Author Topic: March 2019 Goals  (Read 6665 times)

Raenia

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March 2019 Goals
« on: March 01, 2019, 07:43:33 AM »
I didn't see a March thread yet, so here we go.

My March goals will be:

1. Meditate after work, at least 10 minutes (up from 5 min last month)
2. Limit computer time to timed breaks
3. Declutter something every day
4. Cook down the freezer
5. Read 4 books
6. Complete a creative project (not sure which one yet, but something!)

haypug16

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2019, 09:19:16 AM »
Thanks for starting the March thread :)

1. Increase net worth by $2,500
2. Walk 10K steps 15 days out of the month
3. Finish reading "Childbirth without fear", "The Stand", and The Lady of the River"
4. Stay in budget ($2,105)
5. Contribute $1,600 to 401K
6. Pack hospital bag as much as I can ahead of time (after the baby shower next weekend I should be able to get most of this done)
7. Do yoga 8x
8. Go to the gym 8x
9. "Tidy up" all clothes
10. Meditate daily

A lot of these are repeats from February, either that I want to continue or that I didn't reach and want to try again.

philli14

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2019, 10:33:39 AM »
I'm in! Should be similar to February goals.

1. Save $2,000 after-tax dollars
2. Complete sections on first draft of Geriatrics Monograph
3. Finish reading the book "Power of Habits"
4. Weight up to 181#
5. Reach "Adverbs 1" in Duolingo French module
« Last Edit: March 09, 2019, 09:41:20 AM by philli14 »

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2019, 01:13:09 PM »
Thanks for setting up the March thread!

Here are mine:
-33 workouts (discrete workouts count as one each, e.g. yoga + a run, so some days I have more than one)
-Make $300 in sidehustle
-Meditate & journal 10x each
-Have a date with my husband
-Run 12 times
-All unplanned money to kids college or mortgage paydown
-Take the kids skiing one more time
-Finalize sabbatical time off (dates for trips, etc)
-Stick to the budget
-Finish taxes

tnrunner

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2019, 01:44:09 PM »
March Goals

$1,000 principle to car loan
$600 to SL
read 2 books
run 15 times
lose three pounds
Hike at one state park
meet up with friends x2
one date with the husband

**Better work life balance


Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2019, 09:56:27 AM »
Walk to work twice a week.
Do something active on my 3 weekend days.
Finish making a determination key for a family of mushrooms.
Eat vegetarian 2-3 times a week.
Visit the cabin for a long weekend.

ItsALongStory

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2019, 01:38:05 PM »
First time I'm joining one of these:

- 8 x HIIT Gym
- 5 runs of 5k or longer
- 2 diet cheat days (over my calorie allowance) for the month
- no more than 4 meals out/$200 in restaurant/bar spend
- Finish Rich Dad Poor Dad
- Do 1 yard sale as a follow up of 'tidying'
- Work 2 hours per week on improving side hustle skillset
- Create website for DW's business
« Last Edit: March 02, 2019, 01:40:45 PM by ItsALongStory »

scatterplot

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2019, 08:39:41 PM »
month...
 
- consistently (1x every 3 days or so) work on an online course I'm taking (2019 goal is to finish 100% of an online course) ✅✅✅✅
- plan a community event for April, and give a talk about early retirement at it! (2019 goal) - ✅  - I have close to 50 people registered, 5 speakers and 5 sponsors who donated almost $1500 to make it happen! It became way bigger than I thought and I’m really proud. As I got more speaker submissions than I expected, I’m not going to give my talk on early retirement. But someday :)
- try to go as many days as possible without spending $
   ✅✅⬜✅✅✅✅⬜⬜✅✅⬜✅⬜⬜⬜✅⬜✅✅⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜✅⬜✅✅⬜✅
- purge belongings to get ready to move in April - ✅

every day...

- meditate
   ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅
- exercise
   ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅
- write
   ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅
- read
   ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅
- no sugar
   ✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅⬜⬜✅✅⬜✅✅⬜✅⬜✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅⬜✅
- <1 hour of phone
   ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅✅✅✅✅⬜✅✅⬜✅⬜✅✅⬜⬜✅✅✅⬜⬜⬜⬜
- bullet journal
   ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅

Spending ⬜s:

