Building New Habits

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Relevant to my post about success and daily habits, I have resolved to build or strengthen these three (3) areas:

• Work-Life Balance – Spend only 9.5 hours at most in the office
  • This means going in and out of the office on time
  • Maximise productivity within the official working hours

Honestly, I over stay at work because I like working when everyone else has left. My mind is more focused and creative juices flow. I suppose I can also do that by coming in earlier for my shift, reverse the hours, if you will. I haven’t really tried that.

Another reason for staying too long is that I tend to lose steam towards the end of my shift. I literally drowse and fall asleep without even trying. Sometimes, I struggle to keep awake even while speaking with someone. And it doesn’t matter how much sleep I get the previous night. The doctor I consulted awhile back mentioned that the sleep apnea is probably keeping me tired even while sleeping, translating to not having enough rest. A sleep study would really help me, but I figured I’d try to lose some weight before I go back for medical help (for both the sleeping problem, and the PCOS). So that’s why I’m also going to work on the second habit..

• Sleep 7 hours daily
  • Promotes general well-being
  • Should give me energy to power through 8 hours of work without drowsing in the middle of the day.

Habits 1 and 2 complement each other. If I am to get 7 hours of sleep daily, and still have a life, I have to stick to a 9.5-hour work-day. Otherwise, all I would do at home is sleep – no chores, no hobbies, no writing. NOTHING. So those are the two that I have already started tracking with my small Kislap. Incidentally, around this time last year, I also tried to sleep better but failed. Here’s how last year’s tracker looked like – Mostly X’s:

Let’s push harder this time around.

• Budget and use CASH
  • Revisit current budget categories
  • Utilize jar or envelope system for variable expenses

It is really sad that I wasn’t able to sustain the good habits I worked on for so long. Seems that manually tracking expenses is way better for me than the excel sheet on my phone or referring to my credit card bill to examine where everything went at the end of the month. But there is always hope.

Are you working on building any habits? How are you doing it?  Do you have tips for sleeping better? Any tips to help me become successful in these three areas?

2016: My Blogging Year

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2016: Getting Ready was all about the goals we set as a couple. Today, I’d like to start talking about my personal goals.

For a few minutes on the 1st of January, I stopped to think about anything I actually got done in 2015. With the exception of the Mystery CAL Afghan, none of my other projects were completed. Isn’t that embarrassing to say out loud? But I dare say it, so I can own it and move on.

I can hide behind work and use it as an excuse for not doing much else, but that wouldn’t be fair. There are, after all, 24 hours in a day and I always have a choice in how to spend each one. I just chose poorly, perhaps. Or I don’t choose at all. Maybe my priorities shifted. Hmmm. It seems like it’s the creative pursuits that had taken off the ground. My knit afghan is almost finished. The only reason it isn’t done yet is that I found other projects to start before I even completed it. Maybe part of me doesn’t want to complete it just yet! That’s a theory. A major resolution for 2015 was to do better as a memory keeper. In fairness, I have completed more Project Life pages in 2015 than I have ever before in the many years of attempting it. I intend to do better in 2016.

Now, 2016 will be My Year. And in My Year, I do the things that my heart yearns for. Here’s one of them:

2016 will be a Blogging Year

I have written sporadically in 2015. There are so many factors that I don’t care to explain now. But one thing is for sure: I let blog envy, and other people’s rules get in the way of my voice and my story. I kept thinking so hard of defining what my blog was going to be about, and the categories I would keep writing around, that I ended up not publishing anything at all.

I know. Finding a niche is key if you want a successful blog. Clear categories make it easier for readers to navigate and engage. I get it, really. But maybe I am not ready for that. I am not ready to think about readers who are not yet here. I don’t have a community of readers! No one follows my feeds! What readers are you talking about? Pardon me, I know someone out there reads this and I don’t mean this to be an insult. Someday I will write again thinking about my audience. For now though, I need to blog for myself. And hopefully, an honest voice will gain some following.

It was twelve years ago when I started to blog. I fell in love with it. Loved the blogs I read, and the ‘friends’ I got to find. I’ve been in many different platforms, and I’ve been thru many different phases. For a time, my blog earned a decent amount of money. Not decent enough for me to live off it, but enough to support hosting, and some online shopping. So I thought that was something I should pursue. But things changed and maybe I wasn’t so willing to change along with the times. Or maybe I just lost sight of what it was that mattered most to me.

Did traffic matter? Sponsors? Or was it the conversations? One thing’s for sure: I’ll never be a popular blogger, and that’s fine by me.

So this year will  be my blogging year. I will try not to think of categories, Pinnable posts, etc. I will just write, edit, and Publish. Some posts may take days to finish, others just 10 minutes. I will write, edit, publish. Repeat.

Life-Changing Gifts

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For our annual gift exchange this year, the Friendships agreed on a theme: Life-Changing. We were to get our Monito/a a gift that would change his/her life in one way or another.

That is NOT easy.

Rubee gave me this book:

Oodles of Doodles

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I know that I’ve always loved doodling. But I don’t think I’ve doodled so much like I do now! 🙂

It started when I bought a pack of Sharpies on sale and brought it to work with me, along with 4×6 cards. I made a number of greeting cards. And then, I just kept writing and doodling with my Sharpies. A few weeks later, I scored a pack of colored pens from the bookstore and it made the doodling so much easier. I like writing words, not so much shapes.

Doodles by Verabear

This is why I started thinking about learning more about lettering or calligraphy. I tried my hand on it back in highschool. I even bought a book, nibs and ink. But I soon realized it wasn’t the kind of writing I liked.

Have you heard about Abbey Sy? I recently followed her on Instagram (@abbeysy) and she does really beautiful type work. I’d love to have her book (The ABCs of Hand Lettering), and/or her lettering kit.

The ABCs of Hand Lettering by Abbey Sy – photo credit to Abbey Sy and http://artistic-dreams.com/

The Craft Central – Lettering Starter Kit

I know, I know. I already have hobbies I can’t even sustain. But I see lettering as possibly complementary to scrapbooking with Project Life. Imagine those journal cards and how lovely they’d look. 🙂

Ooooh so many hobbies. Hobbies that cost time and money – but also a lot of happiness. Haha. For now, the kit or classes on lettering would have to take least priority. But her book is only PhP 295 so that’s definitely affordable. Supplies might cost a bit though. We’ll see.

What about you? Do you like doodling or lettering too? Any hobbies?