These first four days of February have been a complete bust as far as my goals are concerned. It’s been one of those “when it rains, it pours” sort of weeks. Both cars broke down, our pellet stove quite lighting - right before the sub zero temperatures hit, our dishwasher started leaking - which we didn’t discover until our downstairs tenants called saying there was water dripping down their walls, and we dealt with some interpersonal challenges and difficult conversations. All in the first four days of this month. There was some good stuff too, like co-op starting back up, but overall it has been an exhausting week. I walked only once for half an hour. Otherwise I’ve confirmed that I am definitely a stress eater and have eaten a lot of carbs, sugar, and “junk” food as an attempt to cope with the insanity. I’m going to try to get my healthy habits going again tomorrow. I’m really feeling the sluggishness from lack of exercise and healthy food and I’m noticing this extra weight I’m carrying in several small, but bothersome, ways. So I’m leaving all my goals the same for week two of February and doing my best to but the last few days behind me. There was no avoiding all the difficulties of the past week but time to move on.

February goals: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss Year Goal: 15 pounds Month Goal: 2 pounds. I lost a couple of pounds in January just by a few small changes. I’m hoping to make those changes more consistent to keep the weight coming off. I’m going to be aware of portion sizes this month. I really need to lose 40-50 pounds. Daily walk 5x a week (can be as short as 20 minutes) Take vitamins daily Water: 16 oz of water first thing each morning, another 16 oz by/with lunch Eat a fruit and/or vegetable with each meal No late night snacking, especially alone Outdoor Time Year: Go outside every day, 350 days minimum. I missed 2 days in January. Year: 10 different hiking locations, 1/10 done. February is busy so I’m not planning a hike this month. Year: 500 hours outside, 20/500 done. February Goal: 15 hours Home/Decluttering Finish organizing and setting up sunroom as a craft room Reading Year: 12 novels, 2/10 done February: finish current book, start another Study/Learning Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 Duolingo Spanish: 3x a week Financial Year: Pay off credit card - done last week and then this week the pellet stove quit working and both cars needed repairs. So I guess I’ll try this one again. Might take through March to pay it off this time. Shop sales to stay within grocery budget Work on habits to reduce electricity usage (our provider is doubling rates this month. Yikes!) Find a cheaper supplier. Our bill only went up about half as much as I expected so we’re doing well cutting back on usage. I’ve done some research on other suppliers and need to finalize that. Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) Unplugged Saturdays 20 minute screen free rest break each day as possible (nap, walk, read, piano, bath, whatever feels restful at the time)

Two days left in January. I’m going to post my progress with January goals. I’ll be working on planning my February goals and will post in a couple of days. One of the big things I need to work on is using my planner more consistently so that I can keep track of my commitments and responsibilities so that I can plan realistic smaller goals. I did better with this in January but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. January goals: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss - daily walk 5x a week (can be as short as 10 minutes) Walked 6 days each week and was up to 30-60min each time the past few weeks. - take vitamins daily, especially iron which I suspect is low - drink 16 oz of water first thing each morning - eat a fruit and/or vegetable with each meal - no more late night snacking, especially alone I managed the rest of these about 5 days a week. Maybe only 4 days this past week. I need to plan ahead for busy days a little better. Outdoor Time - go outside every day DONE - two hikes (first location done yesterday) Only did one. Two was a bit ambitious for January. - 20 hours outside, 4 hours this week. 45 minutes to go. Should be able to do that tomorrow. Home/Decluttering - finish reorganizing kitchen DONE - put away and clean out Christmas decorations DONE - finish organizing and setting up sunroom as a craft room. Never got to this one. I’ll bump it to February. Reading - Choose and start first novel. Finished two books and started a third. Music (piano, violin, singing) I decided to drop this one early on. Setting goals in this area made music seem like work, which is exactly what I don’t want. Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 DONE Personal Growth/Relationships Worked on these goals most days. Making progress I think but these are harder to measure. Financial - Pay off credit card - Shop sales to stay within grocery budget - Work on habits to reduce electricity usage (our provider is doubling rates this month. Yikes!) All done. Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day (parameters TBD) Did two days - Listen to music while cooking DONE I’ve been enjoying this. - 20 minute screen free rest break each day (nap, walk, read, piano, bath, whatever feels restful at the time). This is still a work in progress.

