I'm not one for formal resolutions, but I love the 'fresh slate' of a new year. Not only has the calendar changed, but you're coming down from the busy holidays, and usually have time to sit down and really reflect about the previous year and what you want out of the year ahead. It's the perfect time to think about what has worked, or not worked for you in the recent months and figure out how you can live happier and healthier in future months. I'm not calling these resolutions, but I guess they can be taken that way. Here are my plans for creating a better 2016: Schedule my life.
This has been on my to do list for 6 months or more. Literally. I can show you the list on my iphone. I am a person who thrives on routine, and that (aside from the people) is the only thing I miss from working a traditional 9to5. When I'm in the midst of a flip, I can generally create some sense of routine, but now that I'm working with more design clients and my 'office' is about 10 paces from my bed, finding routine isn't as simple. Therefore I need to make one, make it official in my Google calendar, and follow it. Back with the 9to5, I would get up at 6:30 to eat breakfast before I needed to hop in the shower at 6:55. If that timeline shifted, even by a minute, I would be in danger of missing my train to work (which I never did btw, but came dangerously close). With no train to be missed and no boss who will give me the side eye if I walk in late... unless you count Daisy.... I need to put that pressure on myself. I need to schedule time to work, time to blog, time to work out, time for social media, and give myself a beginning and end to my day. It'll lead to less failed attempts at multitasking and more overall productivity.
Blog better.
This goes along with scheduling time to blog. Up until now, I've always been an off-the-cuff blogger, sitting down to write a post a few hours before I plan to post it. This needs to change a bit. Now, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I won't be sharing my projects in pretty real time, but it does me that I plan to not rush them. If I can get myself plan ahead, I won't need to rush to photograph a project because I need something to post that day..... not that I would ever do that.............. By planning ahead, I'll have better content, better photography, and maybe even some back-up posts for when I just haven't finished that project in time. Because photographing a project at 8am to post at 9am, maybe isn't ideal. ALSO, and this is the most exciting part for me: sometime early spring, the blog will be getting a facelift in the form of a name change and rebranding. It'll be a huge change for the better, but still change, and change is scary, so I wanted to give a heads up. Knowing this change is coming is also a great motivator for me to make sure that my content will live up to a fancy new design. I'm setting the bar higher for myself!
Be mindful.
This is super broad and a little bit woo woo, but I can't think of a better way to put it. I need to turn off autopilot and just be in my life and aware. I need to be mindful of what I eat. Not diet- I don't believe in diets- but maybe sugar doesn't need to be one of my essential food groups. Chocolate does. But maybe there's some balance to be found. I need to be mindful to not get so hyper-focused on the task at hand that I go extended periods of time without seeing friends. I need to be mindful to finish one project before moving on to 3 more. Be present....be mindful...be plugged in. Whatever you want to call it, I plan on striving toward it.
So there you have it. My personal plans for how I plan to rock out 2016. How do you plan on making your new year shine?