A new year is about to turn the bend! I am still in disbelief that 2016 went by in a flash with so little accomplished in my list of annual to-do’s (most of which are tasks related to getting back on the obsessive-compulsive-organizer wagon). The list pretty much reflects my overall feeling of being "undone" for the past year --- moments of frustration over trying to find misplaced things, recalling forgotten deadlines, and seeing clutter pile up around me. Though it’s true that every moment is a chance to begin anew, there's nothing like a fresh year to get a fresh start!
I have always been an organization-junkie for as long as I can remember. In my youth, I can start studying for an exam only after I have organized my room and my desk. My notes and documents are always filed away neatly. Even as a working adult, I can start writing out reports only after I have organized my entire apartment. I have been able to perform this organization ritual for our household and our business, until I gave birth to my third child over 4 years ago. The amount of stuff seems to have grown exponentially since then, compounded by the fact that our family’s most trusted household staff of 20+ years (she was my three babies’ nanny for over 6 years) had to take a permanent “grandma-ternity" leave to take care of her own grandchildren a little over 2 years ago. That’s how I started my evolution to #DomesticGoddess.
Since then, the amount of energy I have doesn't seem to be enough to cater to everyone's needs and conquer the clutter on a regular basis. I pondered and reviewed what happened in the last 4 years that led me to where I am today. And today, I resolve to set my Top 5 Goals for 2017 to get back on track and achieve a purposeful year in the life of #DomesticGoddessMNL.
1. Be Present: Disconnect to Connect - I realized that in the past, I used to spend my free time organizing my things and my thoughts. This allows me to FOCUS and BE PRESENT. Instead of making a small investment to get organized regularly, I find myself wasting a huge chunk of my time scrolling through social media. I will set a REGULAR SCHEDULE & TIME LIMIT on browsing through social media and purposefully use social media as a social commerce tool. This will free up a lot of time to reconnect with myself and nurture relationships my family and the people around me.
2. What Gets Written Gets Done - I’ve used planners and to-do lists for as long as I can remember. I have photographic memory, hence remember better when I have a visual memory of things I need to do. It helps calm me down to get everything listed on paper instead of juggling everything in my mind. I'm always bound to forget something. Doing it digitally doesn't help me because I’m the ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ kind of person. Having my phone’s battery empty out on me a number times when I needed it most didn’t help either. And how can I forget! My MacBook’s hard disk crashed two years ago, taking with it several tracking files for expenses and business documents I have been working on. I still haven't been able to put it together, and I’ve been procrastinating on doing it since. I've tried the old school 3-ring bound planners, wallet planners, coffeeshop-sticker-collection planners, famous journal planners, regular notebooks I’ve formatted into a to-do tickler. I recently came across the concept of bullet journals which integrates everything I have been doing in the past into a more organized, yet freestyle kind of planner. I'm trying it this 2017.
3. Patience is a Virtue - This is a constant improvement area for me. It’s quite self-explanatory. Counting 1-2-3 and deep breathing can probably help on stressful days. ;-)
4. Health is Wealth - Now that my kids sleep through the night, I can promote my goals from a simple get-enough-sleep goal into a more holistic goal of becoming healthier with 3 major activities: (1) eating healthier (I will talk more about this in a separate post), (2) drinking a minimum of 2 liters of water everyday, and (3) exercising 3x a week. I have an uncommon problem of being underweight, and it’s also not healthy. Let’s see how I do on this one for the year.
5. Simplify, Enable, and Delegate - I have the tendency to do all things myself because I want everything to be perfectly the way I want it. It was quite simple when I had only myself to worry about, and a totally different story with three young children, and surviving WITHOUT a nanny, household help, and a driver. While I notice that this is the norm abroad, a labor resource-rich country like the Philippines provides the luxury of having household staff. But my husband and I have decided that any activity that involves our children deserves no less than our presence. One of the first things I had to set-up was a daily schedule that helped me focus and not be overwhelmed with the chores for the day. I also made a checklist for my kids to accomplish on their own to build their sense of independence. My daughter loves checking on her siblings when it's Do-It-Youself Sunday. I created a meal planner which I rarely use, but I plan to maximize it this year as I make a deliberate effort to eat healthier.
Wish me luck! And I wish you all an amazing 2017 ahead!
#DomesticGoddessMNL