Looking ahead to 2011

January 3, 2011

in reflection

2011 is here, and I’m made my peace with that. I had big plans to do lots of things with the last few weeks of 2010, but life and hundreds of miles of driving happened instead. I’m starting 2011 with a little sadness at the passing of the year, and some glee that 2010 is over. (don’t let the door hit you on the way out!)

Resolutions don’t work for me, so instead I’m focusing on simple goals and an overall theme for this year. The theme for 2011 is focus. I want to not only hone my focus when I am working, but also simplify my life as much as possible so I can focus on play and relaxing during my downtime.

For the past 10 years I kept thinking I needed to be doing more. More play time with the kids, more work, more of well everything. Now I know what I need is not more time, or more work, or more of anything but to focus on what I have now.

With the goal of focus in mind, I’ve laid out these goals for myself for 2011.

  1. Make work time count. There will be some big changes with my blog and career this year, and while I still can’t devote myself full time to what I’m doing, I can make work time really count. That means blogging and work projects come first.
  2. Start with a to do list every day. This is huge for me. since I am responsible for errands, and a large portion of the household duties, I need to make a list every day, and make sure it all gets done before bed.
  3. Get up early, go to bed early. No more late night zombie sessions. I get so little done that way anyhow, and it’s not healthy.
  4. Train for a triathlon. I’ve always wanted to do a triathlon. Time to take my out of shape self and get training. I hope to complete a triathlon before 2011 is over.
  5. Ask for help when I need it. I often try to do everything myself. which is a recipe for failure when you have a to do list as long as mine. I will be hiring out some of the work I do now, and may experiment with more household help this year, too.
  6. Play more. I’d love to do family board game nights. The kids are finally old enough where it’s actually fun!
  7. Make time to do nothing. I can’t remember the last time I did nothing.

Did you make goals for 2011? I’d love to hear how you approach resolutions. If you have a blog, leave a link below in the comments so I can stop by and read (and maybe get inspired!).

Kelly

© 2011, Whalen Media LLC. All rights reserved. To repost or publish, please email Kelly.

About Kelly


Kelly Whalen is the founder of The Centsible Life, a blog where motherhood and money meet. Her goal is to help readers live well on less. Kelly is a mom to 4, and loves that she can stay at home with her kids, and still pursue her passions for writing, personal finance, and social media. You can often find her on twitter and Facebook talking money and motherhood.

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Tagged as: focus, new year's, reflection

  • http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/ Kelly Whalen

    I like happiness. That would probably be my second. :) I need to focus on the positive after all. Thanks!

  • Krantcents

    Not that it matters, but I like your goals. I identify with goals versus resolutions too. List are important to me too, not for errands but to keep me focused.

    • http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/ Kelly Whalen

      It matters to me. :) Lists are great to stay focused. I find as a mom juggling many hats I have to have lists for everything. The real challenge is actually DOING the to dos. ;)

  • Jennie Weber

    Kelly- I am very inspired by you! So I have started writing http://jbweb2.wordpress.com/
    about my journey to save $. I am the worlds worst at saving – super great at spending! Plus it gives me great content for writing.

    Regarding too much it is such an easy trap to fall into. I think as women and moms we just feel so much responsibility to do it all well. In this weird way we end up taking on too much which then makes it so difficult to actually do any of it well.

    We play lots of games at our house some of our favs include Master Mind, Colorama – great for preschoolers and Laberynth good for 7+. Kings in the corner is a great card game even for younger kids. Sometimes we just play a quick game right before bed.
    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    • http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/ Kelly Whalen

      Jennie,
      That’s awesome! I love reading new blogs, will stop by and check it out.

      I agree, it really is a trap moms fall into, I think it’s the idea that we can do it all. It’s really possible to do it all just not all at once. ;)

      Thanks for the game suggestions! We’re always looking for new games to play. I like to mix up the competitive and the collaborative games, some of the kids prefer non-competitive games.

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