Healthy Living Goal Monthly Calendars #2016goals

Each year seems to come and go so quickly anymore. Each year of New Years resolutions go in one year and out the other...mostly because I haven't held myself accountable at all. So this year, instead of making a flat goal for the whole year, I'm taking it all on in chunks -- by month. I'm not necessarily looking to lose weight specifically, but I'm looking to improve my overall health.

To help in these goals, I created healthy living goal monthly calendars. Each month I will set 6 goals for myself to help improve my overall health -- physically, emotionally, and mentally.

 

This month's goals are pretty basic and very achievable, as long as I stay motivated. :)

1. Drink 3 bottles of water per day. (Maybe a few less sodas.) I have Camelbak water bottles and absolutely LOVE them. Not sure why - maybe the straw - but I tend to drink more water when it's in one of these water bottles.
2. Increase steps per day during the week. I bought a FitBit Charge HR in November and have challenged myself over the last month to increase my steps every day (during the work week). Being a teacher, you'd think I'd naturally have a lot of steps each day. Well, I'm sure most teachers do, but I majorly #FAIL at it. So if by the end of the day I haven't surpassed the previous day's step number, I go to my teammate's classroom and just walk basically in circles while we plan and chat. She thinks I'm ridiculous, but it's better than sitting and talking. ;)
3. 8+ hours of sleep each night. My FitBit helps me track this automatically. This is one of my favorite features about the new FitBit -- I don't have to remember to put it into sleep mode anymore.
4. Feel the gratitude. Last year my overall focus was gratitude. This year I'm going to continue to focus on gratitude, but I need to start feeling it more. Not just writing it in my gratitude notebook. Not just saying that I'm grateful for things. Actually feeling it inside me.
5. Meditate daily. This is a totally new thing for me. I downloaded the Calm app on my smartphone and have been taking a short meditation break each day over the last week. My biggest goal in doing this is to unplug for a hot minute, focus on myself, and just let it all go.
6. Stop biting my nails. 28 years of biting my nails has to be absolutely nasty in that stomach of mine. (Okay, I'm sure it's more like 23 years...who knows when it started.) I've had this goal far too many times. But maybe if I track it by day, I can motivate myself to stop.

Want to join in on making 2016 a healthier year? I have a free sample of my 2016 healthy living goal calendars {for the month of January} for you to download!

To get the complete set of calendars for 2016, visit my Etsy store.

Happy goal setting and conquering!

Free Printable: 2014 Holiday Planner

I've created a free 20 page 2014 holiday planner for y'all as a thank you for being loyal readers for the last 3 years. I've been through a whirl wind of life changes and therefore my blogging has been sporadic. I appreciate that you've continued to follow me and support me through my ups and downs. The planner has more to offer than just what's pictured, so be sure to click on the image below to view the whole file and download to your computer.

This planner is completely free for personal use. If you want to share with others, please do so, but share the link to this blog post. Feel free to pin this post, too! :)

Also, check out my Etsy sale to save 40% off in my store. I've added some new items in the last week that you're sure to love and through Tuesday you can get them at a discount!

Free Printable: 2014-2015 Chevron Calendars {New Design!}

I started receiving requests back in January for the 2015 calendars to be published. Uhh...what? I'm organized, sure, but not already planning for the following year. To those of you that are that planned ahead, I commend you.

Since I changed the design on the 2015 calendar, I included the rest of the months for 2014 in the same format. Newly designed calendars for my Etsy store {in vertical and horizontal} will be uploaded soon and will be able to be typed onto this year. When they're ready, I'll post.

This calendar is completely free for personal use. If you want to share with others, please do so, but share the link to this blog post. Feel free to pin this post, too! :)

40 Day Summer Cleaning & Organizing Challenge

Last Friday was my last day of school until mid-August. I'm excited to get my home back in shape. It's kind of, well, become a disaster over the last few months. My home is not always immaculate by any means. It happens. :)

I've decided to create a 40 day summer cleaning and organizing challenge. I know I have more than 40 days of time for this, but I have plans this summer, so I won't be able to do something every single day. My mother is coming to visit for a week and I plan to go to PA for 2 weeks.

I don't plan to do these things in this exact order, but when I complete one thing a day, I'll cross it off the list. Easy enough. I'll be blogging about my progress throughout the summer, so be sure to follow me for ideas and tips!

Want to join me? I've uploaded the challenge file to share with you. It's a PowerPoint file, so you can edit the text and change out items on the list. **I've uploaded it to Google Drive, so it will not look the same until you download it to your computer and open it with PowerPoint.**

If you'd prefer a PDF version {that is not editable}, click here.

 Fonts by Kimberly Geswein. Clip art background by Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs.

Free Printable: 2014 Horizontal Calendar

Check out my other free printables!

2014 Calendars Are Here!

I have created some new calendars for 2014!

As usual, I have a free version, as well as some for sale in my Etsy store.

Get the free 2014 black & white chevron calendar, here!

cursive chevron calendars

vertical & horizontal chevron calendars

vertical & horizontal polka dot calendars

Free Printable: 2014 Monthly Chevron Calendars

Since my 2013 monthly chevron calendars have been such a hit, I decided to create the 2014 version early, as requested by many. To download the free 2014 version, click the image below. Have a great Tuesday!

Check out my other free printables!

Free Printable: Website Info

By request from a reader, I have created a website info sheet for you! This form allows you to track the website name, URL, and your username and password. I hope you find this helpful.

Have a great weekend!

Check out my other free printables!

February 2013 Challenge: Office & Closets {Office Space Refresh}

Yesterday I spent the morning cleaning and reorganizing my office space.

