Motivation Monday – Make A Plan

It is customary for most people, that January is all about setting goals and I am not averse to setting goals of my own in January either.  In fact, there is nothing better than sitting down with a new diary, reflecting on the past year and then setting some new goals to achieve in the coming year, month or week.

The thing with goals, if you want to reach them, then it is not just a case of having the goal in mind, a plan is needed to get you there.

Today’s Motivation Monday is just that – a call to you to make a plan, and it doesn’t matter if the goal is a small one or something big.  Think of your plan as being like a road map, a way to get you from your starting point to where you want to be.

My plan for the next few months is to get a mailing list up and running but in order to do that, I need to plan what content I want to e-mail out to my subscribers, write up some content, choose a mailing provider and learn how to use the software, create an opt-in form and link it all to my blog.  In amongst all of that are lots of little steps that I need to take including searching online for tutorials and other online learning so that I can learn the necessary skills involved with email subscriptions.

As the saying goes “Plan your work then work your plan” and that goes for all sorts of plans that you make!

What are some goals and plans that you have for the year?  Let me know in the comments!

Monthly Goals – October

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily attainable, you can find all my Monthly Goalposts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for October.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Plan something to mark my blog turning 1.  Having my blog turn 1 was a huge deal for me and I decided to host a giveaway to celebrate.  If you have not yet checked it out, here’s the link!
• Prepare for Blogtober.  Blogtober is now underway and I m taking part so it’s safe to say that this goal has been achieved!

Home

• Sort Summer and Winter clothes.  I made a start, then the weather turned warm again, then it went cold, then it rained but was warm, now it’s cold again…I have washed all of my summer clothes though and have moved some of my summer dresses and, really obviously, summer things to storage.  Some things, like vest tops, will stay in circulation in the winter months.  I’d say this goal is 90% achieved.
• End of Summer house deep clean.  Yep, this DID NOT happen…my shoulder is still bad and doing anything more than wiping surfaces over and washing up is super painful.  Maybe this month?

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies and Interests

• Start ties project.  I have made a start, I have made some measurements and done some calculations and am nearly ready to start the actual making process, so I’d say this is a 50-50 achievement!
• Learn graphics software.  I underestimated how difficult it can be to learn a new software from scratch but I have been learning and have made some progress but I have a heck of a way to go in becoming proficient in it!  This is going to be an ongoing goal!

Personal

• Read another book.  I don’t really know what happened with my reading this month but I still have yet to finish the book I am currently reading.  This goal was a fail for me.
• Catch up on reading blogs I follow.  I caught up on the blogs I follow but am now behind again.  The new method I am using to keep track of blogs I follow is working though.
• Make an appointment to see the doctor.  I saw the dr the other week and now have an appointment on Monday for physiotherapy on my shoulder.  I’m hoping that will sort it out and relieve some of the pain.
• Start planning Christmas gifts.  I have made a Christmas present list for everyone I need to buy for and listed the gifts I want to get or make for them so this is another goal achieved!

In all I am pretty pleased with how my September goals panned out and that I managed to achieve most things this month!  I hope that I can achieve all of my October goals now!

Goals for October

Blog and Social Media

• Complete Blogtober!
• Work on business blog.
• Promote my Bloggers Brew Facebook Group.
• Create a chart of all blog and business-related social media and website things I want to achieve and when with any costs factored in.

Home

• Change my summer duvet over to my winter one.
• Deep clean kitchen and bathroom.

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies and Interests

• Complete Inktober Challenge.
• Complete logo challenge.
• Work on book notes.

Personal

• Finish reading book.
• Plan something for my Birthday.
• Continue with learning new graphics software.

These are my goals for October, what are yours?  I’d love to know in the comments!

Blog Goals for the Year Ahead

As my blog nears its first Birthday I want to share some goals that I’d like to achieve in the year ahead.  I have been amazed at what I have achieved so far and while I never really set out with any goals in mind I think that this coming year I should have some things set to aim for…

• 1000 followers.  I hit 500 Followers a short while ago so this next figure should be attainable.
• YouTube Chanel.  I have a few ideas of things that I would like to try and doing so via video may be a better option.
• Weekly Saturday Shout Outs.  While I am already doing this, I would like to make the shout out a little more in-depth and about the writer behind the blog as well as focusing on the blog itself.
• Take part in Blogtober, Blogmas and the April A-Z challenge.  These challenges help keep me on my toes and share posts that may not get shared otherwise and are a fantastic way of introducing new content.
• Daily blog posts.  While I blog nearly every day I would like to have set themes for each day of the week as well as my normal posts too.
• More tutorials.  I love reading tutorials and have a few that I want to share in the future!