Rent/Utils: $753.62
Entertainment: $12.99
Groceries: $80.62
Eating Out: $108.45
Health/Beauty: $54.75 (3 month supply of face stuff)
Car: $74.07 (just two car insurance payments.. I switched car insurance at the end of the month for a cheaper rate. I'll get refunded some $ back from first payment but whatever)
Gifts: $35.25
Coffee/Alcohol: $20.00

total 5 day Los Angeles trip $169 [Lyft ($30, 36, 30), food ($64), scooter rental to avoid one big Lyft charge ($10)]

total spending:  = $1308.75

Savings rate: 77%

Sugar ⬜s: gluten free snack bar at work (x5), small amount of a chocolate bar, protein bar, one cocktail, tiramisu cake in LA, red cake in LA, ice cream sandwich & chocolate one day and it gave me massive headache and I didn't even like it that much. Happy to report I think I'm over sugar (after many months of work to reduce it)

Phone ⬜s: 75 min, 90 min, 180 min (getting home from LA), 75 min, 90 min, 210 min (rough weekend), a few days of lots of phone usage due to closing on house April 1st and researching stuff.

3/13 goal: drink only one cup of coffee ✅
3/21 goal: don’t use phone in morning ✅
3/21 to end of month goal: floss every night - nope, a few nights though
3/25 to end of month goal: no phone in bed - nope, last few days I phoned in bed

---

Feeling good! Not bad for buying my first house, organizing a huge event, a rough weekend of depression, and working full time.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2019, 01:38:27 PM by scatterplot »

KathrinS

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2019, 11:38:30 AM »
1. Make enough money to reach my yearly goal! (I'm self employed, and beginning of April is the end of the tax year).
2. Again, save at least 50%, with the stretch goal being 55-60%.
3. Working out: go to dance each weekend, do 2-3x bootcamp, and exercise on my own at least 2x/week.
4. Keep up the good amount of socialising on weekends - trying for at least 2 social things a week.
5. Start the process for getting a driver's license.

Kookaburra Risotto

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2019, 01:29:28 PM »
I just have one - re-start yoga. I'll be delighted if I'm back into a 2-3 times a week routine by the end of March.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2019, 06:30:08 PM »
@scatterplot - can you tell me more about the bullet journal? How you got into it, how you use it? Do you find it's a lot better than typical tracking/to do lists? I'm intrigued & love a good organization technique, but don't know how to start.

philli14

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2019, 07:58:14 PM »
@scatterplot - can you tell me more about the bullet journal? How you got into it, how you use it? Do you find it's a lot better than typical tracking/to do lists? I'm intrigued & love a good organization technique, but don't know how to start.

Would also be interested in this!

acepedro45

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2019, 08:14:41 PM »
1. Connect 1-on-1 with someone I haven't seen in awhile but have been missing.
2. Study 30 hours for the CFA
3. Track expenses relentlessly
4. File my taxes
5. Keep up regular running 3x/week - and sign up for a marathon!!!! (Update 3/6: I've been sick, so this hasn't been going too well.)
I work with someone who is about my age, about my speed in running, also has young kids and also hadn't done a marathon in about a decade. He crushed his PR by 15 minutes and almost qualified for Boston. There is hope for us old fogies. If he can do it, we can do it.
6. Read a book for pleasure
7. Abstain from alcohol in a life-boosting, weight-shedding cleanse.


Follow-up from one of my February goals:
Quote
2. Build a text-based adventure game for my wife's upcoming birthday

If anyone is curious to check out how this turned out, I'd be flattered. It's not very long and it has a Mustachian theme.

https://dashingdon.com/go/3823
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 07:54:42 AM by acepedro45 »

Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2019, 01:02:13 AM »
Walk to work twice a week.
Do something active on my 3 weekend days.
Finish making a determination key for a family of mushrooms.
Eat vegetarian 2-3 times a week.
Visit the cabin for a long weekend.

So far, I did something active on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
I worked on the determination key.

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/empty-your-freezer/
Not sure whether I will manage to empty it all during march.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2019, 01:44:52 AM by Linda_Norway »

scatterplot

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #14 on: March 04, 2019, 09:06:35 AM »
@scatterplot - can you tell me more about the bullet journal? How you got into it, how you use it? Do you find it's a lot better than typical tracking/to do lists? I'm intrigued & love a good organization technique, but don't know how to start.
CC @philli14

Definitely! I've been using a bullet journal ("bujo") off and on for a couple years now, but it wasn't until I read The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll, inventor of the system, that it really clicked deeply. I've been on since reading it in December and I LOVE my system -- not only am I more productive, organized, and focused on my goals, but I also have a noticeably clearer mind. Every time I have a thought about something I need/might want to do, I take three seconds to jot it down and KNOW that my system ensures that I either address it or decide it's not one of my priorities anymore. I had no idea how much effort I was expending to keep things like that in memory, even when I was using to-do lists or a digital system. So yeah, I'd recommend that book highly to start.

