Goals update and August goals

A new month is underway, and once again it's time to set myself some goals!

You can see the goals that I set myself for July here and I'm pleased to report that I did very well with them. I achieved some tasks that had been sitting around for far too long.

August is a different month to the rest of the year, because it's taken up entirely with the school summer holidays. So my goals need to be ones that work around the family, and also focus on spending time with the family and not having as much time to myself. 

So here's what I want to achieve this month:

* Spend time in the garden every day and get it sorted. The weather has been pretty rubbish this summer hasn't it? Apart from that lovely heatwave when we were away which killed most of the plants in my garden as I wasn't there to water it.

With that, along with the current disruptions to our green waste collection service, our garden is looking a bit of a mess. I want to get out in the garden every day this month (assuming of course that it's not torrential rain all day) and spend some time sorting and some time just sitting and enjoying it. There must be some good weather still to come this summer, surely?!

* Work on my cross stitch map. This is a very long term project, and I'm ready to make some really good progress with it. As you can see from the picture below I'm doing well at filling in the background but there's plenty still to work on. It's a lofty goal, but this month it would be fantastic if I could finish working around the edges of all the countries with the blue background, leaving neat square spaces for more of my pictures. At the very least I'll aim to finish the edges of North and South America (around the Philippines, Malaysia and so on it will get quite fiddly!) I'm blocking out areas with different shades of blue, then when that is all done I'll balance out the colours by adding detail using contrasting shades.

* Write more in my journal. I started writing in my journal in March and I've found it really helpful as a way to clear my head. But lately I've got out of the habit and I want to pick it up again. Perhaps not everyday, but certainly a few times a week. Perhaps I can do this while I'm sitting in the garden with a cup of tea!

* No phone at the dinner table. I'm embarrassed to write this down as it's a terrible habit and I know that. But I don't enjoy making dinner and it's often quite a rushed affair. By the time I've got everyone's dinner on the table I just want to sit down and zone out, as do my family members. But it's not good and it needs to stop and I need to set a good example.

* No phone after dinner either. After dinner and in the evenings I'll still use my phone, but only for messages and calls, or actual tasks like taking photos, banking, checking library books and so on. No mindless scrolling.

Finally I want to make sure that we all enjoy this summer. I've been letting the poor weather get to me a bit and I need to reset things. I've found it difficult because I've been trying to do a few hours work every day, but if I get myself organised and get up at a reasonable time then I can easily get my work and other tasks done by lunchtime, which leaves the afternoon free for family time.