My Second Hundred Day Challenge for 2020

It’s time to start another challenge.  I’ve been thinking about things, trying to figure out what the goals should be this time around. When I first started this back in January I was thinking that each period would have different goals/categories. However I’m now thinkng that each period will just be a continuation of the same basic categories but some will have new or more specific goals. So here goes –

1. Declutter – again remove 100 items. I just heard that they may be starting to pick up items again so that could help free up some space and get some stuff I’ve already collected out of the house.
2.  Budget – Actually I did do a good job of staying on top of recording our expenditures and I’m going to continue that. This time my goal is to see if I can get $500 or more into our liquid emergency fund.
3.  Read 15 books with 5 coming from the TBR lists. I’m sticking with the same amount because I’m hoping to be spending more time on my last two goals.
4.  Exercise for 20 minutes at least 5 times a week and walk at least once a week. I really need to put a lot of focus and effort here.  It’s been almost two years since I learned that I have arthritis in both hips. Last October I started seeing a physical therapist because I was having trouble. Not pain but discomfort and I was modifying actions to avoid pain and discomfort. We worked together and made some progress but I’ve let things slide and I’m feeling more discomfort again. I need to get back to doing the exercises she prescribed. I also want to get back to walking on a regular basis.
5.  Spend at least 2 hours per week on my hobbies and that will be split with 1 hour spent in the garden and the other hour on my other hobbies. I would really like to get my granddaughter’s quilt and some garden stones done this time around.

This challenge period starts May 19th and runs till August 26. Anyone care to join me?? Leave me a comment with your goals and I’ll be glad to check on your progress and cheer you on.

The first hundred day challenge of 2020 is done

I’ve completed my first 100 day challenge for this year with mixed results. I made progress in each of my five goals although not as much as I would have liked.

Let’s start with the success – my reading goal which was to read at least fifteen books with five coming from my to be read lists. I was able to complete twenty books with ten of them coming from my to be read lists. The shelter in place rule had a lot to do with that. I cannot wait until I can go to the library or the bookstore and search out new books. I thought about  getting an Audible subscription or even putting Kindle back on my laptop but didn’t do either.  When I did have the Kindle app  I ended up with a ton of free books stored on it but never seemed to get around to reading them. I prefer the feel of a real book. I’ve never tried listening to books but I have the feeling that it wouldn’t appeal.

I also had partial success with the decluttering goal of removing 100 items. My final total was 119 items although quite a few are still here since I haven’t been able to take them to be donated or recycled. And I’m wondering if they will be able to be donated? Will places take them not knowing if they came from a house that had the virus?? What will this virus thing due to the resale industries?

I can’t decide if my goal to spend at least an hour a week working on a hobby was a success or not. I did spend an hour or more for eleven of the fourteen weeks which was good. However I had hoped to finish my granddaughter’s quilt and that did not happen. I didn’t specifically say that I would finish the quilt but that was my hope.

I did not meet my budget goal due to several factors. These included an unexpected car repair, the need to fix the water pump, joining the CSA, the shutdown of my husband’s business, the lack of a liquid emergency fund and my inability to get my husband on board with staying within our limits.

The last goal was to exercise at least six days a week. I only managed that seven of the fourteen weeks. I definitely need to do better in the future.

Now I need to decide what to focus on for the next hundred days which will start on May 19th.

Hundred Day Challenge Update 5

Hard to believe that I am almost halfway through this challenge. I’ve made progress in some areas and need to do a better job in some areas. Here’s how things look today

1. Declutter 100 items – I’ve gotten rid of 76 things so far. I want to update the list but haven’t made the time to do it so far.
2.  Stay within the budget – not doing so well here with the car, the water heater and signing up for a CSA. We are trying to make better choices with our food but that comes with a larger price tag. Need to figure out some ways to lower other costs to compensate.
3.  Read 15 books,  5 from the TBR lists – I’ve read 3 from the TBR list and a total of 13 so far
4.  Exercise for at least 10 minutes six/week – only 3 of the 6 weeks so far.  I’ve faithfully ridden the bike every Monday through Friday but the weekends are difficult. Between the bad weather and a lack of motivation to get myself and my granddaughter out of the house, I haven’t been able to check off that last day. Need to make it a priority and just do it.
5.  Spend one hour/week working on a hobby – I’m doing okay although I haven’t been focused on the quilt like I had planned. I’ve met the goal five of the six weeks so far. I made a wreath, did some work on the quilt, did some garden planning and went through a ton of scrapbooking stuff.

Overall I feel pretty good about things and am hopeful that I will be able to finish strong. Have you made progress on your goals this year? Please share – I’d love to hear from you

2020 Hundred Day Challenge 1

I’ve worked out a schedule for the year and there will three challenge periods, each lasting for one hundred days. There will be a few weeks in between to evaluate what I did and plan for the next period.