I have a 8 1/2 x 11" dotted journal (I found that the size that most people use is too small for me, I really like having the space) and it is divvied up like:

1. Index - the pages of the bujo are numbered, so all of the below is indexed for easy finding.

2. Future Log - four pages divvied by three months. When I get a wedding invite for August, I put a line item "18 - wedding" under August. This ensures that at the beginning of a month when I draw that month's calendar, I can reference this page, remember the priority, and re-copy it down in the calendar.

3. Month - https://imgur.com/a/Saz8ePl  (photo!) - one side of my month spread has a calendar that I hand draw with habit trackers on the bottom, and the other side is a monthly to do list. When I start a new month, I look at the future log and previous month's to do list and either copy over things that I haven't done that are still priorities (and then I put a less than sign over the dot of that item to indicate "transferred"), or realize that the things I haven't gotten to are no longer priorities (so I cross them off to indicate "no longer priority"). I also look at my yearly goal list and see what I can tackle from it. On the monthly to do list I only put the bigger items, not recurring things like "do laundry" - that goes in dailies.

4. Dailies - https://imgur.com/a/A2ZAH7o (photo!) - this is the bread and butter of bujo. Every morning I look at my monthly spread, see if I have any events on the calendar and write them down on the daily page with a circle bullet, then I look at my monthly to do list and write any tasks I might do that day with a dot or add tasks like "do laundry". An X through the dot marks that it is done. The "-" means "item someone told me about for further research." This is what REALLY works for me rather than a traditional planner because I use the amount of space per day that I need, no more, no less, it combines events and tasks, and because it looks like a big list I don't forget about items from previous days that I haven't done yet. As you can imagine, there are 50,000,000 ways that people set up their monthly/weekly/daily pages - there are many Google search rabbit holes that I hope you have fun going down. I tried 15-20 different layouts until I discovered that these two photos are the best for me.

5. Other tracking logs - I track all purchases, my spending and savings rate, what exercise I do, how much I use my smartphone, what books I read, what sugar I eat, what recipes I cook, all on their own pages. I've been into the "X effect" method for habits for a long time and get a lot of success from it. I'm probably more hardcore than average about tracking elements of my life, it soothes my anxiety ;) That's the great thing about it though! You get to find what works for you!

6. Everything else - pretty much every idea I have that I want to flesh out unrelated to calendar/planning, I get to put in my bujo without disturbing the calendar/planning process. I've tracked training for a half marathon, planned events, itineraried vacations, planned my house purchase and my new house needs, taken notes through books or online courses, written my song repertoire, copied down recipes and book and podcast recommendations. So many things come up that I can capture in my little one-stop shop notebook for my whole life. It's awesome.

Last thoughts... 1. perfectionism kicked in hard and I had to deal with it, 2. I had to set a daily reminder alarm when starting, 3. it took a lot of trial and error to get right.

Good luck! Happy to answer any other questions if you have them.

diapasoun

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #15 on: March 04, 2019, 10:35:24 AM »
Popping in a little late, but...

1. Average 13,353 steps a day.
2. Exercise 3x20 minutes a week, for 12 sessions total.
3. Save $1448.45.
4. Send pumpkin and Paradyne.
5. Get pile of stuff to Goodwill.
6. Revamp resume. D:
7. No-sugar month: Avoid added sugars!


philli14

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #16 on: March 04, 2019, 11:05:52 AM »
@scatterplot - can you tell me more about the bullet journal? How you got into it, how you use it? Do you find it's a lot better than typical tracking/to do lists? I'm intrigued & love a good organization technique, but don't know how to start.
CC @philli14

Definitely! I've been using a bullet journal ("bujo") off and on for a couple years now, but it wasn't until I read The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll, inventor of the system, that it really clicked deeply. I've been on since reading it in December and I LOVE my system -- not only am I more productive, organized, and focused on my goals, but I also have a noticeably clearer mind. Every time I have a thought about something I need/might want to do, I take three seconds to jot it down and KNOW that my system ensures that I either address it or decide it's not one of my priorities anymore. I had no idea how much effort I was expending to keep things like that in memory, even when I was using to-do lists or a digital system. So yeah, I'd recommend that book highly to start.

I have a 8 1/2 x 11" dotted journal (I found that the size that most people use is too small for me, I really like having the space) and it is divvied up like:

1. Index - the pages of the bujo are numbered, so all of the below is indexed for easy finding.

2. Future Log - four pages divvied by three months. When I get a wedding invite for August, I put a line item "18 - wedding" under August. This ensures that at the beginning of a month when I draw that month's calendar, I can reference this page, remember the priority, and re-copy it down in the calendar.

