[See how I did on January here; info on my year-long monthly goal challenge here]
Some of these goals are brand new; others are building on some of my failures from January. I tried hard to make them as specific as possible, since that was something that I struggled with last month. I also wanted them to be more related to building habits vs. one-off things I could do in a day.
Home: Based on my reflection from January’s progress, I want to do just one 20/10 a day. A few days in January I literally set the timer for 20 minutes and power-cleaned/decluttered. It was great and I got a surprising amount done. My goal will to be to do that for every day in February.
Body: I want to give working out in the morning a fair shot. The last time I tried working out before work was back in my just starting to run/having an hour-long commute days. Running was already hellishly painful at that time, and to add lack of sleep + early to the mix was just too much to handle. But I’m at a point now where running 3 miles is an “easy” day and I’m better about getting enough sleep. Plus my commute is short enough that I wouldn’t even need to get up until 6:30 to fit a workout in and arrive to work on time-ish (I know some of you real morning runners that get up at 5 AM are rolling your eyes right now!). So it seems like it should be doable this time around.
I will fully admit that this is the goal that I am most likely to bail on. Dan is a night owl, and honestly I do like working out after work--it helps me transition into “not work” mode. But work is about to get really intense in mid-February (lasting through the spring), and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to get out in time for quality workouts. Plus, my office is a very arrive late/stay late culture in general, and I’ve always felt a little weird about the earlier hours I keep (even though it technically shouldn’t be an issue and isn't with my direct supervisor). But if it isn’t working for me or is affecting my time with Dan, I’m going to stick to after work.
For what it's worth, I did try it out yesterday! It wasn’t so bad, but it was a short run (3.3 miles), and I did it on the treadmill because it was snowing out/slick on the ground. It was only half-terrible being up early. Though I had a bit of a slow start, running didn’t feel any harder than normal once I got going. I can definitely see the advantage of doing morning runs in the summer--way cooler! But since I prefer to run outside, we will have to see how this current freezing-cold-AM weather works out. Oh ALSO, I forgot my other major factor for not liking morning workouts until I was doing it: my hair! I have naturally curly hair that looks a lot better when it air dries (also...I’m lazy). Which when I’m showering at night is totally fine...but in the AM isn’t ideal--I feel a little unprofessional showing up with wet hair! But I feel like if it is part way dry at least and I don’t have any early meetings, I can get away with it. Or I guess I can just pull it back until it dries?
Mind: Going to diverge from the “peace of mind” theme from last month and go back to one of the original intents of starting this blog--using my free time better. I feel unproductive and unhappy when I spend the whole night on the internet. I know this about myself...and yet I still do it! And reading is something I have always enjoyed but have done embarrassingly inconsistently in my adult life (I have a tendency to race through books, finish quickly, and then not pick up a new one for six weeks). So my goal will be to simply read for 10 minutes a day. If more, great, but just 10 minutes each day. And oh hey, look how nicely that fits into a 20/10 to go along with the home goal!
Relationships: Since my general goal from January to get back in touch with people wasn’t successful, I am going to try to SMART-ify my goal this month. My goal will be to email one college friend a week (I have a list of four in mind). Let’s see how it measures up-- Specific: I have my list of four AND I will add their names to my planner. Measurable: yup, one per week. Attainable: no reason why I can’t do this. Relevant: I think this will drive me forward both in reconnecting and in getting over my initial “fear hump” of contacting. Time-bound: check--one per week for a month.
I’m going to track my progress on all my goals in my planner--I’m going to put two color coded boxes on every day (one for 20 minute clean, one for 10 minute reading) for the month, as well as weekly boxes for the relationship contact. I already schedule my workouts weekly, so I’ll just work on adding them in the morning.
Today's Workout
5.2 mile "long" run (at an 11:12 pace), since it is the end of my cutback week.Overall I feel good about the cutback week--it came at the right time for my personal life (travel, work, lots of fun weekend activity! [next post!]) and is allegedly good for my running legs. I certainly feel renewed/recommitted to training for the race, which is probably the most important part!
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| You really can't see it in this picture, but the geese were out in full force today. So terrifying! |
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