I know! I am a week late in wishing but then the whole of January is the start of new year and it is legally allowed to wish anytime during this period. No matter how amazingly I plan for posting on the first week of every new year, something comes up! and this year was no different. It was pretty eventful. Our water heater/boiler broke on 30th of December and all our plans of staying home and enjoying the comforts of our couch were disrupted and we had to leave the house. There was no one available to fix the broken heater, thanks to the lazy weekend and holiday season. The water was so chilly cold that I am very sure the boys in my family were NOT washing their hands properly after using the loo. It was a major hygiene issue and we were forced to go on a mini vacation.
Well, it was fun! I returned back on 2nd January. So thankful for the kind Handymen who moved up our case and fixed the issue.
Reflecting back
2018 was good.
I traveled, saw new places, had some long dreamed renovations done in the house, took care of few major financial projects and learnt a lot about house plants and gardening.
In terms of blogging, it was a slow year. I had lost majority of my blog photos from the blog in 2017, forcing me to take down all those posts with missing photos and that was a lottt of posts. Almost 50% plus of my blog posts were gone. It made me super upset. I spent a good chunk of time trying to retrieve the lost data, matching the dates to photos and all. It was too much work and I tried my best, but the damage was already done and it was massive. Finally, I got over it and started to fix things that were fixable and under my control. Things like template, broken links, posts etc.
Also, I became very consistent and active on Instagram. It was amazing to make new friends and be a part of this whole skincare community. I learned a lot about Korean skincare popularly known as kbeauty, and was introduced to many new brands. I also started reading a lot, in-depth about the ingredients used in products and understanding their functionality, pros-cons and so on. In short, I became pretty mindful of what I was applying on my skin. Still not overly obsessed with the whole clean beauty thing but I make sure I use decent and good stuff.
Looking Forward
Organization
I am very poor with organizing. I am not messy or clumsy, but I am not very organized and I have figured out the reason why. It is simple. I don't keep things back in their original place right away! Like, if I pull out 10 products for taking a photo, I never put them back in their respective places, leading to clutter, that overwhelms me. I intend to fix that habit of mine and come to a better organizing solution.
Planning and Time Management
This is something I need to work on real bad and by real bad, I mean REAL BAD!! I just am the worst person when it comes to managing time. There are so many things that I know are going to happen, like for instance I know the festival dates that I observe (Indians have lots of festivals to celebrate), I know I need an extra 2 hours a day during summer for gardening, I know my boy is going to have summer school and so on. I just need to plan ahead and manage my time wisely so as to avoid last minute chaos and anxiety. In short USE THE PRETTY PLANNER!! not as a Prop but to plan :)
Read
I intend to read more from a real book and subscribe to a magazine. Not the digital stuff. The real stuff. The real paper stuff. I read, but I am not consistent. So I hope to Read at least 30 minutes everyday and create a reading log. Like we used to do in school.
Social Media
I am pretty active on Instagram and super lazy on other social medias. I don't know if I want to work on my Blog Facebook page and Tweet more often or just let it go. That is something I need to figure out. I don't what or how. But I do know I have to do something about it. This was on my list last year too but I failed to do anything about it. No worries! We start again!
Lifestyle
Buy a real clock to set alarm and keep the phone away from my bedroom. Stop using the phone exactly an hour before bed and using an hour later after waking up in the morning. Also, I need screen time! Yep! like the one I have fixed for my son. Not necessarily fixed time, but fixed hours. No more endless clicking and watching cute dog videos.
Health and Diet
This is something that demands attention every year. The body demands new changes and new routines. I need to be more regular with my foot exercises for fixing plantar fasciitis and achilles heel. Cut down on Sugar (already started YAY!!) and be mindful of how much I eat. Portion control and all that fun stuff.
Travel
This we always do as a family and I love it. This year I want to plan my trips a little better. Read more about the place before hand and not just on the trip. We take lot of beautiful photos and videos of nature but I want do a little vlogging, with we talking and stuff for personal documentation, so that I can look back at those and enjoy them later.
Finance
If I have to send my son to college in coming years, I need to start saving a little for him now. Avoid Impulse buys and set an yearly budget for blogging and stuff.
These are a few things that are in my mind as I read and hear other people talking about this whole RESET and START in 2019. Hope to better myself too.
Good Luck with your plans and resolutions too.
Let the excitement begin... :)
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