It is possible that I will have baby #3 this month, though I am not due until December 9 and am sort of assuming a 40-week pregnancy since that’s all I’ve ever experienced! That said . . . assuming nothing crazy happens, I have a lot I’d like to accomplish before she arrives.
All throughout 2017, I’ve been using the monthly pages in my Hobonichi to lay out goals for the month. Do I accomplish everything on the list? UM NO. But it’s nice to at least have a road map of things I’m aiming for!
(NOTE: the planning episode of BoBW is coming eventually, I promise 🙂 We haven’t recorded it yet but are aiming for an air-date in December when people are thinking about . . . planners!)
A picture is worth 1000 words and I don’t feel secretive about any of these goals, so . . . here ya go!
Highlights/notes:
1) I have had the 2016 photobook on my list since like . . . January. It’s always the first thing to get shoved to “later” — one of those important but not in any way urgent kinds of tasks. I AM DETERMINED to do it before #3 is born! Which means it’s now getting a bit more urgent.
2) I’m somewhat stressed about my work to-do-list (especially the big talk I am giving in a couple of weeks) but hope to spend this weekend focused on prepping it while I am on call and have childcare. I’ll feel 9000 times better once that presentation is done!
3) Yep, I’m going to try continuing time tracking throughout the month! I’m finding it kind of addicting in a way. I’m not planning on continuing forever, but perhaps through the month.
4) I like to put an “EVENTS” section in there filled with things to look forward to. The magic of anticipation! It’s real.
Happy Nov!
PS: Maybe one year I’ll try
NaNoWriMo. I actually considered it but decided this was probably not the right time! It’s such a cool concept though.
mother of 3 // MD // south floridian // ESFJ // upholder.
into: planners, great food, running, reading, writing, mornings, podcasting, and coffee.
13 Comments
Very ambitious! I had #2 in November and have to say that the photobook is a good maternity leave project.
oh man – maybe I can do the 2017 photobook on leave! but i HAAAVE to get 2016 off my plate 🙂
Photo books are a parenting fail for me. My son who is 7 at least has a photo album with some printed out pictures of him as a baby up to almost 2. My daughter who is 5 has a couple of random printed out photos floating around her room. I just have no interest in doing one. I certainly could fit it in – I could make the time. I find that I do have time in my day and I could be so much better about getting things done if I made a plan (and stuck to it). Blogs take some of my time but I really do limit Facebook. I think if I had more focused goals I could get more done. What saves me is that I very rarely watch TV. That has meant actually reading some books.
Thanks for sharing your planning!
I have kept up with them in a fairly minimal way so far (one per year!) and it hasn’t been as time consuming as you might think – but it’s always a rush at the end of the year to get it done. My stack of books makes me sooo happy though and makes me less concerned about what will happen to all of the digital pix so I think it’s worth it!!
That said, I think having no interest is completely valid 🙂 Some of us are super into archiving and some are not – no shame whatsoever in that!! There is nooooo requirement in life to make them. 🙂 As long as you are happy and it doesn’t bother you, that’s what matters!!
I”ve wanted to try NaNoWriMo for years! It sounds so fun! Unfortunately the first part of my big paediatric exams are only three months away so that”s on the back burner :/ Do you think you”d be more inclined to write fiction or non-fiction?
And as a 9th of December baby born exactly on 40 weeks I”ll keep my fingers crossed your baby comes on your schedule. I”m on a delivery shift that day at our maternity hospital and super excited to be welcoming babies born the same day (if 29 years apart) as me.
Time-tracking is totally addictive. Next thing you know, you’re 2.5 years in…
We do 1-2 photo books a year. One generally happens after a professional photo shoot, when I want to print up some of the images. The other is through the year, with the deadline being that we want to give it to grandparents for Christmas. I’m not sure it would happen without that deadline! Although now my oldest is into making photo books, so we can offload that task onto him.
Amen on the photo book. I keep that one on my list for months– I just hate doing it! I’ll admit it’s gotten easier since I started allowing Shutterfly to just fill in the book for me. It doesn’t take much editing after that. Still, the uploading and the choosing… argh. You’d think it would be a pleasurable activity, and maybe it is for some people, but for me, I only love it when it’s done.
YES, I love it when it’s DONE!
I don’t even hate doing it, I just always would rather do . . . something else 🙂
Sarah, I found your blog through your podcast with Laura, which I love! I had to laugh at this post, because I am due with my second on Dec. 11, and my home goals for this month are almost the same as yours, including the 2016 photobook! Best of luck! 🙂
We have a family shared iCloud album and my sister in law does a 365 photos album from the stream each year through Chatbooks. It’s nice to have a collection of family photos (mostly of all the kids. My parents now have 6+1 grandchildren (the +1 is due next year). Of The grandkids- there is a 4.5year age gap between grandchild #1 and #2 – and less than 4 years between #2 and #7! So that is a lot of cute baby/toddler photos 😍
I like Chatbooks- it automagically prints books from my favourites album when I get enough photos together. Shipping isn’t too bad either. I basically like that it is automatic!
Can I ask what "Question of the Week" is on your habits to-do list? Just curious. Thanks!
Oh and here’s a question- what pens do you use in your Hobonichi? (apart from the uniball tri-color that comes with it?) I use that a lot, mostly the blue, but I also use the Frixion 0.38 gel pens. I love being able to erase appointments when they change. However, I would rather use a more permanent ink for my journal. My current pen of choice is s but thick and tends to smudge if I’m not super careful.
Totally off-topic but considering a baby 3 and am in a high-risk for Zika situation — you posted before conceiving about this anxiety. Wondering if you have any tips to share in terms of taking the plunge and getting through it? Thx!!