NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR MY BLOG & MYSELF

ARE YOU A FAN OF NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS?

Do you make them every year?

Do you break them within the first month?

How many have you stuck with for a good chunk of the year?

Most of us can say that we’ve made a few resolutions that have only lasted a few days or weeks before they fizzled out. I’ve done the usual: spend less, eat healthier, get more exercise, ect. And of course, none have them really stuck until I had a specific goal and reason to stick with the resolution!

  • I started spending less because I was only part-time employed and literally had no money to spend on things I used to.
  • I started eating healthier because I realized I was feeling bogged down and groggy due to eating out all the time.
  • I started getting more exercise because I wanted to lose the 15 pounds I had gained since college.

These goals are called ‘SMART’ goals, a concept you probably heard about once or twice in college and haven’t thought about since. I encourage you to go check out this awesome post by LeeAnn at Girl Bosses Rock about SMART goals and why they are important!

To Be Honest, The Last Few Years I Haven’t Made New Year’s Resolutions Because I Think The Notion That Starting Something On The 1st Day Of The New Year Just Because It’s The New Year Is Kind Of Dumb, Sorry- But Not Sorry

I’m a huge fan of starting things on Sunday or Monday- and any Sunday or Monday will do. No need to wait a few months for the New Year, or think that if you failed on the first Friday of the year that your goals are never going to be met!

BUT THIS YEAR, I’M SETTING NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS!

 Over the last few months I’ve thought a lot about what is important to me and what I want to focus on. November & December have been crazy months for me with travel and this blog, mixed with my real job(s)! It’s hard to set a schedule when you are on the road, so I’ve been gathering goals and researching the best ways to implement them. The plan is to slowly integrate them into my daily life in the next few months, not to start all of them at 6 am on the 1st!

I’m excited to share them with you:

  1. SELF-CARE

 Tends to put their needs and I’ve always been someone who loves to take care of others and wants in front of my own needs. I’m also a major ‘fixer’. I love to fix people and their problems, even when they don’t want it. The sermon at church a few weeks ago was all about fixing and how we tend to become obsessed with fixing people in areas that we are self-conscious about, and it’s so true!

So, first up on the resolution list: schedule time for self-care into my daily routine and don’t let other people’s needs, wants, or problems bother you during that time.  Don’t answer the text that says “I need you to help me draft this email to my boss” or decide I can skip yoga so that dinner is ready when Matt gets off work. And don’t feel bad about it! (I always feel bad about it)

Included in this resolution is to create an 8 am-5 pm work schedule for myself. I’ve never had a job that was an 8 am-5 pm job, and I’ve been working since I was 12. But now I’m my own boss! And I work from home 75% of the time! I can have that normal schedule. But it’s so hard, I’m a workaholic who always has 10 things on my list that I ‘can do’. And since I’m not clocking in and out, I tend to work till 8 or 9 at night on the blog because there is no one telling me to stop.

Matt came up with the idea to pick three things a day that is “have to get done” (for the blog) and then stop after that. I tried that out the week before Christmas, it worked great! I was done by 3:30 every day and even got to nap one day. I’m going to implement this in January, especially since my real (read: income providing) job will be picking up!

  1. WAKING UP EARLIER

This goes hand in hand with scheduling self-care! Now that I don’t have a job to be at till 10 pm and back again at 4 am, I am enjoying sleeping. I have never been so well rested! I’m pretty sure that I’ve gotten more sleep in the last few months than I have in the past five years combined. No complaints, but waking up after 8 am makes me feel pretty lazy. And I really hate feeling lazy!

Also, now that it’s the dead of winter, it’s only light from 8 am to 3 pm and I want to be able to maximize my time spent awake during daylight hours. 

Ideally, I’d love to be up at 6 am and spend some time catching up on emails and busywork, so that when the sun finally rises I can get outside for some self-care and not feel lazy!