I just need to sit down and work out the hows, and whens!  🙂

What blog goals do you have?  I’d love to hear about them so let me know in the comments!

Monthly Goals – September

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily obtainable, you can find all my Monthly Goalposts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for July.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Research Email Subscription services.  I have looked at a few different providers and think that it is not really something that I would want to add to this blog, however, I am thinking about setting up MailChimp for my business site.
• Learn how to use Later.  In all honesty, this is something I added and have totally forgotten about.  As much as I’d like to start using my social media more, and scheduling posts will take a lot of pressure off, I’m currently having a re-think of my social media channels and how I use them so right now Later is not something that is a priority.

Home

• Finish painting the kitchen!
• Paint the coving in my bedroom.
• Shampoo and clean living room rug.

All of these have been put to one side for the moment.  I have managed to damage my rotator cuff in my left shoulder and any kind of stretching movement is really painful, even driving has been horrible this past week.

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Take more photos using my Flatlay Kit.  I have been practising taking flatlay photos and using my kit even though the photos have not ended up on the blog or Instagram this month.  I have been enjoying playing around and seeing how all the different elements work together though!
• Work on my book notes.  While my book is nowhere near completion I am pleased to say that I made time (one afternoon when it was rainy) to settle down and make some more notes.  I also read over the notes I have already made and added more info to them!
• Bullet Journal.  I have worked on both my current, and next year’s journal and have a blog schedule plan sorted for the next year too (though many of the items I have added are category headings only, I will be working on the content part over the next few months!)

Personal

• Food with Mum and Dad.  I did want to invite my Mum and Dad up for food but with holidays and other things, it didn’t happen.  I did, however, go and have food at my Mum and Dads when my brother was down from London over August Bank Holiday which was really lovely!
• Set up Business.  This is one that I am super proud of, from writing that I wanted to start setting everything up, thinking that it would take me forever, to today, where I am on the countdown to launch!  I can’t believe how much I have achieved with this goal in only a month!  And there are 4 days left until the big reveal!!!!

I feel like August went by in the blink of an eye but I am really surprised and pleased at what I was able to achieve even with a bad shoulder!

Here are this month’s goals…

Goals for September

Blog and Social Media

• Plan something to mark my blog turning 1.
• Prepare for Blogtober.  I can’t decide whether to do a themed month of posts for October…and I have no idea on a theme either!  If you have any suggestions, or if you will be taking part let me know in the comments!

Home

• Sort Summer and Winter clothes.  Wash and mend any summer items and start to put them away.  Get out winter clothes, wash, iron and hang up ready for the chilly days to kick in.
• End of Summer house deep clean.  I love to get the house really clean at the end of one season/start of a new season, and with sorting out my clothes it should get me in the mood for sorting and cleaning everywhere else too!

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies and Interests

• Rory of A Guy Called Bloke sent me some really lovely ties a short while ago for a craft project.  I’m itching to make a start on it!
• I downloaded an art/drawing/graphics software and want to start to learn how to use it.

Personal

• Read another book.  I have so many books to be read and have seemed to add more than read.  Ticking off another as read would be brilliant!
• I’ve got a bit behind with the blogs I follow over the last few weeks and want to get back up to speed with that.  I have a new method of keeping on top of that though so we will see how that works out!
• Make an appointment to see the doctor about my shoulder and also my eczema.
• Start planning what I want to get people for Christmas and get the shopping underway.

These are my goals for September, what are yours?  I’d love to know in the comments!

Monthly Goals – August

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily obtainable, you can find all my Monthly Goal posts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for July.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Re-design all my header graphics and social media graphics.  I have made a start on this, my header and logo have been re-designed and I am in the process of figuring out what sort of look I want for some of my regular blog feature images.
• Work on Blog Awards.  I am pretty much up to date with my blog awards, I do have one more that I will be posting this month!
• Find more bloggers to take part in my Saturday Shout Out slot!  I’ve been working on this but it will, I think, forever be an ongoing process.  If you or anyone you know are interested then check out what the Saturday Shout Out is all about by clicking here.

Home

• Clean the house and prepare for my Mind Crafternoon.  I ended up not holding the Mind Crafternoon this time round, with the weather being so lovely and the kid’s school holidays coming up, a lot of people were not able to attend.  I will be attempting another Crafternoon in December though!  That said, I did a full clean of the house, including moving furniture around the weekend before my parents and brothers came for food so I’m calling this a win!
• Take some recycling to the tip.  I did manage this!  I hadn’t realised how much stuff there was to take and my poor little car was pretty much filled to bursting!  Thankfully the tip is only a short drive away!
• Mow the lawn.  I’d love to be able to tell you all that I actually did this, and it has been done but, it was by my ex.  He came down and mowed it and I cleared up all the grass cuttings!