3. Month - https://imgur.com/a/Saz8ePl  (photo!) - one side of my month spread has a calendar that I hand draw with habit trackers on the bottom, and the other side is a monthly to do list. When I start a new month, I look at the future log and previous month's to do list and either copy over things that I haven't done that are still priorities (and then I put a less than sign over the dot of that item to indicate "transferred"), or realize that the things I haven't gotten to are no longer priorities (so I cross them off to indicate "no longer priority"). I also look at my yearly goal list and see what I can tackle from it. On the monthly to do list I only put the bigger items, not recurring things like "do laundry" - that goes in dailies.

4. Dailies - https://imgur.com/a/A2ZAH7o (photo!) - this is the bread and butter of bujo. Every morning I look at my monthly spread, see if I have any events on the calendar and write them down on the daily page with a circle bullet, then I look at my monthly to do list and write any tasks I might do that day with a dot or add tasks like "do laundry". An X through the dot marks that it is done. The "-" means "item someone told me about for further research." This is what REALLY works for me rather than a traditional planner because I use the amount of space per day that I need, no more, no less, it combines events and tasks, and because it looks like a big list I don't forget about items from previous days that I haven't done yet. As you can imagine, there are 50,000,000 ways that people set up their monthly/weekly/daily pages - there are many Google search rabbit holes that I hope you have fun going down. I tried 15-20 different layouts until I discovered that these two photos are the best for me.

5. Other tracking logs - I track all purchases, my spending and savings rate, what exercise I do, how much I use my smartphone, what books I read, what sugar I eat, what recipes I cook, all on their own pages. I've been into the "X effect" method for habits for a long time and get a lot of success from it. I'm probably more hardcore than average about tracking elements of my life, it soothes my anxiety ;) That's the great thing about it though! You get to find what works for you!

6. Everything else - pretty much every idea I have that I want to flesh out unrelated to calendar/planning, I get to put in my bujo without disturbing the calendar/planning process. I've tracked training for a half marathon, planned events, itineraried vacations, planned my house purchase and my new house needs, taken notes through books or online courses, written my song repertoire, copied down recipes and book and podcast recommendations. So many things come up that I can capture in my little one-stop shop notebook for my whole life. It's awesome.

Last thoughts... 1. perfectionism kicked in hard and I had to deal with it, 2. I had to set a daily reminder alarm when starting, 3. it took a lot of trial and error to get right.

Good luck! Happy to answer any other questions if you have them.

so awesome! Thanks for the detailed post. That more than helps me to get started (I think I could really use something like this...). And thanks for mentioning the book which can be added reading if I want more detail. Thanks so much!!

LinneaH

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #17 on: March 05, 2019, 02:03:55 AM »
Mainly focus on our house, we had a water leak. Minor damage indoors, just needs to plaster and repaint a wall. And a lot of sorting and cleaning, but nothing of our stuff is affected by water. Outdoors - well, half of the garden is a hole more or less. Nothing I can do about it now, so no focus on garden during March, just some planning.

I want to have 10 items, some of them are small

1. Get the laundry room in order: decide on set up, get anything out of the house that we shouldn't keep (including stuff in garage).
2. Duolingo Italian every day
3. Plan garden and plant seeds (before the 15th)
4. Prepare for the trip: do we have everything we need? Packing list and plan & prepare food.
5. Plan the year, the spring half and the quarter. Late with this but want to do it. Want to involve DH for plans and money.
6. Restart DS1 training.
7. Hang art in kids’ room.
8. Send email regarding leak to insurance company.
9. Empty laundry once.
10. Empty ironing pile once (including all table cloths).


ItsALongStory

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #18 on: March 05, 2019, 08:32:18 PM »
First time I'm joining one of these:

- 8 x HIIT Gym
- 5 runs of 5k or longer
- 2 diet cheat days (over my calorie allowance) for the month
- no more than 4 meals out/$200 in restaurant/bar spend
- Finish Rich Dad Poor Dad
- Do 1 yard sale as a follow up of 'tidying'
- Work 2 hours per week on improving side hustle skillset
- Create website for DW's business

Update 3/5:
- 2 x HIIT Gym
- 1 diet cheat day (on March 1st, what was I thinking)
- 2 meals out already
- did some work on website but will need to wait for DW to get back from trip to wrap it up

acepedro45

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2019, 07:55:53 AM »

@scatterplot.

I like those check marks.

Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #20 on: March 07, 2019, 01:57:50 AM »

@scatterplot.

I like those check marks.

I also really liked the pictures of the scatterplot bujo.

