2013 Year-end progress report

This past January, I posted about my goals for 2013 about 3 weeks after the year had actually begun.  In July, I posted a mid-year progress report and recently I have actually been looking forward to this year-end recap!  Maybe it's because I have already started forming goals for 2014 and beyond, which I hope to share later this week.


My theme for the year was "back to basics" and I thought that the following overall goals would help me be more productive and feel more in charge of my life.  As I mentioned back in June, these goals, while admirable, were a bit vague and hard to track.

• Wake up with my alarm clock (or set it later.  Really, what good is 30 extra minutes of "sleep" interrupted every 9 minutes?)

I think that I will always struggle with this, particularly in winter.  However, working a regular job schedule ensures that I cannot sleep much past 7:30 during the week.

• Do the dishes and other small, annoying tasks as they arise.

Another life-long struggle.  Someday I aspire to have a house with a dishwasher.

Often what my kitchen looks like at the end of a weekend.

• Apply "use it or lose it" to clothes, accessories and other household items.  

I have implemented the backwards hanger trick, and think it will prove useful for a spring closet clean out.  Anyone know of a similar trick that can be applied in dresser drawers?  A friend of mine is starting a Girl Scout troop; in addition to volunteering, I can't wait to donate a bunch of my craft supplies!  The thought of moving in 2014 is still pretty daunting when I consider what I have accumulated over the past 2.5 years.

• Focus on one thing at time to be more productive overall.

Sometimes this helps and sometimes this sends me into full-on avoidance mode.  I'm focused all right---on procrastinating.

• Plan for the "big rocks," or big tasks/goals and let the "pebbles" fill in the gaps.  Some "big rocks" for 2013 include:
• Two (or more) running events

I ran the Martha Jefferson 8K in March, my longest distance to date and shattered my previous time (38:07-->35:41) at the Charlottesville Women's 4 Miler in August. 

• Spring break/Beach Week trips 

Despite my limited personal budget and busy grad school schedule the first half of the year, 2013 has still been a pretty good year for travel.  The highlights certainly include the big trips to Alaska with my family (thanks Mom & Dad!) and visiting Japan before the dead of winter (thanks Keizo!)  Other adventures outside of Charlottesville included a few jaunts up to NoVA/Maryland, Chicago for the APA Conference, and a weekend in CA for a wedding followed by an extended warm & sunny "Christmas Break" at home in Scottsdale with my immediate family.  While generally content to live "smaller" on my intern wages, my desire to travel has me yearning for greener pastures.

Alaska Railroad from Denali to Whittier

*****

Next up (and the part I was most excited about) is the year-end tally of my weekly goals:

My observations:

• Once again, the exercise total is right on!  Next year's goal is 30 minutes/5 times a week per CDC guidelines.  As a percentage, 192/365 is only 53%!
• I need to clarify with myself what I mean by a "recipe."  Should they all be new recipes?  Or does any recipe count?  

I did a much poorer job of recording each of the next three categories on my color coded calendar.  I think this is in part because they aren't the types of things that happened in the kitchen, whereas my meal planning and cooking certainly take place there, and the calendar is posted on the door to the bathroom/shower which makes it convenient for recording exercising.  

• My calendar blog count was 5 short of the online archive total.  Either way, a vast improvement over 2012!
• Like the "recipe" goal, the "new thing" needs to be clarified a bit.  I usually count new restaurants and places, but I think I want to expand it to include some social events as well.
• I am not sure why I had such a hard time keeping track of letter writing.  I sent about a half a dozen postcards from Alaska, so I know that those zeros over the summer are incorrect.  I also have sent ~30 nengajo or New Year's cards this year, which if only going by quantity would cover more than half of the year!  The focus of this goal is more to set aside 20-30 minutes every other week to connect without the help of modern technology.  It sounds so simple, yet the numbers prove otherwise which is why I am upping the ante in 2014.

I have a little more work to do on my goals for 2014, but I am spending today (January 1st) tying up loose ends and goal setting so I can start the rest of the year off right on the 2nd!