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Get all the craft things together that I will need for my Mind Crafternoon. 
• Get the invites for my Mind Crafternoon sent out.  I’m putting both of these together… neither of these got done for the same reason that I gave above about not holding my Crafternoon.
• Dig my other flower bed and get my rose bush planted.  I got the rose bush planted!  I also planted out some geraniums that my lovely neighbour gave me too!

Personal

• Read 2 books this month.  I finished reading Frozen Grave by Lee Weeks earlier this month and am now over halfway through reading The Girls by Lisa Jewell!
• Drink more water.  I have been more aware of when I need to drink water and have been making a conscious effort to consume more water day to day, especially on the weekends when my water intake seems to be less than when I am in work.
• Be more mindful of what I’m eating and try to make better food choices.  I have stripped back what I eat day to day and have decreased the amount of processed, sugary foods I was eating and have started to eat more seeds, dried fruits, more veg and fresh fruit as well as cooking a lot more of my own meals rather than rely on pre-packaged shop-bought foods.  I have been eating vegan for the last week and a bit which has really helped with eating more healthy and being more mindful of what I consume.
• Try to get to bed early at least 2 nights each week.  This has mostly been successful and a few weeks I have managed more than 2 early nights!  I just need to keep this up now and not slip back into old habits.

Goals for August

Blog and Social Media

• I’ve been reading a lot about e-mail subscriptions and want to research whether this is something I should offer on my blog.
• Learn how to use Later.  I like the idea of being able to schedule social media posts and think it may be a good thing to start using, my posts on the blog are scheduled each day for 8:00am and currently, once they have gone live I then share to social media manually.  Scheduling social media posts would save me a lot of time in the mornings and help me with my blogging routine while taking away some of the worries of possibly forgetting anything that I wanted to say.

Home

• Finish painting the kitchen!  I think that this month will be the month to finally get this crossed off my list!
• Paint the coving in my bedroom gold.
• Get the rug in my living room shampooed and cleaned.

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Now that I have a Flat Lay kit put together I want to start taking more photos for my blog and social media.
• I’ve not made any progress on my book for the past month so I’d like to work on that some more this month.
• Work on my bullet journal and think about what I want in my journal for next year.

Personal

• Have my parents over for dinner, maybe a barbecue one weekend.
• I have some ideas for a new business venture, so I need to work out the logistics and research my ideas, set everything up and, hopefully, I shall be in a position to launch it later this month!

All in all, I think this was a pretty productive month and I managed to get most of my goals completed!

What have you completed in July?  I’d love to her in the comments!

Monthly Goals – July

 

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily obtainable, you can find all my Monthly Goal posts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for July.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Update Media Kit.
•   I have been making more of an effort to comment on Instagram more but have not really made an effort with Twitter yet.  This is something that I want to work on more this month.
• Share more unique content on Social Media Channels. I have added a few more things to Instagram that are “unique” to that platform but I want to start making more of an effort to add content that is not always blog orientated on both Instagram and Twitter.  I think that this goal and the above goal are things that I really need to start getting used to and are not in my comfort zone at the moment, they will take effort but hopefully, this effort will become routine after a while.
• Advertise for Saturday Shout Out in a better way.  I’ve not yet figured out a better way to advertise for my Saturday Shout Out section yet, currently, I advertise through my blog, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, however, I’m pretty sure there is a more effective way of advertising this.

Home

• Paint kitchen.  I have still not gotten around to this yet.  The time I had planned on doing this, over the course of a few days, was a time that I came down with a sickness bug.  I’m now hoping to schedule some time in to get it done this month.
• Sort shelves in the bedroom wardrobe.  I’ve not done this, partly because the weather, which has been cold and rainy one day and hot the next, has meant that I have been switching between jumpers, long-sleeved tops, and vest tops and partly because I have been thinking of how to organize my clothes more effectively.  I have now bought some storage baskets that I think will be perfect for the job so will make time this month to get the wardrobe shelves sorted.
• Plan Barbecue for 1 year house anniversary.  I decided not to hold a barbecue as I had not been too well coming up to the anniversary but am now considering having a barbecue and celebration as part of my Mind Crafternoon this month.
• Sand down pallets and decide whether to varnish, wax or cover them to make a bed base.  I decided against starting this project until I have decided what I am doing with my current bed base.  I have decided that I will use my current mattress though and that I am going to cover the pallets with some kind of carpet so sanding down the pallets doesn’t really need to be done.