Personally, I use Doit.im, which is a slightly similar system, but in electronic form. The secret is to look into it every day and to revise it regularly. It works reasonably well for me.

haypug16

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #21 on: March 07, 2019, 07:03:15 AM »
Week one check-in

1. Increase net worth by $2,500 - (payday is next week so this will be updated then)
2. Walk 10K steps 15 days out of the month (It's been way to cold to walk outside, man I hate NE winters. It is supposed to warm up a bit this weekend so hopefully I'll get back out there)
3. Finish reading "Childbirth without fear", "The Stand", and The Lady of the River" - (I've read a bit more of Childbirth without fear)
4. Stay in budget ($2,105) - (So far so good. I'm at $560 for the month)
5. Contribute $1,600 to 401K - (This will be updated after payday)
6. Pack hospital bag as much as I can ahead of time (after the baby shower this weekend I should be able to get most of this done)
7. Do yoga 8x - (I did some yoga poses but not what I would consider a full Yoga session)
8. Go to the gym 8x - (Nope, I really need to pack my bag for the gym before leaving for work so I can go straight there)
9. "Tidy up" all clothes - (My project for Sunday while Mr. Pug goes skiing)
10. Meditate daily - (I just set an alarm on my phone for 9pm tonight, hopefully that will work)

acepedro45

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #22 on: March 07, 2019, 07:56:17 AM »
Congratulations @Haypug! When are you due? We are expecting our second baby in June.

Here's my update in parentheses.

1. Connect 1-on-1 with someone I haven't seen in awhile but have been missing. (no progress)
2. Study 30 hours for the CFA (I've got about 6 hours in)
3. Track expenses relentlessly (These are up to date, so doing well)
4. File my taxes (nope)
5. Keep up regular running 3x/week - and sign up for a marathon!!!! (I've been a little sick and the weather has been lousy, but I've been out there sporadically. And yesterday I registered for a marathon in October!)
I work with someone who is about my age, about my speed in running, also has young kids and also hadn't done a marathon in about a decade. He crushed his PR by 15 minutes and almost qualified for Boston. There is hope for us old fogies. If he can do it, we can do it.
6. Read a book for pleasure (nope, not a word)
7. Abstain from alcohol in a life-boosting, weight-shedding cleanse. (I'm staying strong)

Raenia

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #23 on: March 07, 2019, 08:11:00 AM »
Week 1 Update:

1. Meditate after work, at least 10 minutes (up from 5 min last month)
 - good so far, I missed one weekend day but I'm counting those as optional.
2. Limit computer time to timed breaks
 - Not great, I need to focus more on this
3. Declutter something every day
 - 8 items so far (probably actually more, but I didn't keep strict count when we sorted through the basement storage)
4. Cook down the freezer
 - Finished off a bag of spinach and a bag of blueberries.  Used a quart of stock, but made a new batch of stock from scraps, so no net improvement
5. Read 4 books
 - 1 book done
6. Complete a creative project (not sure which one yet, but something!)
 - No progress.  I may drop this one, as house-buying is taking up more evening/weekend time than expected

haypug16

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #24 on: March 07, 2019, 08:43:38 AM »
Congratulations @Haypug! When are you due? We are expecting our second baby in June.


Due date is April 17th! Coming up fast. Congrats to you too!

diapasoun

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #25 on: March 07, 2019, 11:14:06 AM »
1. Average 13,353 steps a day. Close-ish right now. I think overall it probably averages out to about that.
2. Exercise 3x20 minutes a week, for 12 sessions total. Have done three sessions so far, woo!
3. Save $1448.45. Will wait until first March paycheck.
4. Send pumpkin and Paradyne. Not yet... I need to do that this Saturday.
5. Get pile of stuff to Goodwill. Also not yet... I keep not doing it when the Goodwill is open.
6. Revamp resume. D: Trying but have some grad-school-trauma-related stuff that makes this very hard, and I'm already dealing with a housemate situation that's leaving me on the verge of a panic attack every other day. Going to try doing this tonight.
7. No-sugar month: Avoid added sugars! Going strong so far! Woo!

Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #26 on: March 08, 2019, 04:58:03 AM »
I walked to work once this week. Maybe twice a week is a bit too ambitious for this time of the year, with lots of snow.

I have been active on my day off today.

haypug16

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #27 on: March 08, 2019, 07:14:37 AM »
So setting my alarm to meditate actually worked!

Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #28 on: March 09, 2019, 03:47:59 AM »
I didn't write it on the list, but it has been a goal for a long time. I have finally sold my digital piano. One of the steps in our downsizing project.

philli14

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #29 on: March 09, 2019, 09:41:57 AM »
Update 3/9:

1. Save $2,000 after-tax dollars - I'm going hard on cutting expenses. This will be very close.
2. Complete sections on first draft of Geriatrics Monograph - nothing yet.
3. Finish reading the book "Power of Habits" - Couple chapters in already, on track.
4. Weight up to 181# - Haven't weighed in this month, guess I'll be around 178#
5. Reach "Adverbs 1" in Duolingo French module - These last couple of lessons have been LONG which I haven't accounted for. But I'm enjoying learning this, hope I can reach this goal

Decent progress I suppose, but really need to get my ass moving on the Monograph

diapasoun

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #30 on: March 11, 2019, 11:41:47 AM »
1. Average 13,353 steps a day. Close-ish right now. I think overall it probably averages out to about that.
2. Exercise 3x20 minutes a week, for 12 sessions total. Have done three sessions so far, woo!
3. Save $1448.45. Will wait until first March paycheck.
4. Send pumpkin and Paradyne. Still not yet.
5. Get pile of stuff to Goodwill. Also not yet. I'm somewhat planning to do this tonight.
6. Revamp resume. D: This may just be on hold for the month. Dealing with the housemate crap is taking up all my energy for scaring myself.
7. No-sugar month: Avoid added sugars! Still holding strong!

tnrunner

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #31 on: March 11, 2019, 04:32:07 PM »
March Goals

$1,000 principle to car loan this will be a stretch as we have a larger than planned tax bill
$600 to SL
read 2 books
run 15 times  5/15
lose three pounds no progress
Hike at one state park  no progress
meet up with friends x2 1/2
one date with the husband we've had two with another planned

**Better work life balance

ItsALongStory

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #32 on: March 11, 2019, 09:50:29 PM »
First time I'm joining one of these:

- 8 x HIIT Gym
- 5 runs of 5k or longer
- 2 diet cheat days (over my calorie allowance) for the month
- no more than 4 meals out/$200 in restaurant/bar spend
- Finish Rich Dad Poor Dad
- Do 1 yard sale as a follow up of 'tidying'
- Work 2 hours per week on improving side hustle skillset
- Create website for DW's business

Update 3/5:
- 5 x HIIT Gym
- 2 diet cheat day (on March 1st, what was I thinking)
- 3 meals out already but 1 was paid for by someone else. did have 2 small bar tabs also and a lunch with a colleague so not gonna make this goal
- did some work on website but will need to wait for DW to get back from trip to wrap it up -> Picking DW up from her business trip in about an hour so should make some progress this week
- over halfway through RDPD

Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #33 on: March 12, 2019, 05:45:41 AM »
Work related: I finally produced a detailed plan that I needed to make. I didn't have the details, but have made some up, to be able to produce the plan. I hope that makes me sleep again tonight.

scatterplot

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #34 on: March 13, 2019, 07:51:44 AM »
Today I will drink only one cup of coffee. ✅
« Last Edit: March 13, 2019, 05:08:05 PM by scatterplot »

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #35 on: March 13, 2019, 09:09:18 AM »
Almost mid month check in:

Here are mine:
-33 workouts (discrete workouts count as one each, e.g. yoga + a run, so some days I have more than one) - 13/33 so far
-Make $300 in sidehustle - $146 so far
-Meditate & journal 10x each - 3/10 & 6/10, respectively
-Have a date with my husband - yes, and hoping to squeeze in a lunch as well
-Run 12 times - 5/12
-All unplanned money to kids college or mortgage paydown - yes
-Take the kids skiing one more time - this may not happen, now that soccer is in full swing
-Finalize sabbatical time off (dates for trips, etc) - a lot is up in the air right now with work
-Stick to the budget - we are over on food, after changing up our eating quite a bit. Otherwise, doing ok
-Finish taxes - it wasn't pretty, but it's done

diapasoun

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #36 on: March 13, 2019, 11:58:31 AM »
5. Get pile of stuff to Goodwill. DONE YES.

That one has been on my list for almost 2 months, I'm pretty dang excited about it.

Raenia

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #37 on: March 13, 2019, 12:49:48 PM »
5. Get pile of stuff to Goodwill. DONE YES.

That one has been on my list for almost 2 months, I'm pretty dang excited about it.

Wohoo, good for you!

Raenia

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #38 on: March 13, 2019, 12:59:41 PM »
I guess I'll go ahead with my week 2 update as well:

1. Meditate after work, at least 10 minutes (up from 5 min last month)
 - Missed entirely on Monday, and lots of trouble focusing on Tuesday.  So much going on it's hard to get my brain to be still for even a few minutes.
2. Limit computer time to timed breaks
 - Doing better, partly because I'm too busy to go down rabbit holes, but I'll take it.
3. Declutter something every day
 - 14 items so far, including (probably actually more, but I didn't keep strict count when we sorted through the basement storage)
4. Cook down the freezer
 - Used lentil stew and more stock, and some frozen veggies.
5. Read 4 books
 - 3 book done
6. Complete a creative project (not sure which one yet, but something!)
 - Cancelling this one, I'll start on projects again after we've closed on the house.