  1. MORE ACTIVE DATES WITH MATT

Matt’s first-ever words to me were the classic “Want to Netflix & Chill?”. It was said sarcastically, but that is what a lot of our dates have become. Because Netflix is awesome and chilling on the couch is comfy! Shasta (our cat) has even grown to love this tradition and will cuddle right up with us. But I want to mix it up!

 It is always an adventure that I’ve started showing Matt how to cook. Cooking solo is fun, and I enjoy it, but having someone there (handing you a glass of wine) is even better. Occasionally we go out for dinner or drinks or to hang out with friends. We go to a few hockey games here and there. And I love all those things! We just need to be better about planning them in advance, or else Netflix & Chill it is.

If you have any great suggestions for easy dates (that don’t cost a ton!), let me know in the comments!

  1. KEEP MY SPENDING FREEZE

I never thought I’d love not spending money, but it’s kind of a power trip! I feel so great when I walk into a store and walk out with only what I absolutely needed, or even better: nothing! It makes the purchases I do make so much more important and worthwhile. You can read more about my spending freeze here.

Part two of this freeze is buying less food! Over the past few months our grocery bill has slowly crept up to $80+ a week, which is the high end of our budget. My goal is to keep it closer to $60, which is the low end of our budget.

Shameless freebie plug: If you are an email subscriber, you received a free meal planner & shopping list in your inbox this morning! Go look!

Would you like your own copy? Just enter your email in the green bar at the top of the page and check your inbox for a confirmation email. The meal planner will be sent in the second welcome email!

  1. LESS WASTE

This goal is brought to you by my great dislike of how often my garbage can is full. I’m planning on implementing small ways to reduce waste, such as:

  • Not using paper towels for every mess I make in the kitchen
  • Bringing my own produce bags and bulk goods jars to the store
  • Finding all the Tupperware lids instead of plastic wrapping them
  • Remember to take my Nalgene bottle with me instead of buying plastic bottles
  • Figure out how to get my name taken off the list for the five credit card offers and three ad magazines I get a day in the mail (help!)
  • Making my own household cleaners

What tips & tricks do you have for creating less waste?

  1. BEST OF ALL: MY BLOG GOALS
  • I’d like to be more organized!

I’m writing this post on December 20th, so I’m currently 12 days ahead of schedule. My goal for December was to be two weeks ahead of schedule, so I’m close! By the end of January, I’d love to be a month ahead of schedule, so I can spend more time promoting each piece and being more involved on social media. I’d also love to have a system down for scheduling and promoting rather than just scrambling everywhere at the last second!

  • I’d like to be less stressed!

Sweet Basil & Thyme is my hobby project. It’s the first hobby I’ve had time for in a long time, and of course, I’ve built it into something to be stressed about. I cried multiple times in the making of my Christmas eBook because I was so sure it was going to turn out terribly (it didn’t). I want to keep this blog my fun hobby project, even though it is a ton of work.

  • I’d like to monetize my blog & collaborate with more bloggers!

I do put a ton of work into this blog and it would be great if I could get paid for it! Plenty of bloggers out there make a comfortable salary blogging, and one day I hope that is me. But I’m not willing to spam you’ll with ads or share products I don’t want or use, so it’s slow going! I would love to collaborate more with bloggers however because it’s a great way to build community and get each other’s work noticed!

If you are a blogger reading this and would like to collaborate on a project, shoot me an email at [email protected]!

  • And of course, I’d love to explore more recipes!

But I need your help with this! I currently share recipes that I’ve cooked recently, but I am always in the mood to try something new or share a recipe that you would like! Want more desserts? Drop me a comment! What more comfort food? Drop me a comment! Like to see what I eat on a regular basis? Drop me a comment still, I would like to know!

SO NOW YOU HAVE SEEN MY ‘NEW YEAR’S’ RESOLUTIONS, WHAT ARE YOURS?

And don’t forget to grab your free meal planner & grocery list!