Last week, I joyously commemorated my thirty-third birthday by getting properly spoiled by my loved ones. Being the celebration-oriented person I am, my birthday remains a very exciting day for me. My ideal way of marking the occasion these days involves “dressing up” in new pajamas, indulging in many treats, sipping on an assortment of beverages, and settling in for a 90 Day Fiancé (or Below Deck) viewing marathon with Mr. DoH. This is homebody jubilance at its finest, girl.

Along with celebration comes introspection and my ever inevitable goal setting spiral:

“This year, I am going to do yoga every single day!”
“This year, I will complete my to-do list every week, without fail.”
“This year, I will GET. IT. TOGETHER.”

In case it isn’t clear, I have the tendency to set major goals for myself every year that I never come anywhere close to achieving. This masochistic little habit, fruitless as it may be, is one that I subject myself to not just annually, but almost daily.

Overcommitted and overwhelmed, I regularly promise myself and my husband that I will focus on balance and taking time for rest and “self-care” (which, let’s be honest, has become just another set of bullet points on my to-do list). Still, the day following my birthday I found my mind traveling a familiar path to the land of goal setting. As I was mentally committing to being a yogi by age thirty-four, I got ahold of myself.

This year, I decided to set one main goal: I will NOT overcommit. My hypothesis goes something like this: If I do not overcommit myself, then I will be more productive overall.

Much of the time I find that I overload myself with too many errands, tasks, and even enjoyable activities (which I don’t enjoy as much as I should because I am thinking about how much I have left to do that day). Instead of accomplishing everything I want to, I end up feeling overwhelmed and out of control; or I “overdo it” to the point that I am too exhausted the next day to be even mildly productive.

Over the course of the following year, I intend to focus on consistently keeping my days and weeks balanced, with some time for work, housekeeping, family, and myself. I will learn how to better prioritize and manage my time, therefore creating more time for myself to focus on hobbies I find enriching and enjoyable, such as reading, gardening, and painting. (Mr. DoH gifted me some paints I had been coveting and I cannot explain how soothing I find it to paint botanicals, however amateur my brush strokes may be.)

That being said, I will now be posting twice a week for the foreseeable future (excluding my self-imposed breaks for major holidays, trips, and burnout avoidance). Expect a new post every Wednesday and Friday.