Happy October, friends! Can you believe it’s a new month already?! When I think of October, I think of leaves changing colors, sweaters and boots, hot apple cider and hay rides. {I also think of Christmas music– my dad starts listening to Christmas music every year on October 1st! 🙂 } This October is going to be a little different here on the blog, though. While I’m sure I won’t be able to resist throwing in some festive seasonal projects here and there, my main focus will be something else altogether.
You see, lately life has felt pretty chaotic around here. The Cs are back in school, which they are loving, but it brings a whole new dimension to our family. Kindergarten has brought more homework, paperwork, and extra events than I ever imagined, and balancing work, policies, and information from two different schools has been a little overwhelming. Our family is about to undergo another pretty major change in October that I’ll talk about at a later time, and that will be an adjustment for everyone as well. {I’m not pregnant! Don’t go starting any rumors! 😉 }
When things get busy around here, instead of turning toproven systems, my natural instinct is to just wing it, attending to whichever “emergency” is demanding the most attention at the moment. The house gets put on the back burner and is usually a chaotic mess. I sleep way less than I should. Exercise becomes non-existent. And when all of these things combine, I’m less productive anyway because I’m tired, unorganized, worn down, and over-stressed.
So in October I want to go back to basics. I want to get back to the habits and routines that I know work for our family. I want to be more intentional about how we use our time and our money our gifts and talents– everything. I want to refocus, recharge, and re-prioritize. And I want to invite you along for the ride! My blogging schedule over the next month might be a little different than normal. I won’t be posting every day– I think that would add stress rather than remove it, and I only want to post when I have something worthwhile to share– but I will be popping in whenever I have progress to report or new ideas to put out there. That may end up being different than my typical “every other day” posts, so we’ll see how it goes.
Hopefully by the end of the month, though, I’ll be able to talk about ways we were able to…
- eliminate chaos
- restore order
- manage our time
- build better habits
- cut the clutter
- simplify life
- organizeourhome
- have less of what wedon’t need, more of what wedo
- live a life that reflects ourpriorities
{Photo: Photography by JoLynne}
Now because I am type A and love rules, I’ve set up a few guidelines for myself that I’m aiming to follow this month. That being said, I do not fully expect to be doing all of them perfectly on the first day. The purpose of this month is to change habits and develop new routines, and that doesn’t happen all at once. I’m hoping, though, that by the end of the month, I will be doing most, if not all, of these things consistently.
Guidelines:
1. Plan for the month at the beginning of the month, the week at the beginning of the week, and the day at the beginning of the day.
I’m going to take the first part of the month to set some goals and outline the things that I would like to accomplish during October. Then using that list as my guide, I will sit down at the beginning of each week and map out a more specific plan for working on those goals each week. Finally, each evening I will use a time blocking printable to help me decide what I’ll spend my time on each day. It sounds like a lot of planning, but I know the more I am goal-focused and have a plan in mind, the more I will accomplish. I will talk more about these planning times as the month goes on.
2. Stick to a morning and evening routine.
I am a firm believer that the beginning and ending of each day are crucial for setting a person up for success for the rest of their day. I will be sharing my morning and evening routines and my plan for putting them into action during the month.
3. Work on one new habit with the kids each week.
There are several habits that seem to go by the wayside when we get busy. My natural instinct is to start doing everything for the Cs because it’s faster and it will get done the way I want it, but that doesn’t teach them anything and it will be a detriment to me and to them in the long run. Each week we will be working on creating one simple habit for them that will hopefully help keep the house running a little more smoothly.
4. Sleep for at least 7 hours each night.
Another thing that tends to get neglected when we get busy is sleep. Though burning the midnight oil seems like a good idea at the time, I always end up being sluggish and accomplishing less the next day, which really defeats the purpose. More sleep will lead to more energy, which means I will be more productive!
5. Don’t let a bad day {or week} get you off track. Leave the past in the past, and get right back on track as soon as possible.
Please tell me I’m not the only one that falls into this one! It’s like when you’re on a diet and decide to give in and have that one cookie. Then you think, “Well, I already messed up. I might as well blow it for the rest of the day.” No! Things happen, life happens, all my plans will not work out perfectly no matter how much time I spend making them. That doesn’t mean that I get to chuck it all and revert back to my unsuccessful “fly by the seat of my pants” method again. It means I live and learn and get back on track!
Whew! So is anybody with me? If you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed and like your life could use a little order in the midst of the chaos, stick around! Hopefully I’ll be able to give you some tools and tips this month that can help with that. And I’m learning right along with you, so I’m sure I’ll be sharing some successes as well as failures and hopefully we can all learn from one another!
I’ll be updating this post with links to the other posts in this series, so you may want to pin it if you’re interested in following along. Get ready to be more intentional this month!
Other posts in this series:
Introduction- 31 Days to an Intentional Life {You are here!}
Part 1- Intentional Living: Setting Goals{with free printable!}
Part 2- My Secret to Getting Things Done and Accomplishing Goals
Part 3- How My Morning Routine Changed Everything
Part 4- Sometimes Life Happens
Part 5- My Evening Routine: A Work in Progress
Part 6- My Cleaning Plan: The Struggle Is Real
Part 7- 10 Simple Habits that Will Help You Stay Organized
Part 8- The Month in Review
