Just Go! March

How is March over? More importantly, how is the FIRST QUARTER of 2018 already over??

This month, I think I slowed down quite a bit. I might have burned myself out in February and thus, was having a difficult time getting writing done. Plus, I actually made the effort to read a few books as well as watch some shows. That eats up time. But you know what? It’s hard to create stuff if I’m not also filling myself up. So, perhaps I should just have more realistic expectations.

1) TAKE FAMILY AND SELF-CARE SERIOUSLY AND ADULT.

So, this means:

• Taking daily vitamins so I am caring for my health.
• Getting at least 6-8 hours of sleep so I’m not grumpy.
• Eating on a regular schedule so I don’t get hangry.
• Taking care of my skin because I’m vain and when I look good, I feel good.
• Keeping my kitchen table 85% clear every day because when it’s cluttered, I get cranky.
• Not buying more stuff (including toys) because clutter in my house makes me apoplectic. Also, I want to save more money.
• Doing the household/life maintenance work because when it builds up, I get stressed out and procrastinate and that makes me feel bad.

Looks like I did pretty good in this department this month!

Even though I totally failed failed failed at sleeping before midnight in March (I think I only made it a handful of times – I BLAME YOU, DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!), I still got a decent amount of sleep. It helped that the kids slept later and I have started Sasquatch (17mo) on watching the PBS Kids app on my phone every morning. This boy loves his Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Curious George.

I cleared out a lot of baby clothes by giving them to a mother at kungfu. I organized the kitchen table and Hapa Papa did even MORE clearing out (bless that beautiful man) so our kitchen table looked passable for a day or two. Of course, it’s all been shot to hell again (I mean, look at that sad pic!!), but it could be worse!

I forced the children to finally clean up and tidy the dress up closet, I bought another BILLY bookshelf that I keep putting off assembling because I have to move my other two bookshelves a few inches to the right and that’s a TON of work for so little pay off. Also? SECURING A BOOKSHELF TO THE WALL IS A PAIN IN THE ASS. But at least I moved the cases of books out of the kitchen! And um, finally washed the dirty sheets piled in the laundry room for the last month. I even folded most of them. (Although, sadly, they are still piled on top of my laundry machine and not put away.)

[clickToTweet tweet=”For someone who totally sucks at keeping on top of paying #medicalbills, we sure keep racking them up. #evolutionarydeadend #parenting” quote=”For someone who totally sucks at keeping on top of paying #medicalbills, we sure keep racking them up. #evolutionarydeadend #parenting” theme=”style1″]

Ohohohohoh! I also FINALLY unpacked from my visit to my brother over Thanksgiving. No, that is not a typo.

To be fair, it was all full of my husband’s stuff and he’s been SUPER lazy about it. However, I finally moved his stuff out and put away the suitcases. We better not travel again for the rest of this year.

Plus, I gathered all my business tax info and sent it all to my CPA early and then discovered that last year, despite paying for my taxes to be filed, I NEVER SIGNED THE PAPERWORK AND THUS, NEVER FILED MY TAXES FOR 2016.

Sigh.

You know how I found out? I was looking through one of my Monica bags (basically, all the stuff on our kitchen table that gets shoved into bags and then shoved into the laundry room) and found the envelope STILL SEALED from my CPA last year.

FAIL.

So despite me being ON IT for 2017, we still had to file for an extension because I SUCKED SO BADLY in 2017. Oops.

However, I did send in all my receipts for my homeschooling charter and I also handled a lot of insurance nonsense due to a car accident early in the month. Oh, and did I mention that I was in the ER again with Cookie Monster (8)? He needed stitches in his knee and for someone who totally sucks at keeping on top of paying medical bills, we sure keep racking them up.

Oh, crap. I have to pay for all these medical bills. At least they’re in a nice, organized pile on the kitchen table.

2) DO THE WORK.

Here are my work goals for 2018:

• Make enough money to cover business expenses associated with my blog and related events (eg: conferences, CPA, etc.).
• Stretch goal: to also make enough to cover all my monthly mortgage expenses for the year.
• Pitch 3-5 times a week.
• Submit to other publications at least once a month.
• Write weekly LinkedIn posts.
• Write a book.
• Weekly FB Lives.
• Revamp/rehaul site.
• Daily interaction/activity on LI/IG/P/Tw.

I confess, I’m a little freaked out about my stretch goal. I am not sure how I’m going to make it.

I know, I know. I will make it if I’m diligent about pitching and submitting and following through on what I’ve already been doing.

But it’s still scary to me.

I’ve just got to stare that big, hairy number in the face and say, “I can do it!” Then pull up my pants (why does it always have to involve pants?) and do the work.

Which reminds me. I have not been pitching 3-5 times a week. Although, I finally pitched 2-3 places in the last week. But honestly, I should be doing more. Because the only way to meet that stretch goal is to seek out opportunities vs wait for them to fall in my lap.

I did submit a few pieces for other sites, though! (For instance, you can see my first post at Cotton Babies here. It’s geared towards parents new to cloth diapering or who are considering cloth diapering.)

I will be sending out my second newsletter ever soon! Sign up for my newsletter and get a FREE PDF on 5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Kid’s Chinese and sneak in right before I send out my March newsletter.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Pro Tip: Even if you turn in all your business tax info to your CPA early, if you never filed your taxes for 2016, YOU STILL HAVE TO FILE AN EXTENSION FOR 2017. #taxes #themoreyouknow” quote=”Pro Tip: Even if you turn in all your business tax info to your CPA early, if you never filed your taxes for 2016, YOU STILL HAVE TO FILE AN EXTENSION FOR 2017. #taxes #themoreyouknow” theme=”style1″]

Also, I’m really happy that I finally got to work on my next book. I took all the pictures already and now, just have to get to the actual writing of it. (Okokokok, and a bunch of other stuff, too. But BABY STEPS.) My goal is to have it published by the end of Q2 so look out for it! (And, ahem, BUY IT.)

I am seriously reconsidering the LinkedIn goal of weekly posts. I only have so much writing in me before I get sick of words. But perhaps I’m overthinking it.

Alright, friends! Thanks so much for making it this far. Reading about someone else’s goals is never as interesting as talking about your own. So, how have you been doing with your Word/Phrase of the Year? Still on track? Let me know in the comments.