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Create a wildflower bed in the garden.  I did this!  You can find out what I did and see some pictures in this post.
• Plant peas and beans.  I didn’t get this done as we had some really heavy rain and not the best weather this past month.  I was worried that as the plants started to grow that the weather would damage them.  Now the weather is improving I am going to sow the seeds in the next few days.  I’m hoping that I haven’t left it too late though.
• Plant Sweet Peas.  I didn’t sow these either for the same reasons as above.  I’m not sure whether I have now missed the sowing season and need to do some reading around whether it is worth sowing these now or waiting until next year.
• Decide where to place rose and lavender and plant.   I have planted out my lavender and have plans of where to plant my rose bush so I’d say that this goal has been achieved mostly!
• Plan food and finalize activities for my Mind Crafternoon.  I now have concrete plans for the activities for my Crafternoon and am considering having a barbecue later in the afternoon, serving salad and snacks alongside burgers and other barbecue foods!

Personal

• Work on book notes.  I have made a few more notes for my book but I feel that I have not made as much progress as I wanted too.  That being said, any progress is good progress, right?
• Read another book.  I have finished reading 2 books this month, one of them I reviewed in this post.
• Meal plan for work lunches.  I did a rough meal plan for my work lunches but seemed to stick to sandwiches a lot, though I did make myself some pasta dishes that I had for lunch too.
• Plan and pack for Bloggers Bash.  This was something that I had to do in order to travel to London, but my main goal with this was to pack in a more thoughtful way and carry less with me.  I ended up using a smaller bag which in turn led me to think about the things I needed and I did end up with a lighter, smaller bag and less to carry around with me!
• Work on ‘time’ schedule.  I have been experimenting with how I utilize my time and am working out the best schedule for me.  At the moment I am finding that having specific days for specific tasks seems to be working pretty well and I am going to see how that pans out over the next week or so before committing to it.

I feel that this month, while I have managed to achieve goals in some areas, I have fallen short in others but I have valid reasons so am not too disappointed in myself, and there is always this month to work on those things too.

My Goals for July

Blog and Social Media

• Re-design all my header graphics and social media graphics.  I have an idea of where I want to go with my graphics and want to make them more cohesive and identifiable as my brand.
• Work on Blog Awards.  I have been lucky enough to have been gifted a few more awards and am planning on working on these this month!
• Find more bloggers to take part in my Saturday Shout Out slot!  I have a few spaces left for July and it would be nice to have those filled up, written and scheduled soon!

Home

• Clean the house and prepare for my Mind Crafternoon.  I want to have everywhere looking its best for my guests on the day so I’m planning on getting my carpets cleaned, doing some dusting and scrubbing everywhere until it sparkles!
• Take some recycling to the tip.  I have a lot of cardboard that needs to go, and while we have a cardboard collection scheme I have managed to miss it for a few weeks so it has accumulated and would be easier for me to take to the recycling point at the local tip rather than wait another week.
• Mow the lawn.  I really need to do this if I am going to host a barbecue later in the month!

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Get all the craft things together that I will need for my Mind Crafternoon.  The sooner I get this bit done the better as Its one less thing that I will need to think about!
• Get the invites for my Mind Crafternoon sent out.
• Dig my other flower bed and get my rose bush planted.

Personal

• Read 2 books this month.
• Drink more water.
• Be more mindful of what I’m eating and try to make better food choices.
• Try to get to bed early at least 2 nights week.

That’s all my goals for the month! What goals do you have for June? I’d love to hear what your plans and ideas are in the comments!

Monthly Goals – June

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily obtainable, you can find all my Monthly Goal posts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for June.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Update Media Kit.  In all honesty, the only reason I did not get around to getting this done was that I totally forgot about it.  This coming month I am making this a priority and will get it done in the first week of June.
• Check all backlinks, categories and tags.  I spent an afternoon and evening working on this and managed to check all the links in all my blog posts as well as the categories and tags too!  I am quite pleased with how little time it took up as I had expected it to take a lot longer!
• Work on Blog Awards.  I managed this!!!  I got all outstanding awards out of the way that were pending!  I really like recieveing awards and reading others responses to the questions asked!
• I’m thinking of introducing a few new elements to my blog so I want to work on graphics for these things and introduction posts for them.  I managed this!  I introduced Saturday Shoutout’s and Weekly Roundup’s too!