January Week 4: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss - Same as last week with daily walk, vitamins, water, plenty of fruit and vegetables - Find exercises/stretches for plantar fasciitis and calf cramping. My feet have started hurting again and my left calf cramps up when I walk sometimes. The cramp spreads into my ankle, foot, and knee and gets pretty painful. Loosing some of this extra weight will probably help but also looking to ease the discomfort until then. Outdoor Time - My goal for January was 20 hours. I’m at 14.25 with 9 days left in the month. So I should be able to make it. We have a few rainy days in the forecast but as long as it’s not too heavy I’ll walk anyway. I can also work in my potting shed. Home/Decluttering - The sunroom still needs to be done. Not sure it will happen this week either. My schedule is packed this week. Reading -First book finished, second started. Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 - Start Spanish on Duolingo, 3 days Personal Growth/Relationships - Spend time daily working on these goals Financial - Shop for lower electricity supply rate, begin researching cheaper cell phone options. This is leftover from last week. Really need to get to it this week. Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - I think I will make Saturday a regular unplugged day. Staying off of screens for a day, even if not perfectly, really has helped me feel more calm, quiet, and rested. It gives my mind a chance to rest. I think I will work on ways to decrease my screen use the rest of the week as well. - Afternoon rest break where possible.

I’m “unplugging” tomorrow so updating the week’s progress tonight. It was an insanely busy week so a lot didn’t get done. I’m putting together a list of ideas for tomorrow since I will be staying off my phone so maybe I can get a little more done. When I did my first unplugged day last week it was on a very busy day. Tomorrow I have nothing scheduled so it will be a different experience. I’m looking forward to it though. January Week 3 Update: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss -daily walk, 5 days this week, minimum 30 minutes Done. Tomorrow will be day #6. -vitamins -water, 16 oz upon waking, 16 oz by/with lunch -fruit/vegetables -no late night snacking, plan dinner to avoid being hungry, tea or hot cocoa in place of emotional snacking All the rest of this happened maybe half the time. I’ll try again next week. Outdoor Time - go outside every day, minimum 5 total hours I’m at 4 hours right now. I should be able to get the last hour tomorrow. Home/Decluttering - Organize and set up sunroom as a craft room. Have the kids help with this since they will be the ones using it. On the list for tomorrow. Reading -Finally started the book I chose. Replace some evening screen time with reading. Done Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 - Put Duolingo app on my phone Done Personal Growth/Relationships - Spend time daily working on these goals This got pushed to the back burner this week. Financial - Shop for lower electricity supply rate, begin researching cheaper cell phone options. Bumped to next week. - Make menu based on food that’s already in our fridge and pantry Done Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day, no daily phone use until after morning routine is completed. Unplugged day tomorrow. No morning phone use was a bust. I’ll have to try that one again next week. - Afternoon rest break where possible It was a busy week and I was exhausted through most of it so when I had the chance I took an afternoon nap. I think I will allow myself the same tomorrow.

I’m right there with my DD15. She’s fairly sure that the only purpose of school is to torture children with forced knowledge that serves no useful purpose. She was actually my easiest to homeschool until this year when she decided to take the place of “most difficult” that my oldest vacated in June when she graduated. ….and I thought things would be easier once my oldest was done….. I’m not really sure what to do right now. We hit the halfway point of our school year on Friday. The work is getting done. No one is behind. But the days are long, the complaints are many, and things don’t seem to be “clicking” as well this year as in the past. It’s really making me second guess things. Are we doing too much? Is some of it really unnecessary like my kids say? Should we have a longer school year to spread it out more? Is it too hard? I have no idea. No advice. Just commiseration.

