Hello and good morning!  Even as this post is going live, many of us are powering through work or school all the while worrying about tasks we need to get done this weekend, next week, next month.  We’ve got goals to accomplish!  And while I have plenty of menial jobs to keep me busy this weekend, I’ve got some major goals that I need to sit back and reevaluate.  In other words, I need to stop procrastinating and prioritize the things that actually matter.

Reading

Reading is obviously a big part of my life.  My problem is that I tend to get sucked into the never-ending world of YouTube and Netflix so that my reading gets tucked into a corner to be picked up at a later date.  Lately, I’ve been requesting more and more books from Netgalley, which I am so thankful and excited when a request is approved.  But books like that, I seriously need to make time for.

Writing

NaNoWriMo is right around the corner with Preptober being less than a month away.  I want to win this year!  I want to use October to its full extent and properly plan my novel so that when November comes, I can’t use “I’m not prepared” as an excuse.  My novel notebooks are brimming with so many ideas, but I need to get a structure in place.  Not only for writing the stories, but for making time every day to write.  I realize that I need accountability beyond NaNoWriMo as well.  Maybe a writing buddy? A writing group?  I’m giving myself to the end of September to decide.

My Health

Like thousands (or more) do every year, this past January I started my health journey where I had resolved to eat cleaner, drink water, and live a healthier lifestyle.  I’m not going to say that I gave up, because I haven’t, but I’ve sort of veered off-course.  Where before I absolutely refused to eat out and had only the pre-planned meals I made to keep me from snacking, I’m caving more than I should to Dominos and ice-cream movie nights and the more-than-occasional energy drink.  I know, not healthy.  Believe me, I know.  I will get back on track.

Along the same lines as eating healthier comes the realization that I need to know when to take a break.  Where I work it’s 12 hour shifts of non-stop, on my feet, labor.  I wake up at 4:00 am to get ready and be there by 5:30 (I live an hour a way), work until 6:00pm, don’t get home until 7:00pm.  From there, I hurry to get food ready for the next day, shower, grab a snack and try to be in bed at a half descent time to start again early the next day.  Even though I don’t work the normal Monday through Friday (it’s 2 on 2 off kind of thing including weekends), I can pick up overtime to make some extra cash if I feel a spending spree coming on.  That’s more often than I would like, sometimes working 2-3 weeks in a row with those kind of hours, until I just crash from exhaustion.  That’s not healthy!  As much as I love being able to spoil my step-daughter, and myself, sometimes I have to just say “no”.

That is it for me today!  In the end, I know I am a steadfast, determined person.  I just need to make a routine and stick to it.  If you’ve read all the way to the end, leave a smiley in the comments!  Until next time…………