This year has been a rough start for me. Between losing a month of pay with the government shutdown (contractors didn’t get backpay), my contract waiting to be awarded, our dog passing away, and more responsibilities in general, I feel like I’ve been pulled in too many directions at once. I also feel like I’ve put my needs and my life in a holding pattern in order to take on everything. Which means I’ve just been reacting to stuff rather than planning ahead. We’ve hit April now and it’s looking like my contract won’t be awarded until at least June; so I’ve finally had enough.
I had purchased Carl Pullein’s “Your Digital Life 2.0” (YDL2.0) course last year when he had a discount thinking I would work on my “task management” system at some point. I took the time to finally finish watching the course and am now putting together a notebook-only system for myself. I love notebooks and was looking for a reason to use them; plus it forces me to focus on what’s important in a task management system rather than rely on “bells and whistles”. Look for a future blog about this.
Included in YDL2.0 was his “Ultimate Goal Planning” course too, so now I’m working on my honest-to-goodness goals for the rest of the year as well as into the next 10 years or so. I don’t think I’ve ever really sat down and planned like that. I’ve had ideas of what I wanted, but never put it down on paper and out into the universe like this. It feels great!
My wife and I are starting to run again since the weather is getting better and her foot is healing. We registered for a 10 mile race in a few weeks to kick off the rest of the year.
We’re getting our finances in order (despite owing quite a chunk to the IRS because of the President’s new rules) and have been successfully budgeting for quite a while now thanks to You Need A Budget (YNAB). That’s a referral link, BTW. If you click and sign up, we both get a month free.
We’ve got a trip to Europe planned for this summer with my dad to celebrate my daughter’s 21st birthday and my son’s high school graduation. I grew up in Germany for about six years and this will be my first time back to Europe in over 20 years! It will also be my wife and daughter’s first time. Very much looking forward to it.
All-in-all, I feel like I’m getting the chaos under control and picking myself up out of a rut. It’s amazing how just planning your life a little can help. More than anything it’s about paying attention, for me. If I’m aware of what’s going on, I’m more likely to do it. 😁