24 out of 32: Finding a Writing Routine

One of my goals that I felt I was failing at all year was finding a writing routine.  I would try blocking off a particular time or day and it always felt that life was getting in the way.  I kept coming up with excuses of why a routine wouldn't work for me, but then found that I got no writing done.  I decided to do the simplest thing possible as part of my larger getting organized process.  I scheduled in my daily to do list that I have to write for 30 minutes.  It doesn't matter when and it doesn't matter what, but I have to write for 30 minutes minimum a day.  It feels great when I'm able to surpass that goal, but it is small enough of a goal for me to know that I can always meet it.  Maybe I'll have a loftier writing routine in the future, but for now this works.

Photo by Gregory Wake 

22 Out of 32: Purging My Closet

I am terrible about spring cleaning.  I always think I'm going to do it, but never get around to it.  I decided this year to tackle it one task at a time to get what I could done.  I started with my closet.  I suffer from that common problem that most women have which is a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.  I am a pack rat when it comes to such things I find excuses to hang onto to clothes that I don't really wear anymore: "That's too big now but what if I gain weight", "That needs to be taken in, but I'll get around to it," etc.

I have been a big fan of Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo and if I had disposable income I would hire their visual therapy services to do a closet/style consult.  Since that isn't my life I read their books.  In their first book Nothing to Wear  they break down cleaning out a closest into the simplest terms I could ever think of: Does it Fit, Does it Look Good on You, Do You Like It, and if the answer is no to any one of those questions you get rid of it.  Which is what I did.  Now I have a closet that only contains clothes that I love to wear.

Photo by LizMarie 

21 Out of 32: Get Organized

I mentioned in an earlier post taking a Skillshare class.  I've recently taken some more and in the middle of taking some others.  I mostly wanted to brush up on some computer programs and skills that I'm using more frequently such as html, keynote, and photoshop.  I'm also taking some more classes to brush up on my writing skills.

The one class that I have recently completed and has been more helpful than I imaged is one on productivity.  I have always been really good at making sure I leave the work week with everything all tied up.  The problem is I would work an insane amount of hours to get everything done.  Earlier this year I made a better work life balance effort and got myself to a point where I wasn't working crazy hours everyday and still producing work I was proud of.  I wanted to take it to the next level and find a way to get not just the priority things done, but the things that mean a lot to me in my personal and professional life.

Photo by Claire

Having things like to do lists and filing systems aren't my style.  I'm spontaneous by nature and am not a big fan of schedules.  The older I get the more I find myself depending on schedules especially for social things like getting together with friends.  The days of being bored on a random Saturday and packing up with some friends on a last minute road trip seem to be over.  I feel I end up booking plans weeks in advance because that's how we all operate now.  But there are some advantages to scheduling and tracking everything.

I've found that writing things down on a to do list gets them out of my head so I stress less about feeling like I have to remember everything.  Scheduling has helped me be able to map things out better and find open spaces to fill with spontaneous things and flights of fancy.  I get what I need to do done so I have more time to do what I want to do.  Another small step, but it makes life a bit less chaotic.