January Week 3: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss -daily walk, 5 days this week, minimum 30 minutes -vitamins -water, 16 oz upon waking, 16 oz by/with lunch -fruit/vegetables -no late night snacking, plan dinner to avoid being hungry, tea or hot cocoa in place of emotional snacking Outdoor Time - go outside every day, minimum 5 total hours Came up a little short on time last week but went outside every day. I’ll increase my daily walk time and spend time cleaning up the flower beds I never finished. Also need to clean out the potting shed to get ready for starting some seeds. It’s not exactly “outside” but I’m going to count it. Home/Decluttering - Organize and set up sunroom as a craft room. Have the kids help with this since they will be the ones using it. Reading -Finally started the book I chose. Replace some evening screen time with reading. Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 - Put Duolingo app on my phone Personal Growth/Relationships - Spend time daily working on these goals Financial - Shop for lower electricity supply rate, begin researching cheaper cell phone options - Make menu based on food that’s already in our fridge and pantry Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day, no daily phone use until after morning routine is completed. I did this yesterday and it was a good experience. By the end of the day I felt noticeably more calm and my mind felt quieter. It was interesting to see how often I reached for my phone to fill empty minutes. I’d like to make this a weekly exercise, probably just avoiding scrolling social media and the internet. Texts, phone calls, and a little TV will probably be fine. Lately I find myself on my phone even while watching a movie or show. That’s probably not good for my brain. - Afternoon rest break where possible

This is what we plan to do. We have four teenagers and currently drive a minivan. Our oldest has her license and her own car and our second will probably get her license this year. She’ll be 18 early next year. Number three is getting her permit this fall. We already take two cars many places, and sometimes even three, due to conflicting schedules and only once or twice a month do all six of us go somewhere together. We think we might get another year or two out of the van and then when it dies we’ll replace it with something smaller.

I’m planning an “unplugged” day tomorrow and limiting myself to only essential communication on devices so I’m posting my week’s progress as it stands right now. I‘ll post again on Sunday with next week’s goals. Week 2 Goals (many of these are the same as last week because I’m working on building some habits): Health/Fitness/Weight Loss daily walk, vitamins, morning water, fruit/vegetables, no late night snacking I was mostly successful with these goals. I need to work on the snacking though. I think I need to be careful with the emotional eating and eat a little more for dinner. My DH works the evening shift so we eat our “dinner” at lunch. Dinner ends up being really light or skipped and I end up hungry at 10pm. I had a doctor appointment and lab work done this week. Nothing is terrible but there were a few things mildly too high or too low. Some slightly worse than the past few years. I need to get those numbers moving in the right direction this year. Outdoor Time - go outside every day, minimum 5 total hours I’m at 4.25 hours for the week. Tomorrow is a busy day but I’m going to try to squeeze in the last 45 minutes to reach my goal. Home/Decluttering - organizing and setting up sunroom as a craft room Didn’t happen. Probably won’t tomorrow either. Reading - work on finding a time to read for enjoyment Also didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow when I’m off technology. I’ll need something to fill the evening screen time. Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 Done. Personal Growth/Relationships - I plan to set aside time each day to work on specific things related to these goals Done Financial - work on budget, pay bills, plan menu around grocery sales Done Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day Planning on this tomorrow. I’m curious to see how it goes and how many times I have to remind myself to put my phone down. - set aside 20 minutes each day to rest Didn’t happen but was needed. I need to make this more of a priority but it’s tough to do with a busy schedule.

