Staying Organized

Sunday, January 13, 2019

The beginning of the year is always so full of all these grand plans. We're busy setting goals and intentions, making dietary changes or starting new exercise plans. Maybe you're also having minor panic attacks about wedding planning like I am. Whatever it is, we all seem to have something big-picture on our minds during these first few weeks. I personally love that fresh start feeling and the desire to shape up your life, but I'm also finding it to be a bit chaotic. I have slimmed down my goals since years past, but I'm still spending a good amount of my very little free time at night working on something new, whether that be attempting to find good vegetarian caterers in Nebraska or trying to organize the next DIY at John's house for the weekend. I'm really relying on all the little routines I've got going on to keep life humming along with some semblance of organization and allow me to focus on some of my bigger goals but not lose traction with everyday things. This is my ode to those routines:

Pre-Planning My Workouts - Oh how quickly would I stop going to the gym if I was faced with choosing it every single evening. Instead I plan my workout days (usually it's just Monday - Thursday) every Sunday and sometimes even the exact workouts for those days so that instead of fighting the desire to go home and zone out on the couch once 5pm rolls around I just head straight to the gym because the decision has already been made for me. Thanks past self! This month has been especially fun and easy to plan workouts because I got Zanna Van Dijk's Sculpt Guide and I am just starting it. It's set up so that you pick your workouts from a handful of weekly options, so you never get bored and you actually can pick something that fits well with your schedule. It's great so far!

Meal Planning & Prepping - If left to my own devices, I would eat a bowl of cereal for every meal and probably not even be that mad about it. There are too many different cereal options in this world to ever get bored! Unfortunately bodies actually need these things called nutrients. Who knew? Planning my meals in advance is my own hope at actually managing to consume enough vegetables, and even then I still struggle with it. This habit has been drilled into me since I was a child (my parents also meal plan) and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Budgeting - Every week I log all of my unplanned (aka not bills) purchases in my weekly spending tracking spreadsheet, which helps me keep a rolling total of how much I've spent throughout the week and year versus how much I've allotted myself. I also have a little routine that I complete every time I get paid which helps me stay on track for savings goals, remember to pay off my credit card, and track my financial progress. Without doing this I'd be wondering where all my money disappeared to while swimming through a pool of tissue paper from Sephora bags.

Bullet Journaling - I've already mentioned my Bullet Journal, but seriously it's become my second brain. When your mind is all over the place, it's great to have a place to unload it all and know it'll be there when you've forgotten it. It's a perfect place for completing all those other routines I've just talked about, and it's even better for seeing all the various things your brain thinks is important and recognizing they're not. What's the best way to get your todo list done? Make it shorter. My Bullet Journal has actually helped me a lot with prioritization and that's been the biggest weight off my shoulders. If you haven't started one yet, just go do it!
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