2021 Quarterly Goals | June and July Check In | Throwing Out the Q2 Finale (Apr May Jun)

In 2021 I have decided to make quarterly goals instead of monthly goals. But I still want to check in monthly so that I can take a look at my progress and be mindful of my goals. Here are the goals I’m working on for Q2 (Apr, May, Jun):

10K steps (but really tho)
cleaning schedule
yoga/stretching/exercise 15 min a day
tiktok and reels
be outside more
eat better/lose weight

Ok, so let’s throw out these quarterly goals. I did work on some of them in June, but barely. You can see from my posting the May version of this blog a few days ago (only 3 months late), that these quarterly goals have not been a priority for a while now.

This year I made quarterly goals instead of monthly ones. I thought this might give me more time to ruminate on them, complete them and dive in. I thought perhaps it would help my goals to get more time for them, without repeating them constantly when I create these posts or my monthly bullet journal spreads.

Maybe it was the year, my life at this time, or what, but quarterly goals just don’t seem to work for me right now. Will they work for me in the future? Maybe! Who knows!

So what’s the state of my goals in 2021? I’m not really sure. I’m considering going back to monthly goals for the last few of the year. What have you found works for you in 2021? How have you set and completed your goals? I’d love to hear more about how you’re doing in 2021.

2021 Quarterly Goals | May Check In | Q2 (Apr, May, Jun)

EDITOR’s Note: I’m not sure at all why this blog never got published. I’m trying to catch up with the many blogs I missed over the last few months, so decided to post this blog that was written back in May.

More of my quarterly goals blog posts will be coming soon.

In 2021 I have decided to make quarterly goals instead of monthly goals. But I still want to check in monthly so that I can take a look at my progress and be mindful of my goals. Here are the goals I’m working on for Q2 (Apr, May, Jun):

10K steps (but really tho)
cleaning schedule
yoga/stretching/exercise 15 min a day
tiktok and reels
be outside more
eat better/lose weight

Oh man, so April went by quite fast, with a lot of change and upheaval. I feel like my quarterly goals really went by the wayside. I’m not yet feeling very inspired by these goals like I do some other months or quarters. I hope to pull up in the last few months of the quarter and get into my goals more seriously.

The goals I did ok on this past month were walking 10k steps: I feel that I did get a bit better at this although I’m still nowhere near as good as it as I was this time last year. I also did ok at being outside more. The weather is finally getting to be where I would expect it for this time of year, so we have been in the garden, taking walks, or chilling in the back yard a little more.

The other goals that crept up a little were eating better, we have been eating take out a lot, but we also ate more fresh veg and at least it was in our minds to improve our eating. I didn’t really follow my cleaning routine, but felt pretty happy in April with how much cleaning I got done. I also did explore tiktok a little so that’s some kind of progress.

Although, my goals need work, but I’m excited for the quarterly goal potential to keep working on them. How have your goals gone this month?

2021 Quarterly Goals | April Wrap Up | Q2 (April, May, June)

In 2021 I have decided to make quarterly goals instead of monthly goals. But I still want to check in monthly so that I can take a look at my progress and be mindful of my goals. Here are the goals I’m working on for Q2 (Apr, May, Jun):

10K steps (but really tho)
cleaning schedule
yoga/stretching/exercise 15 min a day
tiktok and reels
be outside more
eat better/lose weight

Oh man, so April went by quite fast, with a lot of change and upheaval. I feel like my quarterly goals really went by the wayside. I’m not yet feeling very inspired by these goals like I do some other months or quarters. I hope to pull up in the last few months of the quarter and get into my goals more seriously.

The goals I did ok on this past month were walking 10k steps: I feel that I did get a bit better at this although I’m still nowhere near as good as it as I was this time last year. I also did ok at being outside more. The weather is finally getting to be where I would expect it for this time of year, so we have been in the garden, taking walks, or chilling in the back yard a little more.

The other goals that crept up a little were eating better, we have been eating take out a lot, but we also ate more fresh veg and at least it was in our minds to improve our eating. I didn’t really follow my cleaning routine, but felt pretty happy in April with how much cleaning I got done. I also did explore tiktok a little so that’s some kind of progress.