Week 2 Goals (many of these are the same as last week because I’m working on building some habits): Health/Fitness/Weight Loss - daily walk 5x a week, at least 15 minutes - take vitamins daily, especially iron which I suspect is low - drink 16 oz of water first thing each morning - eat a fruit and/or vegetable with each meal - no late night snacking, especially alone Outdoor Time - go outside every day, even just to look at the stars and take a few deep breaths - minimum 5 total hours outside Home/Decluttering - organizing and setting up sunroom as a craft room It’s looking like a busy week so I may not get far with this, but I’m going to try to at least get started. Reading - work on finding a time to read for enjoyment. I read a lot for other things, but I’d like to also read for fun. Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 Personal Growth/Relationships - These are private, personal goals that I won’t post here but I plan to set aside time each day to work on specific things related to these goals Financial - work on budget, pay bills - plan menu around grocery sales Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day, no social media, games, online browsing. Necessary phone calls, important texts and email only - set aside 20 minutes each day to quietly rest, asking myself each day what I need to feel rested - a nap, music, book, walk - the goal is to learn to care for myself in this way

Thanks! That post got very long. I should put a warning at the beginning. LOL

Week 1 progress on January goals: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss - daily walk 5x a week (can be as short as 10 minutes) I walked 6 days this week even though it rained most days. I only skipped today. Not really a good reason for that but I met my goal so I’m happy. - take vitamins daily, especially iron which I suspect is low I took the iron with vitamin C every day and the others about every other day. I can improve there but the iron is most important right now. - drink 16 oz of water first thing each morning I did this every day. It seemed to set up for drinking more water throughout the day. This is something I’m usually really bad at so I’m glad to have some success here. - eat a fruit and/or vegetable with each meal Most, but not all, meals included fruit and/or vegetable. I had a nice list of varieties as well. - no more late night snacking, especially alone Last night was the only snacking night this week. I did 3 hours of karate classes last night without eating dinner first. By the time I got home I was so hungry I wanted to eat all the things. I won’t be doing that length of karate classes on a regular basis but I do need to come up with a food plan for when it happens. Outdoor Time - go outside every day Every day except today. I’ll go outside for quick look at the stars before I go to bed. It’s been a busy evening so a minute outside to breathe and take in the night sky will be a good way to start slowing down and getting ready for bed. - two hikes (first location done yesterday) 1/2 hikes done for the month. We were planning another today but DH got stuck at work overnight and was too tired. Maybe tomorrow. I might just go myself if he’s not feeling up to it. - 20 hours outside, 4 hours this week 4 hours for this week in spite of the rain. Next week will be colder but sunny so hoping to increase that a bit. Home/Decluttering - finish reorganizing kitchen Done. Long process but I like the changes. - put away and clean out Christmas decorations Mostly done. The tree still need to be hauled out but everything else is done. - finish organizing and setting up sunroom as a craft room Maybe this week. All of these really need to be done this week but I’m not sure that’s completely realistic. 2 out of 3 isn’t bad. It was more than I expected to get done. Reading - Choose and start first novel Book chosen but not started. I used to read constantly as a kid. I’m not sure what happened. Music (piano, violin, singing) - Play the piano 4 days a week, choose a piece to learn - Pull out violin and tune it (I haven’t played in 4 years) - Sing along to music I’m listening too I did some with music this week but have decided not to make any music goals. I’d much rather just let it happen when I feel like it instead of making it part of a checklist. Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 So far, so good. At some point I should probably work a little ahead of them though. I remember it but I’m pretty rusty. Personal Growth/Relationships - These are private, personal goals that I won’t post here. I just want this placeholder here for when I look back. I did something to work on these goals every day. Financial - Pay off credit card - Shop sales to stay within grocery budget - Work on habits to reduce electricity usage (our provider is doubling rates this month. Yikes!) I made progress on all of these goals this week. Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day (parameters TBD) - Listen to music while cooking I really like this. It’s nice to block out the noise of the house for a little bit most days. - 20 minute screen free rest break each day (nap, walk, read, piano, bath, whatever feels restful at the time) I only did this a couple of times. It was helpful though. I need to do something like this every day. All in all I’m pretty happy with this week. Not perfect, but I’m not expecting perfect. Having my goals has given some direction to my days and helped me prioritize what is most important to me. Tomorrow I’ll post my week 2 goals.