Kookaburra Risotto

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #39 on: March 15, 2019, 08:59:37 AM »
I just have one - re-start yoga. I'll be delighted if I'm back into a 2-3 times a week routine by the end of March.

Well I got started, first short session done the other night :) I should clarify that I have a chronic condition that affects my joints so it's sensible/necessary to take it slow - not lazy!

I did add a new goal though, which is to reduce my caffeine intake as I suspect it's making my chronic fatigue worse. I typically have three cups a day, sometimes, four, but I've decided to focus on caffeine rather than number of drinks. I've started by making cup 3 half caffeine, 4+ (if any) have to be decaff. From tomorrow cups 2 and 3 will be half caff for another week then I'll drop it a bit more.

acepedro45

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #40 on: March 15, 2019, 09:16:58 AM »
Mid-Month

1. Connect 1-on-1 with someone I haven't seen in awhile but have been missing. (Fail. I had this on last month's too and I haven't done either. Had solid plans spoiled by a snowstorm.)
2. Study 30 hours for the CFA - (On track)
3. Track expenses relentlessly (I'm a little behind here)
4. File my taxes (Nope)
5. Keep up regular running 3x/week - and sign up for a marathon!!!! (Making solid headway and did indeed plunk down for a marathon)
6. Read a book for pleasure (2/3rds of the way through Ready Player One).
7. Abstain from alcohol in a life-boosting, weight-shedding cleanse. (No slip ups yet)

@diapasoun - Congrats on goodwill! Maybe just block out distractions and commit to a solid 2 hours with your resume? And say after that two hours, that's the final version, no more tweaking? I have used this strategy with success post-kids and limited time on projects that can be endlessly polished and perfected. Just set a time limit and declare them done.

haypug16

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #41 on: March 15, 2019, 09:56:44 AM »
Mid-Month check-in

1. Increase net worth by $2,500 - (up $1,120 so far)
2. Walk 10K steps 15 days out of the month (1/15 so I basically need to hit this goal every remaining day this month)
3. Finish reading "Childbirth without fear", "The Stand", and The Lady of the River" - (I've read a bit more of Childbirth without fear)
4. Stay in budget ($2,105) - (I need to update my numbers, I may end up over as I bought Mr Pug concert tickets for his birthday!)
5. Contribute $1,600 to 401K - ($800 so far)
6. Pack hospital bag as much as I can ahead of time (I've put a few things together but need to wash the baby clothes we got from the shower and also find a good bag to use...)
7. Do yoga 8x - (2/8 so far)
8. Go to the gym 8x - (0/8 I seriously keep forgetting that I have this goal until I go to update my progress)
9. "Tidy up" all clothes - (Not done yet)
10. Meditate daily - (3 days this month so far, I have been trying to remember to set an alarm which did help but after it goes off I don't seem to remember to reset for the next day.)

Overall somethings are on track but I can do much better. Really lacking motivation when I get home from work. Being 8 months pregnant really drains the energy.

philli14

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #42 on: March 15, 2019, 10:44:37 AM »
Mid-Month Update:

1. Save $2,000 after-tax dollars - Expenses on track, earnings on track. Hopeful.
2. Complete sections on first draft of Geriatrics Monograph - still nothing, but I'm presently sitting in a coffee shop ready to make a dent
3. Finish reading the book "Power of Habits" - Close to halfway through with more reading planned
4. Weight up to 181# - Weighed in at 179 earlier this week, so it's possible
5. Reach "Adverbs 1" in Duolingo French module - Little behind track. Plan to make some headway this weekend.

Productive second half of the month is needed.

diapasoun

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #43 on: March 15, 2019, 04:14:25 PM »
1. Average 13,353 steps a day. On track! I've had some good days recently. :)
2. Exercise 3x20 minutes a week, for 12 sessions total. On track!
3. Save $1448.45. $1000 saved out of first March paycheck. I'll be opening an IRA this month. :D
4. Send pumpkin and Paradyne. Still not yet.
5. Get pile of stuff to Goodwill. DONE. Still so proud.
6. Revamp resume. D: We'll see...
7. No-sugar month: Avoid added sugars! Still holding strong!

