April: Reflection & Rejuvenation

Spring is here! 

Austin generally has a pretty mild winter (with lots of sunny, warm, bright blue days thrown in), so the seasons tend to blend together. However, this winter has been particularly rough (in a relative way, of course). We've had lots of cold, wet, dark days. It seems fitting that I've had the toughest days of my life starting a school amid such conditions.

But Spring is here! All the trees are coming back to life. We're planting in the garden and even swimming in our backyard. What fun! 

I'm kind of scared to look back at my goals for last month because I didn't move them into my action plan and haven't been monitoring my progress toward them very carefully. 

• Whip my organization system into shape and set it up each week and night. I like my OneNote system, but I need to use it better. I need to take things out that I'm really not going to do, and I need to move things to the next day if they didn't get accomplished. Not enough. This is really holding me back right now in my life. I think this is the number one thing I need to get control of. 
• Run at least four times this month. Yes! I ran six times this month! We convinced the YMCA to start childcare a little earlier, so now we go twice a week afterschool to workout. I ran three times in one week in April, which might have been the first time I've done that in years!
• Stretch at least three times a week. Oops. I've been letting this slip. Thanks for the reminder! 
• Organize the baskets in our hallway closet. Yes!
• Submit ideas to present at the 2016 American Montessori Society Conference. Yes!
• Focus on staying positive with Henry. Working on it!

Some other things this month had in store for us:

• We traveled to San Diego for our family Spring Break.
• I traveled to Connecticut to observe at public Montessori schools and attend an educational reform conference.
• We started our garden.
• I traveled to San Antonio to start working on getting a school open there.

My goals for April? Let me look back at my yearly goals and my month-by-month plan...

You know what? I don't really want a list of things I have to accomplish this month. I feel overwhelmed enough with everything that is already on my to-do list. I need to reconnect with my mantra for the year: Balance. 

Is it possible for me to decrease the amount of time I spend working each night? What if I tried the following schedule:

• 6:30 = Put the boys down for bed
• 6:30-7:30 = Clean out e-mail inbox
• 7:30-7:45 = Set action plan for the following day
• 7:45-8:00 = Clean kitchen and pick up house with Matt
• 8:00-9:00 = Work on something off to-do list
• 9:00-10:00 = Relax

Yes, that feels like exactly what I need in my life right now! 

What is holding me back from implementing this schedule? 

There is a limited amount of time allocated to each of these things. What usually happens is I get off-track on one day, and then it needs to take a lot longer the next day. For example, if I skip a day of going through my e-mail, then it feels overwhelmingly impossible to get through it in an hour the next day. If I skip a day of cleaning one day, I can get through all the grime in only 15 minutes the next day.

So how can I both hold myself more tightly to the schedule so I don't get off a day and recover better when I do miss a day? 

I need to take the reins on my org system. Right now it's just a long list on every single day. I don't have specific time blocked off to tackle things on the list, and when I do have time to work, I don't feel like I can actually accomplish the things on the list. 

Okay, I need to go work on this RIGHT NOW! 

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REMINDER: The next Purposeful Conception Course: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy starts April 20. Register today! We'd love to have you join us!

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