Although, my goals need work, but I’m excited for the quarterly goal potential to keep working on them. How have your goals gone this month?

2021 Quarterly Goals | Q2 (April, May June)

Here we are in Q2 of 2021. It was a little hard to not just keep all the same goals from Q1. Partly bc I feel like almost none of them were 100% completed, but also, it was kinda nice to just work on those goals for three solid months. Would it also have been nice to keep working on them? That might be a good goals experiment for another year.

But here were are, needing new goals for a new quarter. This is what I’m thinking.

10K steps (but really tho)
This is a carry over goal. What’s frustrating about this goal, is that it is one that I had made into routine, but fell out of. I have to get back to it.

cleaning schedule
This is also a carry over goals and it’s not quite going as I planned. So far this goal is helping me keep a cleaning schedule in mind even if i’m not 100% getting it right yet.

yoga/stretching/exercise 15 min a day
The last carry over goal is to take only a little bit og time to improve my physical health.

tiktok and reels
Last quarter I wanted to get better at posting on instagram, which I feel like I’ve gotten marginally better at. For this quarter, I want to continue to get better at instagram, but to focus on figuring out how to create reels. Along with this, I want to give tiktok a go.

be outside more
This will be easier now that it’s springtime. It also goes along with several of my other goals.

eat better/lose weight
Another goals in line with several others above. I don’t want to sat the D word, but I need to reign in some of my bad eating habits and get back to eating better.

We’ll check in over the next three months and see how these goals manifest. What are your quarterly goals?

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2021 Quarterly Goals | March Check In | Q1 Finale (Jan, Feb Mar)

In 2021 I have decided to make quarterly goals instead of monthly goals. But I still want to check in monthly so that I can take a look at my progress and be mindful of my goals. Here are the goals I’m working on for Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar):

get dressed every day
yoga every day
face smoothing
10 k steps
monthly life admin day
cleaning schedule
3 vids per week
6 blog posts per week
instagram

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We are now at the end of the first quarter of this quarterly goal experiment. So far, I’m finding it interesting even if I’m not sure it’s working exactly. I feel like I could keep working on these Q1 goals for the whole year. I don’t think any of these goals became completely ingrained routines. On the other hand, there are a lot more goals I want to work on. Sometimes one just has to say “good enough”.

That being said, I definitely crushed the goal of getting dressed day every day! I also have gotten the hang of posting 3 videos a week. This might ebb and flow a little, but I feel pretty good about it.

Goals that we are gonna leave at good enough are posting 6 blogs we week. Have I contunually slipped on this, yes, but it’s pretty ingrained in me to get it done when possible. See yesterday’s post. Face smoothing is also something that I have been doing pretty regularly. It’s not every day but it is frequent enough to be headed towards routine.

Although my idea of a cleaning schedule routine is getting very close to what I want, I want to take it to the next quarter to hopefully perfect it more. Stretching/yoga and walking 10k are also going to stay on the list.

My goal to post more on insta is going to change a bit for the next three months. I’m not quite where I want to be with a posting schedule, but I want to expand my goals a little to include figuring out how to post to reels and also get tiktok.

The only goal I’m not continuing to pursue is my monthly life admin day. Althought I still think a LAD is a great idea, I haven’t needed a whole day each month devoted to this task.

How did you do on your Q1 goals? Will you be continuing quarterly or change it up? Will you carry over goals or start all new?

A Bloggish Problem

I seem to have a reoccurring bloggish problem. Each month, towards the end of the month (sometimes even in the middle), I get off track with blog posts and It becomes very hard to get back on track. I out this up to a few issues: I have been busy trying to get on a schedule for my booktube (which is not more important to me than I blog but a bit more exciting at the moment), and then there is just life and productivity in general. Putting my efforts to making videos has left me with less inspiration (not to mention time) for writing. Life generally is always in flux, it seems.

Each month, I try to buck this growing trend and keep on track. The beginning of the month is always easier for me. I have lots of idea, as well as regular series that are easy to accomplish. I love my regular series but it’s important for me that the blog isn’t just those posts. That being said, if that’s all I can muster, it’s better than nothing.

