January was a fun month. I finished the book Helping Me Help Myself, which left me in a great mood and ready to start improving stuff. Be sure to look for a book review in the next week. It's amazing how much can change in a month. I'm still unemployed and living at home, but at least now I've gotten used to being here and I've unpacked the necessary stuff so I can be productive. It really isn't easy staying focused and looking for a job when you feel like you're in someone else's space and not your own.
So here's my progress for the month.
1. Get Organized
It's a lot easier to stay organized now that I've gotten rid of some of the stuff I was hanging on to. My Franklin Covey planner is getting use now that I can't lose it under all of the random piles I had. And now that I use it all the time I'm starting to get a better idea of the kinds of things that I like to keep track of. Since I try to do all of my shopping on the weekends, I have a section for shopping lists (need to buy and want to buy). There is also a section for keeping track of your finances, even though I'm not using that. It was one of the pre-labeled tabs that came with the starter pack that I ordered to go with the calendar part of the planner.
The thing I love about it is that they have so many sections and different calendar types that it's easy to mix and match parts and make a planner that's right for you. I wouldn't really suggest it to people who aren't sure if they'd use a paper planner though because they are a bit expensive. But for people like me who use one all the time, it's the greatest thing ever. The starter pack has tabbed sections for stuff like goals and important information and a guide on how to best use the planner. What I thought was really interesting though was the section labeled Values/Mission. It takes you through a few exercises and helps you to write your own personal mission statement. I guess it kind of links into the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I might have to actually read it now. I do want to be highly effective. Plus, it would only be fair. Since I've fallen in love with the planner and all.
2. Get Rid of 365 Things
I am actually quite surprised at how well this is going. 31 things down, A lot more to go. (Well, more than 31 if you count the fact that some of the things on my list were *A trash bag full of junk *2 Foot high stack of old magazines *A few bags of clothes donated to Goodwill *Old Halloween costumes)
The sad thing here is that since I'm back at home I've managed to find things that I didn't remember I had. Things from before I started college, things from before high school, things from preschool even. Who keeps all of this stuff really? Apparently I did. I actually thought at some point in time that my graduation cap from preschool would be needed one day. Or maybe I just didn't want to forget about it. I was a cute preschooler... Oh Well, now it's gone, I still have the picture, and I really don't feel so bad about getting rid of some of this old stuff anymore.
The best part of the progress though was getting rid of those three containers of papers that I mentioned before. The real help was the filing system that I used to figure out what to get rid of and what to keep. I never really thought that a bunch of filey tabby thingys could change my life that much. I might just do a post on the whole filing process since I'm still in the middle of figuring out what to do with the papers that were still in my room. Keep an eye open later next week.
5. Start an Exercise Program
I have not only managed to start my quest to get in shape enough to be a high school athlete, I have managed to drag some friends with me. So far I have two friends doing the 200 situps challenge with me. I hope to recruit a few others at some point in the future to help me stay on track with pushups and running.
7. Keep in Contact With Friends and Family
I miss my DC crew. It's kind of hard to find people who are willing to keep me entertained, put up with stories about my awesome ninja alarm clock of a cat (that might have to be a post of its own one day), and help keep me from having nervous breakdowns every two days. Over the past week I managed to send most of the crew their own personal text messages saying that I missed them. Sure I saw some of them about two weeks ago. And sure text messages aren't the most personal way to tell someone you care. But at least I didn't mass text them. In my world, progress is progress, and baby steps are still steps. So for now, it counts. I think this month might be an individual email to the top 20 people or so that I have lost contact with.
I also managed to have a super fun day with one of my best friends on Saturday. Even though it was snowing we had a ridiculously great time going to a few stores, buying my fabulous new running sneakers, and going to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes. I think these kind of days need to make it to my calendar more often.
8. Start 52 Good Habits
I think I'm doing pretty good on this one. So far there are 8 habits that I'm keeping track of. As of the first of the year there were only 2 days where I didn't do all of the habits I was supposed to do. And I think that was because I was sick. Not really a great excuse, but it happened. So that leaves me with a near perfect habit list. Not a bad start to the year. Sure some of the habits so far were things that I do everyday anyway, but I just want to make sure I don't forget. Plus, tracking all of this stuff will make it easier when I get to the bigger stuff later this year.
All of this progress is making me look forward to February now. Even though it doesn't seem like I got that much done or am any closer to my big goals of a job and a new apartment, I had fun and I did a decent number of productive things. Now on to make February even better!
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