Home

• Paint the spare room.  Another month where I have not got around to this.  I thought I was decided on a colour then, at the last minute, I hesitated and decided that I would wait a while longer until I am 100% sure of the colour I want to use before I go out and buy the paint.
• Wash all bedding and towels.  I had a full day of washing in May and got all the bedding and towels done!  I even got the sofa covers, cushion covers and blankets washed too!  My house looked like a laundrette but smelled amazing!
• Sort clothing.  This was a half/half…I sorted the clothes in my wardrobe and packed away my winter clothes but the shelving which holds all my tops and jumpers has yet to be started.  I couldn’t decide how I wanted to store my clothes which was a bit of a hindrance to my progress.

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Plant up peas and beans.  I decided against planting the seeds out as the rain has been pretty heavy so this task has been added to my June Goals.
• Plant out Rhubarb, Gooseberry and Hydranga.  I got these planted out in mid May and, despite my concerns of the hydranga and gooseberry bushes being pot bound, both are looking so much healthier and are flourishing in the bed where I planted them!
• Set up Bullet Journal for June.  This is one goal that I got a bit over enthusiastic with and now, not only have I got June set up but I have a complete journal done for the rest of 2019!  And I don’t know if I should admit this, but I have also got part of 2020 set up in another journal that I bought in TKMaxx recently too….

Personal

• Read a book.  I can tick this off!  I have read the whole of the Mandasue Heller Two Faced book that I picked up in May!  I really enjoyed it!
• Give myself a manicure and pedicure.  Another half completed goal!  I gave myself a manicure and painted my nails with Leighton Denny Grey Radiance polish.  I have yet to give myself a pedicure and for this I am blaming the weather!  Because of the rain and showers we have been having I have not even considered wearing my sandals yet, but this month I am determined to get my feet looking pretty and into sandals so a pedicure would be the perfect pamper to get my feet summer ready!
• Work on my book.  While I have not been working on my book in any sort of routinely manner I have been making notes as and when and making progress each week and this is something I would like to continue into June.  Hopefully, by doing little and often, it will become a habit and I will be one step closer to completion!

 

Goals for June

Blog and Social Media

• Update Media Kit.  I have no idea how many months I have been putting this on my Monthly Goals list, 2 maybe?  3?  I have no idea but it is getting tiresome to keep adding it each month so I really should get around to updating it soon.
• Interact on Social Media Channels more.  While I have Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Tumblr, I very rarely find myself taking part in any conversations that are happening on there or leaving comments so this is something I want to start to work on this month!
• Share more unique content on Social Media Channels.  I have been treating all of my social media channels in the same way, whether it be the direct sharing of my blog posts through wordpress or the same images that get shared from my instagram to my other channels and I have sort of had a bit of an epiphany so to speak, and I have come to the realisation that not all social media channels are born equal or work in the same way.  With this knowledge, I want to start to share different content over all of my social media and see what happens and which sort of posts people engage with better on each platform that I have an account with!
• Advertise for Saturday Shoutout over all media channels in a better way.  This last Blog and Social Media goal links with the above and I think I need to start to utilise each platform in a better way to advertise my Saturday Shoutout feature.

Home

• Paint kitchen.  2 months now this has been lurking on my Goals list, and it still hasn’t been done yet.  And I have no excuses.  This month the painting will be defeated!
• Sort shelves in bedroom wardrobe.  While I managed to get the wardrobe clothing sorted and my winter wear put away, the shelving is another matter…I still have winter jumpers and long sleeved t-shirts muddled in with my summer tops and tshirts and it is starting to annoy me!  I need to sort out a better way to store my t-shirts and vest tops than just folding and stacking so this is something I have already got time put aside to tackle!
• Plan Barbecue for 1 year house anniversary.  I will have been in my house for 1 whole year on 26th June!!!  I didn’t have a house warming party but this year I am going to try and plan an Anniversary Barbecue for the weekend following the 26th!!!  Hopefully the weather will be good and my garden will be in a better state than it is right now!
• Sand down pallets and decide whether to varnish, wax or cover them to make a bed base.  Last year I got given 4 pallets that I originally intended to make into garden furniture but have not yet done anything with.  I was in two minds about making them into garden furniture as I didn’t want them to stay out in all weathers and I had no where really to store them in the winter months so that plan went on hold.  Recently I have decided that I want to make them into a bed base but before I do that I need to decide how I am going to do that, there are so many different methods I could use so a bit of research and planning is needed first!

