any tips? Thanks for stopping by, Meg!
Meg says
Not so many tips as what works for me, but I’m happy to share:) I’m a weekly blogger so I broke down each day like this:
Monday’s: schedule my daily messages for readers on FB, Twitter, and sometimes Instagram via Hootsuite.
Tuesday’s: write my blog
Wednesday’s: proofread and post blog
Thursday’s: work on book or articles for submission
Friday’s: work on book, articles, or additional blogs for the future
Every day: share my own posts and other writers’ as well, retweet others and comment on blogs via linkups
Weekends: I spend time with family. I occasionally engage in social media but rarely on Sunday’s. If I have a chance to write, I work on the book.
Write. Share. Repeat next week.
I hope this helps somebody out there:)
Emily says
This was VERY interesting! Thank you so much taking the time to share your schedule. It is giving me a few things to think about regarding my blogging/work schedule.
Maria says
Love how goal-oriented you are, Emily. It definitely helps me to write it down and track what I want to accomplish monthly as well, so I can totally relate to these–both the blogging and personal life stuff.
Thanks for Christmas planner suggestion. I’m trying to ease into the holidays without any stress this year, so I’m definitely going to try to be as organized as possible.
This was so lovely to read on #SHINEblog hop this week. Thanks so much for joining us!
Charissa says
I am super impressed with all your goals each month! I am taking Christmas down a notch too, mainly so I can enjoy the holidays without the stress. #smallvictoriesSunday
Heidi's Wanderings says
I decided to add some blogging goals to my monthly goals. Today is really the first day,, but I think it’s going to help me with blogging.
Gail Akeman says
Good luck with your goals. I really need to do some goals o my own
AJ @ Aspen Jay says
Wow Emily, your month is full! Nicely done on your November goals! I really need to get a game plan together for my own toddlers preschool…. Congrats on the Etsy shop!
Cheers,
AJ
Emily says
Thanks AJ!
Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories says
I love that you’ve kept up with your goal setting. I fizzled sometime over the summer when I finally reached and maintained my pageview goal FINALLY! Congrats on the Etsy shop, I love all the printables you’ve been creating and I was hoping to start doing a shop like that too. Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!
Emily says
Thank you for sharing my post and mentioning the Etsy shop. I appreciate it. :)
Great job on getting the page views you were shooting for!
Alanis says
Emily, you’re a true role model! :) Have you ever tried to use any kind of goal setting platform to track and manage your goals? I truly recommend http://www.AddGoals.com, but I bet there are many more!
Wish you good luck with all your goals. Thanks for being such an inspiration :)