So here we are at the end of another month where, going into the next, I have fallen off with blog posts. My notes books and drafts are full, but very little writing is getting done. On the horizon is my beginning of the month line up, and I feel good about it as usual. I see several weeks of content lined up and accessible for me to write. I love it. So As with each of the last few months, I will try to start strong and keep the momentum going for April.

How do you combat writing fatigue? Over come over or under-inspiration? Get around writer’s block? Stacy on schedule with creative endeavors without letting them becomes tedious?

Until I find the answers to these as well as many other questions, I’ll just keep trying.

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2021 Quarterly Goals | February Check In

In 2021 I have decided to make quarterly goals instead of monthly goals. But I still want to check in monthly so that I can take a look at my progress and be mindful of my goals. Here are the goals I’m working on for Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar):

get dressed every day
yoga every day
face smoothing
10 k steps
monthly life admin day
cleaning schedule
3 vids per week
6 blog posts per week
instagram

February is always a struggle for me. It’s cold, dark, rainy or snowy, bleak and depressing. It is a month that I try to pack full and keep my mind busy. But classically, historically, it is a month that often falls apart for me, productivity wise. Feb and August are notably the months that my blog drops off, that my goals are not met, and when less gets done than I had hoped. I’ve noticed and know this for years. And yet, somehow each year I’m surprised.

So I should not have been, but was, surprised that February pretty much fell apart for my quarterly goals.

Despite doing terribly on most of these goals in Feb and there being a whole other month to go, there are a few that I can say, can come off my list for Q2. The overall aim of quarterly goals is to get good enough at each and make these goals routine. February has cemented that a few of these have happened. Getting dressed every day has been no problem for two months. Yes, there are a few days here or there that I didn’t get dressed, but these were the exception, not the rule. I also think I can safely take my blog and video goals off my list for Q2. Although I didn’t really keep this goal in Feb, march is going to go much better and I know what needs to be done to meet this goal.

There are a few goals that I want to particularly focus on the last month quarter. Perhaps if I make these a priority, they can also come off the Q2 list. I knowI can instagram consistently as I have done it before, so I feel if I make a last push to get it in line with all the other things I want to schedule. One challenge is getting started with reels, but I feel like if I get my posting sorted, that could be a small challenge for the next quarter. I have been making some strides in my cleaning schedule, especially now that I’m not as focused on other things on my list. Hopefully, I can take March to really get this into a routine. The last middling goal, that I might be able to really incorporate is Face Smoothing. I’m like half and half on this one. I manager to do it a few times a week, but not everyday as I would like.

That leaves 10k steps, yoga and monthly life admin days most likely staying on my Q2 goals. I find this especially frustrating bc 2 of these things that I have made routine in the past. I’ve always had a mental block about yoga, who knows why.

Are you already thinking of your next goals? What goals are you crushing? What goals still need work?

2021 Quarterly Goals | January Check In

In 2021 I have decided to make quarterly goals instead of monthly goals. But I still want to check in monthly so that I can take a look at my progress and be mindful of my goals. Here are the goals I’m working on for Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar):

get dressed every day
yoga every day
face smoothing
10 k steps
monthly life admin day
cleaning schedule
3 vids per week
6 blog posts per week
instagram

The goals that I have been crushing are getting dressed every day (surprising but true! This goals has been easier than I thought it would be), 3 vids per week (in Jan I think a slipped a little but over all very happy with how I’m doing on this goal), 6 blog posts per week (in the end of Jan is when this started to slip a little, and feb is … not so great, so far). Even those these are my best kept goals, I still slip sometimes and that’s ok. The overall aim is to get good enough and make these goals routine.

The goals I’m pretty much failing are 10K steps (the weather and not working every day has pretty much tanked this goal. Feeling like I will get back on the horse in March?), instagram (oooph, where is my inspiration?), cleaning schedule (I feel pretty good about the cleaning I have done but there’s no schedule in sight), and a real fail was that I did not have my Jan Life Admin Day.

Middle of the road are yoga (I did really well at this a handful of weeks but was not consistent) and face smoothing (i see real benefits from this but again struggle with consistently working it into my routines).

So far in Feb, these goals have not gone well, but there is time to turn it around and I am thankful to have multiple months to work on these goals. So far, I’m liking having quarterly goals.

Do you make weekly or quarterly goals? How are your goals working so far?

