What Worked / What Didn’t in 2016

I came across my 2015 post along these lines and found it quite interesting, so I figured it was worth doing a 2016 installment.  Interesting how some things change . . . and some really don’t!

WHAT WORKED


1) Morning routine is slightly tweaked from 2015, but it still makes me so happy.  Currently my typical AM sequence is:

– Headspace (I have completed 90 sessions to date and am really happy with this app)
– Planning / Brain dump (set up daily planning age, then spend 15 minutes or so w/ journal – setting intentions, working through challenges, etc)
– Workout

I definitely take some days off (weekends especially) but overall I find this routine is working really well for me.

2) Stationery favorites, new & old:

– Nuuna notebook!
– Sakura Pigma Micron pens (for Nuuna)
– Staedtler Triplus Fineliners (for Nuuna & sometimes Hobonichi)
– Uniball Jetstreams (for Hobonichi)
– Hobonichi Techo Cousin
– Zebra Mildliners

3) Getting out of the house w/ the kids // Playdates

Going out or doing something social is always the answer.  Staying home sounds nice until the house is a wreck and everyone is going stir-crazy 2 hours in.  Outings that have worked well this year:

– Play dates
– ZooMiami
– Young At Art
– Miami Children’s Museum (membership has paid dividends)

We have also been really into doing Sunday evening playdate/dinners, either with family or friends.  I find that these are a great way to cap off a weekend when everyone is out of ideas for ‘activities’.

4) Book club.  I finally joined one and love it!  I’ve gone to ~4 sessions and have hosted one of them, and I will definitely continue next year.  I like having random books assigned to me (probably would never have picked up A Fine Balance or Here I Am on my own) and the evenings are a lot of fun.

5) Date nights & a Date Weekend

Love our Saturday night date nights + we had 2 couples trips this year:  a big one for our 10th anniversary, and a ~36 hour stint in Austin TX.  I loved having this time with Josh just the two of us.

6) Remaining off of Facebook.   I deactivated in February 2016.  I do not miss it even a little bit.

7) Garmin 235.  I got mine in April and wear it every day.  I love it for running and for the text notifications (often prevents me from having to pick up my phone, if a text is something that doesn’t need a right-away response).

8) Trunk Club.  My last shipment wasn’t terribly successful, but my wardrobe is now ~50% trunk club pieces so  . . . clearly this has overall been a win.

9) Getting-Things-Done-style organization, including inbox management and a weekly review.

WHAT DIDN’T


1) No-Drama Discipline.  I don’t know, I really loved the sound of the ideas in this book.  But honestly timeouts (I have actually started calling them “resets” to emphasize that it’s not a punishment, just an opportunity to get emotions regulated in one’s room) seem to be a necessary thing for Annabel in particular.  Hugging her and acknowledging her emotions (“I’m sorry you’re frustrated that I said you had to give Cameron’s toy back to him . . . “)  just doesn’t work.  I don’t know; I don’t feel like I have this arena figured out yet and maybe I never will.  Just doing the best I can.

2) Running / Fitness.  As I’ve written about recently, I’ve been really frustrated by slower paces recently.  Not sure what my next step will be, because I still yearn for more speed!  I do plan to get checked for anemia just to make sure that isn’t contributing to my super-high heart rates/inability to sustain faster paces.

3) Family dinners.  Yeah, this is a work in progress.  I’ve started eating with the kids more often.  Sometimes it goes well.  Sometimes . . . not.

4) Being zen on call.  Will I ever achieve this state?  I don’t know.  But I really want to handle the stress of call better than I currently do.

5) Remaining off of my phone in general.  I am off of FB which helps.  But there is still Instagram, email, and feedly to tempt me (top 3 culprits, I guess).  I’d rather not take these off my phone (especially Insta, b/c I don’t think you can post photos from the computer anyway!).  But I need to be better about physically DOCKING the distracting white rectangle so that I am not tempted.  I have reinstalled Moment.  I want to get back to having nearly screen-free Saturdays and really trying to keep total minutes under 60 per day.