Hello, lovelies! It’s been a while. I’ve really missed writing, but I had school and family obligations to take care of these past few weeks, and I couldn’t justify writing blog posts when I had essays to write (Hell, I have school work to do right now, but I decided to publish this first). As you can see, today, I’m publishing my December goals. I’m super excited about this month in that the goals are a bit more laid back once the semester is done. I am so ready to read books and blog to my heart’s content without thinking about schoolwork. I hope you enjoy.
Last Month’s Goals – My November Goals | 2019 Powersheets
//How I Did In November//
- Finish 5 Papers Before Thanksgiving Break – I finished 3/5 papers before Thanksgiving Break, then finished the last two the days before they were due. Once my mom left for Bangladesh, I was too busy taking care of everyone else and had no extra motivation nor energy to write the other papers. Plus, I don’t get much work done during breaks anyway, so that was a factor. The papers did get finished. Just not in the time frame I would have preferred.
- Alphabet Book Challenge + Get Through Classics List – I hit a reading slump last month and trying to complete these challenges was part of the reason. I was also just super busy and didn’t care enough about them. I’ve already completed my goal for reading 12 classics this year, so that monthly goal felt moot, and the alphabet book challenge just seemed like a fun way to round out my 100 books for this year. I was also busy with school, so I was only able to read six books (which I realize is a lot, but I could’ve read more.)
Do Something Fun For My Birthday– I did a lot of fun stuff for my birthday. I actually ended up celebrating it four separate times. This was mostly due to other people planning things for me, so I’m grateful for the many people in my life. I invited most of my friends over the week before my birthday to hang out, and on the day of my actual birthday, I watched Frozen II with my cousins, went out to eat with my family, and watched Avatar: The Last Airbender with my best friend. A few days before, my aunt invited us over along with my friend Deya for dinner that night, and the fourth time (well, first one chronologically) was when we went out to dinner as a family before my mom went to Bangladesh. I had celebrated my birthday so many times that the actual day didn’t feel like my birthday if that makes any sense.- Set Up Meeting At Career Center – Nope.
- Actually Go To The Gym – I did go to the gym last month, but I don’t track how often I go to the gym, so I don’t know how frequently.
- Post On Blog Twice A Week – Also a no. I was busy doing school work and spending time with my family, but I did manage to publish a post I’ve been meaning to write for a long time, so I’d consider it a successful month blogging-wise even though I rarely posted.
//December Goals//
//Finish The Semester Strong
I’m almost done! Classes ended last week, but I have a presentation and a final on Wednesday, so I’m not done yet. I’m just going to study in Atlanta and drive back to campus on the morning of my presentation and exam. This goal is pretty much done since I’ve finished the papers and took most of my finals last week. I only have things for two classes left (which isn’t much considering I took seven classes this semester).
//Clean The House & Declutter Bedroom Before The New Year
The house was a complete mess after Thanksgiving Break. I caved and cleaned the kitchen before classes ended because I couldn’t do it anymore (It was so messy). Now, I’m kind of just cleaning sections of the house in between studying. I’m going to do the pre-new years declutter after finals end.
Related – The Complete Guide To Decluttering Before College (This includes pictures of my declutter before starting college)
//Go To Tag Office To Renew Tag [For Car]
It expired on my birthday, but I decided to get it renewed once classes ended because I needed to study and write papers. I’m going to get this done within the next few days.
//Genuinely Rest Once The Semester Is Over
There’s a two-week span between my last final/my mom coming home and our trip to Mexico, so I plan on actually resting and doing nothing. Ideally, I’ll have a job after graduating, so this may be the last time truly having nothing to do. I also won’t have work, so I’ll really be able to chill for a bit.
//Publish One Blog Post A Week & Schedule An Extra Blog Post In Advance
I have time to publish multiple blog posts per week, but I’d rather get ahead on them for 2020. So my plan is to write two blog posts per week, one to publish and one to schedule in advance.
