Regrouping (ROW80)

Well, I posted my January ROW80 goals a few weeks ago.  They were as follows:

JANUARY (5th) - March (26th)
1. 1-2 blog posts per week (Ideally: 1 ROW80 post, 1 crafts-based post, however minimal).
2. Do something creative every day.  Doodles still count.
3. Exercise--Ideal goal: 3x3x3 (3 sets of 3 exercises, for 3+ days in a row).  Bare minimum: 1 set of stretches.
4. Social Media: Check in with all of my accounts/communities every week.

I was trying to be more specific with this round's goals, so that I would have concrete boxes to aim for and (hopefully) check off daily or weekly.

But...life...

I've been adjusting to a new work schedule, which gives me more free time in the evenings, but I get more tired and often end up staring at the internet until bedtime.  If I'm lucky, I run an errand on my way home and prepare the next day's meals before I run out of steam.  And I think vaguely about my creative projects.  I have a crafts blog entry that's pretty much finished, except for one or two photos I still need, that I never get around to taking.  And my unfinished NaNoWriMo story is starting to look at me reproachfully.

I also keep finding myself looking backward, into memories, rather than forward, into the future.  This can be good fodder for writing, but it can also be hard on the emotions.  I've been thinking about a quote that's attributed to Confucius (*paraphrased): "We have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one."  I think this is very relevant when you're at any crossroad, and a bit lovely, but I also think that a part of my mind refuses to accept the extra pressure that comes with acknowledging that it might be true.

I still really like my goals.  And I need to get more exercise and creativity going, so I still think they have validity.

But for the near future, I feel like I also need to itemize the things that really need to get done.  In life, in general.  Not as a guilt-trip, but as a reminder and a checklist that's conveniently in one place.

1. Continue to track my exercise (I've maintained this list for a whole year!), and seriously increase my fitness levels.  I'm more interested in upping my number of times exercised per week, at this point.  And continue making sure I get outside on weekends.

2. Get my finances in order.  I was tracking my expenses last year, and I want to restart-doing this.  I want some concrete numbers to mull over.  Also, address insurance, taxes and a new budget ASAP (however vague, I would like a new budget for my new year).

3. Decluttering.  My organized piles have been seriously encroaching on my living space, and I have some boxes that need to be sorted and reduced.  I need to re-start addressing this.  I feel so much better, and my head feels clearer, when I'm not surrounded by stuff.  As an avid keeper-of-things, this is a bit of a conundrum.

4. I will reach the second anniversary of my blog the first week of May.  I think it would be kind of cool to aim for that week to also have my 100th post.  I'm at 73 now, with this post, and there are about 15 weeks until the first week of May, so I would need to average about 2 posts a week, or about 9ish posts a month, which seems a little daunting, but possibly possible (...maybe?).

So that's where I am!  How are your Januarys going?  Are you encountering a lot of life changes, too??