One More Month to Zero Waste | February 2021 (Like Feb 2019)

Over the last two years, Mad Cat Quilts did a 6 More Months to Zero Waste project. In 2021, we are taking what we learned from that project and reenforcing it 1 More Month at a time. We will be looking at the orininal challenges and recreating them so that we can get better at zero waste. This project is happening at my youtube channel.

Learning to become more zero waste will always be an ongoing practice. One will never be truly zero waste. But that very fact is why we must strive towards that final outcome and refresh our practice continually. Each time we tackle a challenge we will learn something new, or get closer to our goal.

One important step to zero waste is to see what we have. We cannot all be minimalists, so many of us have a lot of things. A good first step is to see what we already have and see what of that we can use up. So this month we are taking time to declutter our homes and lives. Be decluttering, we can assess what we have, what we can use up and where we can cut down.

The thought of decluttering everything might be daunting. To make this challenge easier follow these simple steps:
Make a list of everything that is a priority for you to declutter
Declutter as many things on your list as you can during this month
Finish one area before you move on to the next

Check out the video here.

What are you choosing to declutter this month?

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2020 Monthly Goals | October in Review and November Goals

October was not a good month for goals in many ways, but some big goals got accomplished, if that makes sense. Sometimes my goals here are things that I know I can achieve, but sometimes they are wishful thinking. In Oct, I had thought my goals were of the former category, but they were actually in the latter.

I didn’t even finish my goals illustration for oct, which might show you how much attention my actual goals got.

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Two quilt finishes
I need to prioritize this but am excited.

Nope.

Make 6 videos
Here we go.

YES!

Book tattoo appointment/practice tattoos.
I want to get a tattoo in 2020 and I want to give a tattoo in 2020.

Nope.

Go on a over night trip + 1 day trip
I want to make sure to get away a little this month.

No

Take Irving in the car
We are working with our “bad” cat to make him a travel cat!

Nada.

How did you do on your October goals?

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Sooooo, for Nov, will my goals be pratical, or wishful thinking? It was actually really hard to make goals this month.

Make 15 videos
gotta keep getting better.

Better cleaning routine
I would like to have a routine, that doesn’t make me feel like I’m always playing catch up.

Tattoo appointment
I know where I want to go… I just have to start that process.

Get back to walking every day
Winter is coming and I don’t want to get trapped inside, even if my mind is what is trapping me.

Have one Life Admin Day
I need to get things tidied up before the beginning of the year.

I’m gonna call my November goals there, and perhaps I’ll add more at some point. Or perhaps, Nov will make the goals I need to work on in December more clear to me.

How are your monthly goals going? Are you gearing up for some end of year goals?

2020 Monthly Goals | August Goals and July Recap

Somehow I did worse on my July goals then my June goals??

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Inbox to zero, but really this time
Sometimes when I look at my inbox I just feel dread.

Did even touch it.

Make 1 comic
I’d really like to find a way to chronicle my experiences

I did actually do some sketches for this. I don’t have a clear goal or story in mind tho, so that’s as far as I got.

Make 1 video
I’ve made a few in the past, but I would like to get better at it.

Not at all.

Stretch
I’m not sure why I can’t get this into my routine.

Nope. But I am rolling this one over.

Restart sourdough
June was rough and I was not able to keep up with it but I really like having starter for breads, pancakes and cookies.

This goal I actually decided was not well suited for the Summer. I do plan on starting my starter again in the Fall.

Work on Decluttering
I’n not going to fool myself that I can declutter everything in one month, but I have been trying to get some progress made on this goal.

Did not do.

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Here are my August Goals:

Sew
I’ve started to get back into this and I want to make it part of my daily life.

Stretch
I have got to figure this goal out.

Make 1 video
it doesn’t matter what it is or what it’s about. I just gotta get the process started.

Tattoo work
I want a tattoo, I want to tattoo. I just have to do something on this goal. Either book an appointment for a tattoo, or practice the art of tattooing.

First steps on my book
In July, I had a realization of a book I want to write. I would like to take some baby steps to this.

Looking over my Aug goals, I see that they are all creative! I must be craving some creativity in my life right now!! Are your end of Summer goals about productivity or creativity?