//Finish 10 Books
I hit a reading slump in November, which is why I have ten books left to read for my 100 books in a year goal. Ideally, I’d be a bit more ahead, but I should be able to read ten books this month. The book I’m currently reading is pretty long (500+ pages), and the other ones on my TBR are a bit long as well, but they’re all books I’m really excited about, so hopefully, I’ll fly through them. There are some short books to offset that as well, so I’m confident that I can achieve this goal. (I’ve already read two books)
//Do The Prep Work For 2020 Goal Planner
I got my Powersheets Goal Planner for 2020 and it’s beautiful. I’m really excited to go through the prep work but haven’t started because I’m still in 2019 mode. The year doesn’t feel finished yet. A lot of things were still up in the air until a few weeks ago, but I plan on starting it on Wednesday once the semester is truly over. I think I’ll be in the mental space to plan next year (which is going to be a transitional year, to say the least).
//Update Facebook & Instagram With Photos From This Year
This has been on my to-do list for a stupid amount of time. I literally uploaded my travel photos for the first half of my trip to Europe and have yet to go through and organize the second half. One of my goals for this year was to document my life, and I’ve done that for the most part but I am really bad at social media. I enjoy looking through old photos and Facebook and Instagram make that task a lot easier, so one of my goals this month is to not let my photos get lost in my laptop.
//Habits
- Work Out At Home – I’m going to be home for the majority of the month, so I need to get back into a routine where I can work out without a gym.
- Journal – Not every day, but relatively frequently
- Eat Well – I am so awful about eating well when my mom is away. I’ll feed fruits and vegetables to my dad and brothers, yet I don’t have the desire or energy to eat it myself. The same goes for eating enough in general because there have been times where I eat super late in the day because I forget to eat lunch or dinner.
//November Reflection//
November was overall a really good month, but there’s a clear line drawn when it comes to enjoyment. The first half of the month was great. I spent time with friends and family. I was super on top of all my schoolwork and was getting ahead. I was also working a lot more. I’m self-employed, so my hours vary from month to month and this was a very good month for me hours and income-wise, even though it made me incredibly busy.
I hit a wall in mid-November and had trouble finding the motivation to get things done early. I could blame Disney+ for this, but I honestly didn’t watch much T.V. I sang at my university’s Holiday concert before Thanksgiving break, which was a lot of fun but took up a good chunk of my time due to rehearsal. These rehearsals also took place the week my mom left for Bangladesh, so I would have to start driving back and forth to take care of my brother.
Long story short, on my drive back to Atlanta the night of my mom’s flight after rehearsal, my car started smoking. Thankfully, a lovely couple helped me get my car to the side of the road and followed me back to my dorm to make sure I got back safely. I took my car to a mechanic the next day and found out that there was a hole in the AC and it was leaking cooling fluid and overheating the engine. I’m probably not explaining this correctly, but they were able to fix it while I was in class and I picked up my car before the first concert.
The concert was fun and three of my close friends attended. I drove back home the next night after the second concert and it was the scariest drive of my life. I refused to turn the heater on in my car for the next two weeks and would smell smoke when it wasn’t there. I realized it was all in my head when I smelled smoke driving my mom’s car. I have since gotten over this fear, but not having a car messed up both my dad’s and my schedule those first three days because I wasn’t home to help.
Thanksgiving break was a lot of fun. I didn’t get much schoolwork done because I was busy taking care of everyone else, but I definitely used things like cooking and laundry as a procrastination tactic. The last few days were stressful because I was playing catch up for most of my classes, but my brother Zidan picked up the slack when it came to things like preparing meals.
Overall, this month was a mixed bag. I wasn’t as overwhelmed as I was in August, the first time I had to take care of my family, but I could have done better academic wise. I wish I had gotten things done early as I planned, but sometimes you just don’t feel like doing anything. I also really missed my mom. I don’t mind taking care of everyone at home despite the bad timing with finals and all, but I missed her.
It’s better to focus on the fun stuff than the bad, and life and work were pretty good in November, but I am very ready for winter break to start.
I guess that’s it for now. I am very ready for the semester to be done on Wednesday even though this has honestly been one of my favorite semesters of college. I’m excited to start planning for 2020, read a lot of fun books and go on my first cruise. There are a lot of fun things in store this month. I just need to get through the next three days. I hope you guys have a nice month. Until next time!
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What are some of your December goals? Do you have any fun trips planned for winter break?