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies and Interests

• Create a wildflower bed in garden.  I have wanted to make a wildflower bed for some time, but with the ground in my garden being somewhat unpredictable it has not been something that I have been able to achieve yet.  I am hoping that June will be the month that I finally get this underway!  I have the ideal spot where I want it to go, and I have an idea of how I want to execute it so all I really need to do now is to jump to it and start digging and sewing!
• Plant peas and beans.  With the weather in May being a little unpredictable I have not planed the beans or peas yet.  We have had some really, super heavy downpours of rain and, in all honesty, I have been a bit relieved that I have not planted these out yet as I think that the rain would have battered the seedlings to shreds.  Now the weather is looking calmer I think it is time to get the seeds in!
• Plant Sweet Peas.  I bought several varieties of Sweet Pea seeds at the end of May so I want to set them off to grow, I am unsure whether to plant the seeds directly in the soil or to propogate them and then plant the seedlings out when they have started to become strong enough plants.  If you have any advice let me know in the comments!!!!
• Decide where to place rose and lavender and plant.  Another end of month buy that I purchased at the end of May.  I have a few ideas where I want to plant them so preparing the ground and planting them out is the next step!
• Plan food and finalise activities for Crafternoon.  My next Crafternoon event is fast approaching and while the event itself may not be taking place until mid July I would like to have as much detail planned and finalised as possible so I know what I need to prepare for the day, what needs setting up and how the day will be planned.

Personal

• Work on book notes.  While I have been working on my book notes on and off through May it has triggered some ideas that I had never even occurred to me or that I had even considered previously.  I would like to investigate these thoughts and then get them written down properly.
• Read another book.  I have finished the Mandasue Heller book that I picked up from the book swap shelf in work and have picked up another book that caught my eye –  Frozen Grave by Lee Weeks which I am hoping to start and complete this month!
• Meal plan for work lunches.  I have been taking sandwiches to work with me for lunch most days, on others I have been having leftovers but I want to create a meal plan that is a bit more interesting but easy to prepare and that travels well.  With summer here I would like to be eating a lot more fruits and salads than I do at present so this would be a great oppertunity to shake up my meals in the day!
• Plan and pack for Bloggers Bash.  I have my travel sorted and have purchased my Bash ticket so all that I need to do is plan what I need to pack and then pack it all!  I am terrible for over packing and having a hugely heavy bag that I cart around with me so I want to take some time to properly prepare and work out what I need so that I can travel a bit lighter this time!
• Work on ‘time’ schedule.  Now that I have a few new things going on blog wise I am finding that my original schedule of time is not sufficient enough so I need to re-think my time plan and schedule in more time for things like emails and social media to make my life a bit easier and keep on top of all things blog related!

That’s all my goals for the month! What goals do you have for June?  I’d love to hear what your plans and ideas are in the comments!

Monthly Goals – May

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily obtainable, you can find all my Monthly Goal posts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for May.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Update my Media Kit.  I didn’t get around to doing this as I underestimated how much of my time would be taken up with the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge but I’m hoping to get this done by the end of April.
• Social media content.  I started to post regularly to Instagram but only seemed to get people who would follow my account and then unfollow a few days later or accounts that were advertising food and drink supplements or diet pills which was really disheartening.  It did get me thinking about things I could post to my account though and where I want to go with the whole social media thing in general.  At the moment I’m not really that bothered about it but I do have some ideas in the pipeline for things that will be published specifically for Instagram and Twitter only.

Home

• Make a start on the garden.  I have managed to get some bramble clearing and weeding underway and have made a start in digging over the patch that I want to get some veg and flowers growing in.  It’s a long process as I have lots of ivy and bramble roots to remove from the soil that is packed with stones and bits of broken glass and pottery.
• Decorate the Spare Room and Kitchen.  I didn’t decorate the spare room as I’m still undecided on the colour I want to go for and I’ve yet to finish painting the kitchen but, I did paint my bedroom which I had wanted to do for a while so I’d say this is a goal of sorts achieved!
• Buy a new bookcase for the spare room.  I’ve not bought a new bookcase yet as I still haven’t decided on a colour for the room yet and have not painted.  I thought it wasn’t worth buying a bookcase and putting it up if I’m going to then have to move it in order to decorate the room so this goal has been placed on the back burner for the time being.

Art, Craft, Hobbies, and Interests

• Make invites for my next Mind Crafternoon event.  I haven’t made any invites yet but I have been looking for inspiration and ideas for the invites.  I have been thinking about tying in the design with some of the activities I may be doing for the event and once I have the event activities all planned then I can make the invites.  I have a few ideas of things I want to do on the day so it is just a case of finalising them and then taking my ideas and putting them on paper!
• Create a few Scrapbook pages.  Another thing I didnt manage because I was so absorbed in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge…maybe this month though?  It would be ideal for me to combine this activity with making my Crafternoon invites!

Personal

• Blogging from A to Z Challenge I am pleased to say that I managed to complete the challenge on time and in the correct order with all posts going out on the correct day and I’m super proud of this achievement even though other goals I set myself this month fell to the wayside because of this.