For the first challenge I have five goals. Hopefully it isn’t too much to add onto my plate. The first goal is to declutter one hundred items. This is a continuation from last year. I have gotten rid of a lot of things but there is still stuff I think can be removed. One of the great things about last year’s work is that my hubby decided to join in. He is continuing to work on it this year and I’m hopeful that we will get this house decluttered this year.

The second goal is to stay within my budget. I need to pay closer attention to our spending and try to rein in our expenses. No more letting receipts pile up for months before figuring out where our money is going. I’m going to choose a weekly time where I enter receipts and check to see how things are going. I’m going to do a better job of using what food we have to try and bring down the grocery bill.

The third goal is to read 15 books. My to be read list has over two hundred books on it but when I go to the library I’m always seduced by the new titles and never seem to cross off anything on my list. I’m going to start using the request a book feature from my library website and get some books from my list. I’m also going to see if there are any more that are not really relevant anymore and take them off the list. I look at some of the titles and have no idea what they are about or why I put them on my list in the first pIace.  I want to read at least five books from my list during this challenge period.

The fourth goal is to exercise for at least ten minutes six times a week. I am very consistent with my am and pm stretching routine. In the morning I do a few yoga poses, hold a plank for one minute and do the neck and hip stretches. In the evening I do a few yoga poses and my neck and hip stretches. Monday through Friday I have been riding the stationary bike for ten minutes but on the weekends when I have my granddaughter I haven’t managed to fit it in. I’m going to try to take a walk on the weekends.

My fifth goal is to spend at least one hour a week working on a hobby. There are a lot of things I have the materials to do but haven’t taken the time to do them. I’m still working on what I’m going to do since there are so many possibilities. I know that the first one will be my granddaughter’s quilt. It was supposed to be done before she was born and she turned two last November. Definitely want to get it done.

Well I guess that is enough for now. I’ll be starting on Monday and I’ll be back some time next week to let you know how things are going.

Here we go again

Disclaimer = this is an unedited post – please excuse any errors. I would love to have a polished entry but at this point in my life I can barely find the time to create a rough draft.

Someday I should take the time to see how many times I’ve tried to develop the habit of consistently posting something – I know I’ve done it more times than I care to think of. Anyway, I am going to try again.

There have been a lot of changes over the past five years and I think I’ve finally hit the point where I am ready to get serious about taking control of what is going on in my life. I’ve spent too many years either depressed or feeling like everyone else’s needs and wants are more important than my own. Recently I’ve been feeling envious and resentful towards my husband because he has decided on a change of direction and is actively working to bring it about. Then I realized that I shouldn’t give into the negative thoughts and emotions instead I should emulate him and start taking action on my goals.

Unfortunately after denying them for so long I’m not sure I even know what they are anymore. Back when I started this blog I had six goals I wanted to accomplish and yet here we are so many years later and there isn’t much progress to show. Now I’m left wondering what do I really want?? Surely if those goals were truly important I would have found a way to work on them – wouldn’t I?

I’ve decided to do a 100 day challenge to round out 2019. I have a few definite routines I want to establish, a few projects I want to complete and I want to come up with some plans to either recommit to my original six goals or come up with some others to work on.

So here they are – the goals for the last 100 days of 2019

Routines

1. fitness – am and pm do neck stretches, yoga moves and a 60 second plank hold every day; do at least 5 minutes of some type of exercise daily including one easy HIIT walking interval program per week
2. no computer after 9:30pm and in bed by 10:30pm

Projects

1. work in the garden or on planning the garden for at least 20 hours
2. declutter 100 items
3. check into projects to do to increase the value of our home in preparation to sell in the next 5-10 years

Long term goals – spend at least 15 minutes each day either recommitting to my original goals or figuring out new ones for 2020

Hopefully that isn’t too much to try and work on. We’ll see how it goes.

 

The Declutter update – March 2019

I am rolling along on this goal – total of 78 for this month’s  activities. Will easily make my goal of 300 – thinking I should shoot for 500.

Here’s how it went –

Trash – 25

1 hotel room keycard from a vacation years ago                                                                         1  hot hands packet that expired 7/15                                                                                                1 glue on fingernail tip                                                                                                                        1 pie crust expiration date 12/15                                                                                                       1 bottle of ginger – don’t know how old but it no longer has any scent                                    1 fitness tracker notebook-partially used                                                                                        1 broken VHS rewinder                                                                                                                       1 dried up marker  1 lid for a marker saved in case we lost a lid and needed to replace one but now can’t find any markers that it would fit                                                                   2 dried up pens                                                                                                                                     12 packets of expired seeds from 2011                                                                                              3 plant info tags for plants I killed

