Believe it or not, we’ve entered the 3rd month of 2024. It is also the last month of the 1st quarter of the year. There is a book called, “The 12 week Year” which is about focusing on goals by quarter vs annually. I have not read the book yet but I believe the premise is that making annual goals is less useful because there is too much time between making and completing goals. There is also a lot more time to be complacent or procrastinate when the goal is annual vs by quarter. I can relate to this because I often forget about my annual goals while focusing on my monthly goals. My monthly goals are supposed to feed into the completion of my annual goals (that’s the plan) but sometimes I get caught up in the moment and I forget to even look at my annual goals to make sure I’m doing something to meet them monthly or quarterly.
I might try to read the book sometime this year and implement the strategies to see if having a shorter time frame to get goals completed works better for me. For the moment, I will respect my progress without judgment and just keep trying to do my best!
FEBRUARY REVIEW
HOME
-Declutter the stationary closet-I’m making progress but I’m not done yet.
-Move forward on the laundry closet makeover-DONE. I have made a great deal of progress and have only 1 element left to call it done!
-Take items to the Goodwill-NOPE. The truth is I just didn’t do it. I have to really get this done though because I’m having people over later this month and I don’t want these boxes in my living/dining room.
CREATIVE
-make cards for family and friends-DONE
FITNESS/HEALTH
-movement 4 times per week (12)-FAIL-I completed this 4 times this month. I want to say that this is because I was focused on getting the laundry closet completed but the truth is I was undisciplined and unmotivated. I talked myself out of exercising simply because I didn’t want to do it.
FINANCIAL
-complete February budget-DONE
-track spending weekly-DONE
I’m doing decently in this area and I feel good about it. I’m finding that by focusing on tracking my spending I spend less impulsively.
MARCH GOALS
HOME
*declutter the stationary closet
*take items to Goodwill
CREATIVE
*continue to make cards for family and friends
*make 10 ready to send birthday cards
FITNESS/HEALTH
*out of bed by 7AM-3 days per week (12)-In my ideal life, I am able to get up and exercise before I start getting ready for work. In my current life, I struggle to get out of bed every morning. I am a night person and never want to get up. You might ask why I don’t focus on going to bed at a certain time instead of getting up at a certain time. It’s because I’ve tried setting a bed time and I ignore it every day! Right now, my goals is just to get up by 7AM and be ready for the start of my work day at 8AM. Once I can do that with regularity, then I can start moving the clock back.
*move my body x 20 minutes daily as many days as possible
FINANCIAL
*complete March budget
*track weekly spending
Running To Do List (RTDL)
clean makeup brushes (then schedule regularly)- declutter makeup
- clean behind the stove
- clean behind the refrigerator
install magnifying mirror in the master bath- install new shower head in the primary bath
- remove broken shower head in the guest bath
- install another shower head in the guest bath
- print 2022 Project Life pages
- put 2022 Project Life pages into an album
- print 2023 Project Life pages
- put 2023 Project Life pages into an album
- hem maxi dress
- touch up the paint in the primary bath
So, I managed to cross off another item on my RTDL! I cleaned my makeup brushes with an automatic brush cleaner. I don’t even know how long it’s been since my brushes were cleaned but the machine did a good job. I plan to clean them at least every two weeks now.
It was equal parts fascinating and disgusting to see the brushes get clean!
Which task on the RTDL will I choose next to end the quarter? Only time will tell!!
How are your 2024 goals going? Do you do annual, quarter, monthly or no goals at all? Share in the comments.