Goals for May

Blog and Social Media

• Update Media Kit.  This is something I am determined to do this month as it has been on my list for the last few months and it would be nice to actually get it updated and off the list!
• Check all backlinks and make sure that they are all working as they should and also check categories and tags on my blog, making sure that all posts have a correct category assigned to them and that the tags are all relevant and present.
• Work on Blog Awards.  I have been kindly gifted a few different awards in the last month which I want to work on and share with you this month.
• I’m thinking of introducing a few new elements to my blog so I want to work on graphics for these things and introduction posts for them.

Home

• Paint the spare room.  I have got a few different paint books now and have a few different colors picked out that I would like to get my friends opinion on before I make the purchase and start painting but hopefully, this will be done in May.
• Wash all bedding and towels.  I wash my towels altogether and bedding gets washed when I change it over but I have been drying my things in the house all winter and then putting it away.  At the beginning of spring, when I can get everything dried on the line I like to wash everything and then dry it on the line and then put it away.  Everything seems to retain a fresh smell and feel when it has been dried outside.  I also like to take this time to check if anything needs mending or replacing too.
• Sort clothing.  We are fast moving from cold weather into warmer weather and summer is not too far off so this month I would like to start to pack away some of my winter clothing and start bringing into rotation some of my summer clothes.

Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, and Interests

• Plant up peas and beans.  I have set aside some of my flower bed to try and grow some peas and beans this year so I really need to get out and finish sorting the bed before I plant things but I feel that this should be done sooner rather than later as I don’t want to miss the planting season.
• Rhubarb, Gooseberry and Hydranga.  I have these plants already in my garden, I bought the rhubarb from the local garden centre, the gooseberry bush is in a pot in the garden and was there when I moved in and the hydranga was given to me by my brother from his garden.  All of these really need to be in the soil soon.  I think the gooseberry and hydranga are pot bound though I’m hoping that by planting them directly into the soil they will start to flourish.
• Set up Bullet Journal for June.  I set up a bullet journal for my blog as I just didn’t have the space in my blog planner that I needed.  I am using it for this month and am finding that it gives me a lot more flexibility and space to organise everything so now I need to set up for June and July.  So far I am happy with the layout I chose so will probably stick with it for at least june before making any layout tweaks that may be needed.

Personal

• Read a book.  In work we have a small bookshelf where people can bring any books that they have read for others to take and read too.  There isn’t usually much there which I would read, but, when making myself a coffee the other day I spotted a Mandasue Heller book called Two-Faced which I picked up.  I have read a few books by her and have really enjoyed them so this should be an enjoyable and attainable goal this month!
• Give myself a manicure and pedicure.  I haven’t been looking after my hands as well as I should, digging in the garden has left them in a bit of a state, and my feet have either been in wellies, shoes or slippers all winter so hae barely been given any attention so I think that both my hands and feet deserve some pampering.
• Work on my book.  I have not been working on my book notes as much as I have wanted and this last month I have not picked up my notes at all so I really want to get back into the habbit of working on it each week and maybe I’ll actually get a rough draft written up before the end of the year!

That’s all my goals for the month! What goals do you have for May?  I’d love to hear what your plans and ideas are in the comments!

Monthly Goals – April

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would not make any Resolutions or yearly goals but, rather, make monthly ones that were more easily obtainable, you can find all my Monthly Goal posts here.

Today I am looking at the goals I set myself last month and whether I achieved them and setting myself goals for April.

Here are last month’s goals and whether I managed them!

Blog and Social Media

• Increase my blog visibility and interaction.  I have started to interact more with other blogs by commenting on more posts.  I have also had an interview with Rory over at A Guy Called Bloke and K9 Doodlepip’s blog as part of his Truly Inspired series.  Roxy also was interviewed for the K9 Interviews for Rory’s blog!  I’d say that this was a success!
• Social media content.  I’m still working on this.  I have started to post to Instagram a bit more and am working on a social media content table that is in line with my “branding” and blog niche.  I would like to be able to post to Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn once a day at least but realise that it all needs to be in line with my blog style, and all this requires a little bit of thought and planning before I start posting things.