Gave Away – 22

2 checkbook covers                                                                                                                              1 tree wrap                                                                                                                                             4 plastic tubes that florists use to keep the stems from bending                                                1 decorative pin                                                                                                                                    1 package of silicone food savers                                                                                                       1 box of activated charcoal toothpaste                                                                                            1 spaghetti scrubber                                                                                                                            1 lunchskins brand sandwich bag                                                                                                       1 lunchskins brand snack bag                                                                                                            1 ice pack- we have more ice packs than any one family needs                                                   1 package of bee’s wrap                                                                                                                      1 bamboo cutting board I already have 3 plus 2 wooden cutting boards                                   1 package of “Fresh paper”                                                                                                                 1 stasher –  silicone storage bag                                                                                                         1 veggie brush                                                                                                                                        1 container of deodorant cream                                                                                                        1 small glass water bottle – again we have more water bottles than one family needs           1 silicone to go cup

Removed  – 14                                                                                                                                          5 computer folders of articles, blogs, etc  with links that no longer work or items that I am no longer interested in                                                                                                                         9 places to visit off my travel bucket list because of lack of interest, money and/or time

Recycled – 17

1 empty contact lens cleaner bottle                                                                                                    14 manuals for items my kids no longer have                                                                                1 book of deposit slips for a bank that no longer exists                                                                1 book of checks for a bank that no longer exists

 

March Results

Another month in the books. Let’s start with the good – decluttering. I have been doing a really good job with this goal. This month I got rid of 76 items. Since I still have a bunch of things that could/should go this may be my easiest goal to achieve.

Another good thing was getting to bed on time. I really made an effort to get in bed by 10:30pm this month. I made the goal 26 out of 31 days this month(83%). And I’ve been keeping it up so far this month.

I did a better job of keeping track of my efforts with the boy ending up with 21 out of 31 days(70%). I can see progress and we will continue to work on getting him to take more responsibility for making sure his daily tasks are done.

Now for the bad – I was on the computer past 10 pm for 22/31 days(29%)! I just can’t seem to pull myself away from it. I always say that it doesn’t keep me from falling asleep but does it mess with the quality of my sleep?? I’m not sure about that anymore.

On to April’s goals – still going to declutter at least 25 items and work on training the boy. My third goal this month is to exercise for at least 5 minutes everyday. I’ve really gotten away from doing anything and need to get something going. I’ve been doing some exercises using my body weight and light dumbbells 4 days a week, yoga 2 days and taking a walk the other day. I’ve also been trying to do a minute or two of stretching before I go to sleep. It isn’t much but I need to start the habit of doing something and then I can build on it.

What are your goals for the month? Please share in the comments

Sleep

I’ve been getting to bed on time and waking up without an alarm. However I’m definitely not waking up refreshed and ready to start the day. Not sure if that is because I’m not getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep, I’m sleep-deprived from months of not getting enough sleep or the fact that I’m once again suffering from low level depression.

I don’t want to think/admit that I’m depressed because I feel like I shouldn’t be. I look at what other people close to me are going through and know that my troubles are not nearly as life shattering. And yet I’m struggling to do basic daily tasks or any of the things that I say I want to do.

I was hoping that this year would be different but so far it seems to be more of the same. Not sure what I need to do to get things moving in a different direction. Why is being an adult so hard?

The 2019 Declutter list – February edition

Goal – to remove at least 300 things/activities/people so I can focus on things that move me forward and/or bring me joy.

February total – 72 items

Trash – 29

4 water bottle caps – not sure why I was keeping them, 4 packets of dressing that were opened but have gone bad, 1 broken hanger for pants, 1 Boy Scout belt – the boy somehow tore off the metal tab and then picked at it till it unraveled,  8 plastic lids that have no matching containers, 9 manuals for items the boy no longer owns, 2 check pads for a bank account that no longer exists

Recycle – 16

one Rubbermaid lid without a matching container, 15 batteries

Give away – 27

10 packets of tea taken to church for the coffee hours, 3 clip on ties too small for the boy, 1 pair infant shoes, 1 spatula and 1 mixing spoon given to the scout troop since we received a nicer set, 2 checkbook covers, 1 cellphone case, 1 hands free headset for a cell phone, 2 cell phones, 5 cellphones with chargers – I have no idea how we ended up with all the cellphone stuff but it is out of the house now

March 2019

Hopefully some time this year I will manage to post my goals for the month before that month is half over! February was another month where I did not meet my goals. As is so often the case for me, events derailed my good intentions and I struggled to stick to my plans.

Goal updates- I managed to declutter 72 items which I will post about soon. I feel like I did better with training the boy but I didn’t keep good records so I’m not sure. I am seeing some progress in that I’m not needing to remind him as much about things he needs to do. Unfortunately I am still struggling with the computer and bedtime goals. I stopped being on the computer before 10 pm a total of 13/28 days -46%. I was in bed by 10:30pm a total of 17/28 -60%.

March goals – I’m hoping the third time will be the charm because this is the last month I’m going to focus on these goals. There are some other goals I want to work on once spring arrives and I’m hoping that it does arrive soon. So I’m shooting for 75% for monitoring the boy’s training checklists, shutting down the computer and getting to bed on time. I’d like to get rid of at least 25 items this month.

Anyone else want to chime in and tell about their progress or lack of progress? I’d love to hear how things are going with you.