January goals: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss I weighed myself this morning for the first time in months and weighed more than I thought. Ugh. No wonder my clothes aren’t comfortable. I really need to lose 40-50 pounds (closer to 50), but I need to focus on overall health and fitness more. So I will set a goal of only 15 pounds of weight loss for this year and put my focus onto healthy habits. I’m not going to set a weight loss goal for January but am instead going to work on setting myself up for success later. - daily walk 5x a week (can be as short as 10 minutes) - take vitamins daily, especially iron which I suspect is low - drink 16 oz of water first thing each morning - eat a fruit and/or vegetable with each meal - no more late night snacking, especially alone Outdoor Time - go outside every day - two hikes (first location done yesterday) - 20 hours outside, 4 hours this week Home/Decluttering - finish reorganizing kitchen - put away and clean out Christmas decorations - finish organizing and setting up sunroom as a craft room All of these really need to be done this week but I’m not sure that’s completely realistic. Reading - Choose and start first novel Music (piano, violin, singing) - Play the piano 4 days a week, choose a piece to learn - Pull out violin and tune it (I haven’t played in 4 years) - Sing along to music I’m listening too Study/Learning - Keep up with my girls in Algebra 2 Personal Growth/Relationships - These are private, personal goals that I won’t post here. I just want this placeholder here for when I look back. Financial - Pay off credit card - Shop sales to stay within grocery budget - Work on habits to reduce electricity usage (our provider is doubling rates this month. Yikes!) Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) - One unplugged day (parameters TBD) - Listen to music while cooking - 20 minute screen free rest break each day (nap, walk, read, piano, bath, whatever feels restful at the time)

Thanks! This is very helpful. I tend to spend hours scrolling on my phone as an escape. Or sometimes I have the TV going while also on my phone. Sometimes it’s out of boredom but often a sign that something needs to be addressed with my mental health. I need to think through what my parameters will be and then figure out how often I want to do this.

Those who have done “unplugged days”, how far did you take this? Phone off, completely screen free? Were phone calls, texts, emails “ok”? I’d like to do this periodically but I’m trying to figure out how far I want to go with it.

My word(s) of the year are Rest and Restoration. I have a lot of categories of goals for this year but many aren’t clearly defined. Generally, I’m just working for improvement in these areas: Health/Fitness/Weight Loss Outdoor Time Home/Decluttering Reading Music (piano, violin, singing) Study/Learning Personal Growth/Relationships Financial Rest (mental, physical, and emotional) Right now I have lots of notes and ideas about these areas scribbled in a notebook. My plan is to clean up and rewrite my ideas and keep that page at the front of my planner. As I plan each week I’ll add in short, weekly or monthly goals in whichever areas make the most sense for that week (although really I’d like to touch on each area in at least some small way each week). Last year I tried a bunch of big goals and wasn’t very successful so I’m trying something different this year. That being said, I have been thinking about places where I can set some modest yearly goals. This may change over this month as I see how things are going but here’s where I’m at right now: Weight Loss - I haven’t weighed myself in a few months but my guess is that I have probably 40-50 pounds to lose. I don’t care to count calories or do crazy workouts though so I think I’ll set a goal of just 15 pounds for the year. I’ve been debating whether even weighing myself is a good idea but I think I’ll go ahead and put new batteries in the scale tomorrow and see where I’m at. I do want to be careful to keep my ultimate goal focused on wellness rather than weight though. Outdoor time - Last year I tried 1000 hours outside and only managed slightly more than 300. So this year I’m going to scale back and work towards just 500 hours. Also, I’m setting a goal of time spent outdoors 350 days this year. It can be as short as stepping outside to look at the stars or listen to the rain. But walking to and from my car doesn't count. I have to be outside specifically to take in nature. My last goal in this area will be to hike 10 different local trails this year. I did the first one today. Reading - Read 12 books for enjoyment, one each month. I’ll post again tomorrow with January goals and steps. Thanks for starting this again GW!

I’d post in a 2023 thread too. I may tweak some things this year though. I’m thinking of just starting with weekly goals and maybe working up to monthly, rather than setting specific goals for the whole year.