Home

• Create a timetable of work/home hours.  I’m now 5 weeks into my phased return and have worked out a timetable of hours and how to utilise them to get the most out of them and so far it seems to be working well.
• Pantry/Cupboard staples master list.  I created a spreadsheet of staples that I need in my food cupboards, the next step is printing them out and putting them onto the inside of the cupboard doors so that I can mark things off as I am running low or have run out of the items.  I can not decide whether to print out one sheet for each cupboard and laminate so I can mark things off with a dry-wipe marker then transfer the info to a shopping list, or print off several and mark off and then use the sheets as my shopping list….
• Start a virtual wardrobe.  This was a good idea in theory, but I realised how long it would take me and how many clothes I actually own.  It is still something that I would like to do over time but right now, it’s not really something that is high up on my list of priorities.
• Plan/Host a meal for Mum and Dad.  I’ve still not managed to do this but it is still something that I’d really like to do in the near future.
• Organise the Spare Room Cupboards.  I can finally mark this one-off as being done!  Though I’m sure it will be added to the list again in the near future as I am wanting to decorate the spare room and have a feeling that I will be storing a load of things in the cupboards while decorating!
• Make a start on the Garden.  Yeah….nope…haven’t even stepped foot into the garden this month, let alone made a start on it.  Though, I have decided that I really need to hire a lawn mower to cut town the grass to a more manageable length then I can buy my own mower to maintain it.

Art, Craft, Hobbies and Interests

• Learn a few different styles of blog and social media photography. I have been playing around with my light box and also flat lay images, and while they are not totally amazing they are better than they were before.  I have also been playing around with setting up lifestyle images which have turned out better than I expected!
• Learn about creating perfumes/scent.  I have been reading about top, middle and base perfume notes and have an idea of how to combine the scents that I would like to use in creating my own and I have really enjoyed learning about it all.  I now need to look into what type of base I want to use, whether it be oil or alcohol or another type.
• Work on book idea.  I have been working on the notes for my book idea but have realised that I am a way off of writing a first draft yet so this is a continuing goal that I will be working on.
• Finish Sorting and Organising Craft Supplies.  This is pretty much done!  I do have a few more bits to sort but they are all packed away neatly where I can access them should I need to so I’m classing this as goal achieved!

Personal

• Sort out hair/body/face care things.  This is done, and I have to admit that I have more than I even though I had…and I don’t really need to shop for any products for the next few months at least!
• Dye hair.  Yep!  I dyed my hair a few Mondays ago, it’s now a peachy pink, I would say rose gold colour but as I am using a rose shampoo and conditioner on it is becoming more and more pink with each wash!
• Sort out printer.  I managed this one!!!!  And it is all working properly and I can print stuff with ease now!  The only thing I would say is to buy proper ink for your printer as I have a “compatible” ink that I bought fairly cheaply and it doesn’t seem to last very long before the cartridges need replacing.

April Goals…

Blog and Social Media

• Update my Media Kit.  As this is a fairly new blog I am currently using month to month data for my media kit.  It was last updated in January and I would like to update it every 3 months so that the information it contains is fairly up to date.  This is a task that I would like to get done this month.
• Social media content.  This is something I know that I need to work on and having started to work on a content plan for my social media channels means that I should be starting to post content regularly this month!  Once I start posting regularly to my social media chanels I should then see an increase in my blog visibility.

Home

• Make a start on the garden, finally.  Maybe April will be the month to finally get this task started and under way?  Hopefully the weather will be better and the garden will dry out a bit and be less muddy and I can actually get it all under control….
• Decorate the Spare Room and Kitchen.  I have decided that I would like to paint and decorate the spare room and have a theme in mind, all I need to do is decide on the paint colour and make a start.  I have also decided that I would like to paint the remaining walls of my kitchen with the same green paint that I used on one of the kitchen walls.
• Buy a new bookcase for the spare room.  I am currently using one of my narrow bookcases from my living room in my spare room to house my art and craft things and some  books about computing, I would like to get a bookcase that fits in the recess properly and so that I can move the other bookcase back to its proper place in my living room.  I am thinking that this should be done after I have decorated though….

Art, Craft, Hobbies and Interests

• Make invites for my next Mind Crafternoon event.  i have signed up to host another Mind Crafternoon event which will be taking place in July.  Last year I bought invites to send out but this year I’m thinking that perhaps it would be nice to make invites instead?
• Create a few Scrapbook pages.  I have a few ideas that are knocking about in my head for pages I could create for my scrapbook and I really would like to be able to sit down and work on those at some point this month.

Personal

• I’m taking part in the Blogging fro A to Z Challenge which runs for the whole of April, there will be a post each day starting with a topic beginning with A on the 1st April, and each day thereafter, with the exception of Sundays, so this is my focus this month…getting through it without crying or falling behind!  I will also be posting my own content through the month, so that is 26 posts for the A-Z challenge and 13 posts of my own (and probably a few more…).  I have purposely kept my other goals to a minimum this month so that I can concentrate on the blog.  I have a feeling it could all get fairly hectic behind the scenes this month!