@acepedro45 You gave me a thing to think about! I usually use a similar method to that for projects of this type (no one likes them and they allow for endless fiddling but fundamentally are projects that reach a sufficient state of Done very quickly). Unfortunately, the ~mental blocks I have around resume-writing have become pretty extreme; the last time I tried to edit my resume I had trauma-related flashbacks and went into an anxiety pit for about two months (thx, academic job market, for screwing me up good). I think that setting myself down for a certain period of time, without distractions, but also explicitly saying that I won't be done with it at the end of the session, may actually be a really good way to go about it. It removes the pressure of Perfect Materials and it still gets me to work on the update, which is valuable.

tnrunner

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #44 on: March 19, 2019, 06:01:32 AM »
March Goals

$1,000 principle to car loan $500/1,000
$600 to SL
read 2 books
run 15 times  7/15
lose three pounds no progress
Hike at one state park  no progress but did hike one hike in the Smoky Mountains
meet up with friends x2 1/2
one date with the husband 3/1

**Better work life balance

Linea_Norway

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #45 on: March 19, 2019, 06:39:43 AM »
- Walk to work twice a week.
- Do something active on my 3 weekend days.
- Finish making a determination key for a family of mushrooms.
- Eat vegetarian 2-3 times a week.
- Visit the cabin for a long weekend.

Bit over half-way status:

- I walk to work on only once a week. I will do it more often when it is more springtime and less snow to plough through. This goal was a bit too ambitious for winterly circumstances.
- I do something active on 2-3 of my weekend days. Very often the weather is shit on one of the weekend days. Then I prefer to stay inside and do nothing active inside. Maybe I do 3 days in the coming weekend.
- I have not finished making the termination key. The first part of the key was really easy. Now I'm getting to the more difficult part and have mushrooms that I don't know how to describe to separate. I have also prioritized spending most of my time reading some books.
- We eat vegetarian only once a week now. I still have the goal to do that more often. But often we have a large portion of meat and then have a leftover portion for the next day. Maybe we'll manage 2 times this week.
- We are planning to visit the cabin the coming weekend, if the snow conditions there are better than at home. That would be our main reason to go there.

scatterplot

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #46 on: March 19, 2019, 08:23:19 AM »
I’m reading an excellent book called How To Be An Imperfectionist and thought I’d drop it in this thread. Highly recommended if you’re like me and suspect that the desire to complete goals perfectly either shies you away from starting them, or gives you excuses not to finish them. It has a lot of great and implementable advice.

2/3rds there!

LinneaH

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #47 on: March 19, 2019, 06:08:58 PM »
Mainly focus on our house, we had a water leak. Minor damage indoors, just needs to plaster and repaint a wall. And a lot of sorting and cleaning, but nothing of our stuff is affected by water. Outdoors - well, half of the garden is a hole more or less. Nothing I can do about it now, so no focus on garden during March, just some planning.

I want to have 10 items, some of them are small

1. Get the laundry room in order: decide on set up, get anything out of the house that we shouldn't keep (including stuff in garage).
2. Duolingo Italian every day
3. Plan garden and plant seeds (before the 15th)
4. Prepare for the trip: do we have everything we need? Packing list and plan & prepare food.
5. Plan the year, the spring half and the quarter. Late with this but want to do it. Want to involve DH for plans and money.
6. Restart DS1 training.
7. Hang art in kids’ room.
8. Send email regarding leak to insurance company.
9. Empty laundry once.
10. Empty ironing pile once (including all table cloths).


March turned into something completely different. I'm being let go from work. Mgr has been somewhat of a jerk but they will have to pay for it, and they have realized that. But it's taking lots of emotional energy and I will not be able to make my list. April will be totally different (work ends end of March).

Quick check-in w/a third left
1. Partly/can do most of it
2. Absolutely doable and good so far
3. Running late but this is ok, I will catch up in April. Can't do it now.
4. Yes, this is good enough. Will pack tomorrow.
5. Nothing done, nothing will be done in March (unless I have insomnia during the trip but highly unlikely).
6. Well, maybe next week, we were going on first class today but he has a fever and an arm in cast. Those are valid excuses :-D.
7. Done! Could add but first part completed.
8. Not yet but should do. Or maybe first week of April.
9. Will not happen -> April.
10. Will not happen -> April.

acepedro45

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #48 on: March 20, 2019, 01:37:24 PM »
@LinneaH
So sorry to hear this....I find periods of dislocation in my life are when I lean on a Making Lists and Crossing Things Off strategy even more.

diapasoun

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Re: March 2019 Goals
« Reply #49 on: March 20, 2019, 01:59:26 PM »
Good luck, LinneaH! I'm sorry you're experiencing this, and I hope that you soon find work that is a better and happier fit for you.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!