I ended 2022 by getting covid on Thanksgiving and spending a couple of weeks recovering. Any thought of my goals was abandoned as I was behind on Christmas prep by the time my energy levels had returned to normal. I jumped into the goal threads late (February I think), and have to say that I didn’t achieve any of the goals I set. It’s a bit disappointing but I’m still considering it a positive. I spent the year thinking about goal setting and learning what is and is not realistic for me. It also gently pushed me to acknowledge the things in my life that make working on goals difficult. I set goals in areas like exercise, outdoor time, decluttering, and reading, when really there are some deeper, very personal things that need to be healed before I even have the bandwidth for more visible goals. So while I wasn’t terribly successful in achieving the goals I set, I do consider the year successful as I learned some important things about myself. I do plan to continue with goal setting for 2023. I haven’t yet figured out what my goals will be. I’d like to set some very similar goals as last year but I think I will need to reframe them in my own mind. Possibly as part of healing and personal growth rather than proof of it, if that makes sense. There are also other things that will need to be prioritized. I need to make time for things that help me feel rested, rejuvenated, and peaceful. I’m still thinking through this for 2023 but I’m looking forward to taking what I’ve learned and building off of it. Thanks so much, Granny_Weatherwax, for the past year of learning about goal setting! 🙂

This is amazing to me and seems really smart. I wish I’d done this when my kids were little. Now they’re teenagers and it’s hard to get them out the door. Maybe if I start getting outside more they’ll eventually join me. This sounds heavenly. I’ve thought often the past few years that it would be wonderful to get away by myself for a couple of days. It’d be so nice to have time to think, sleep, walk, pray….just be, with no one needing anything from me. I hadn’t thought about doing it is a solo camping trip. That would be perfect if I could ever make it happen.

It sounds like getting out in nature is a big one for many people. I know I certainly feel more peaceful after spending time outside. We have a couple of easy hiking trails within miles of our house, and I inherited lots of beautiful flower beds when we purchased this house. I haven’t prioritized the gardening as I’d like not taken advantage of our rural setting and the local trails. I’ll have to strongly consider blocking out this outdoor time. I even have a cute little greenhouse/potting shed that has currently been taken over as storage. Maybe I should take some time this winter to get it cleaned out and organized and then start seeds this spring. I also love music. Different styles depending on my mood. I play the piano, violin, and I sing. These have also been pushed to the side as life has gotten busier. Time to dust them off again I think.

I haven’t. Thanks for the suggestion. I have thought about putting together a reading list for the year of books that will remind me of where I want my focus and goals to be.

I’m thinking ahead to goal setting for 2023 and one thing I’d like to be purposeful about is rest. I have four teenagers, homeschooling three, and the busy life that goes along with that. One thing that was clearly missing, and needed, last year was rest. I’m not just thinking of getting enough sleep but also other ways to bring rest and rejuvenation to my life. For example, I’ve noticed that even though I don’t really like to cook, I find cooking by myself while listening to music to be….peaceful. I’ve also noticed that having a day “off” and spending it online or watching TV doesn’t leave me feeling rested even though my body might be physically “resting”. But going on a quiet walk or hike alone DOES help me feel rested, even though physically I may be more tired. So what do you do to take time out of a busy schedule to rest, not just your body but also your mind? As I put together ideas for myself I’m curious what others do to bring rest into their lives.

Yes. We’ll have to see how the Amazon one works to see if this is an option. It’d be nice if we could do this with the ones we got. We got a great deal on them and I know we’ll be spending quite a bit more if we have to get something else.

This might work. If they won’t be using the app much maybe DH and I can just put it on our phones.

My teenage girls want fitness trackers. We got them the Amazon Halo View for Christmas but then realized that probably only our oldest will be able to use it. The other two don’t have smart phones. Are there fitness trackers that don’t require a smart phone and app? When we purchased them we were thinking we’d just get the app on their Kindles or that they would be able to set up accounts online through our computer. We are clearly a bit “behind” when it comes to technology and it seems neither of those options will work. Are there fitness trackers available for people who don’t have smart phones?