I know my space doesn't appear to be super messy - it's mostly just piles of stuff that needs to be put away. My whole focus in refreshing this space was to make it feel less busy and get rid of the junk that doesn't belong.

These are the "before" pictures...

Under my table I have a 3-drawer bin that holds my office supplies and electronics accessories. These drawers were beginning to feel like they were just collecting things I wasn't using on a regular basis, or at all anymore. I went through the drawers and sorted everything out, only keeping the items I need at my desk.

The top drawer holds my office supplies. I wasn't getting a ton of use out of this drawer because I had a bunch of stuff in there that I wasn't using, and it was just taking up space. I only kept the essentials.

before

contents

after

 The middle drawer is for electronics accessories, such as USB drives, camera cables, etc.

before

after

The bottom drawer was holding craft supplies, but being that I haven't even touched any of this stuff in months, it was time to find a new home for it.

before

contents

This drawer now holds new ink cartridges and those that I need to take to Staples to recycle.

after

 Nothing new here - just added the February calendar.

I cleaned out my pencil/pen cup and decided to take some to school. So many colorful writing utensils! =]

I printed a new to-do list to keep on my desk. You can download this same list for free here.

Overall, there isn't a huge difference in my space, but I noticed that I was able to work better today. I have more space for my planning materials for school. I have more space for blogging. It just feels more simplistic without all of the junk surrounding me.

Have you worked on your office space in the last week? If so, share what you changed about your space.

January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 4}

Confession: I'm not very good at planning for the future. I'm stuck in the present. There are a few ways that I setup my "future self" for success.

Google Calendar
Okay, so I know I've talked about Google Calendar a lot already, but the reminder and repeat event features are amazing. I have birthdays set up with both in my GCal. All I had to do was set up the birthdays once a few years ago, set them to repeat yearly, and add a 7 day in advance email reminder. Now I can send out cards - on time - every year.

Monthly Calendars
I have lots of printed monthly calendars - bills, curriculum planning, personal planning - to name a few. I print the whole year at once so that I can write anything that comes up down right away. No excuses with Post-It notes all over the place anymore. =]

Monthly Checklists & Yearly Planners
I like to plan out major cleaning and organizing projects by month for the year. Everything gets a deep clean once or twice a year, depending on need. When I assign each month a task, it makes everything more manageable and ensures it gets done. I've created an annual planner document to share with you! I use it to plan out my monthly to-dos, such as cleaning schedules, blogging themes for each month, etc.

Your challenge today is to plan out projects, events, etc. for the year that you're currently aware of or in need of planning.

January 2013 Challenge {Time Management: Week 2}

Daily schedules aren't for everyone - I get that. I only have one during the summer when I'm off from school so I'm not on my computer all day and night. =]

If you find yourself wasting a lot of time throughout the day, then you may want to assess and prioritize your time and then create a daily schedule for yourself. Last January I actually covered both of these topics in a the January 2012 challenge. Both posts have free printables to help you with this process.

Money Saving Mom has a really great series on Time Management 101.

Today's challenge is to create a daily schedule, if it's something that will work for you!

January 2013 Challenge {Meal Planning: Week 1}

Making dinner was always a struggle us. I don't like cooking. I'm not very good at it and always seem to find a way to mess it up. Then there was the issue as to who was making dinner each night - and what we were going to have. Most of the time, we'd end up just going out. Lots of wasted money there.

We finally started meal planning on a weekly basis and agreed that Chris would cook every night since he works from home and I'm on clean up duty. I'd rather clean up than cook, so this deal has worked out well.

Why meal planning? It saves time and money each week. We menu plan - together - before we go grocery shopping for the week. We also go grocery shopping together. While shopping, we come up with new meal ideas for another week and stock up on anything that is on sale and doesn't go bad quickly. We do not plan out breakfast or lunch. I have an English muffin for breakfast everyday and usually take left overs or a salad for lunch. But if you make breakfast and lunch for your family everyday, this may be a good option for you.

Tip #1 - Choose a specific day to meal plan each week and add it to your calendar. You'll be more consistent at meal planning because it becomes part of your weekly routine. 


Tip #2 - Meal plan before grocery shopping for the week. Add ingredients needed to your grocery list so you have everything you need for the week. You won't have to run back to the store to pick up dinner anymore!

This is the grocery list I use. It makes shopping easy since everything is categorized for me already. This document {in a different font and in color} is fully customizable with your own categories and available for purchase in my Etsy store.

Tip #3 - Keep a list of your family's favorite meals handy. This makes meal planning a breeze. I have some of our favorites in my home & life binder, under the meal planning category, along with the ingredients needed for that recipe. While I'm planning, I can choose a meal and quickly view what I need to make the meal, without having to go through my recipes to find the info. I also have a list of dinner ideas that simply lists meal choices. The images below are examples of what mine look like. These documents {in a different font, but same colors} are available in the grocery & meal planning set in my Etsy store.

Tip #4 - Plan as far in advance as you need. I plan by week. Others plan for two weeks at a time or by month. I have planned out a whole month in advance before. It was last year right after Chris was laid off. We planned the whole month of April to have money. It worked wonderfully and I wouldn't be opposed to it again, but for now weekly is good.

Tip #5 - Choose a system that works well for you. You can plan online with something like Google Calendar or on paper. We plan on paper and post it in the kitchen. This way, we're always able to quickly look at the weekly menu and see what we need to take out of the freezer, if needed.

This is the page I use to write down our weekly meals. {Download}

Ultimately, meal planning is a necessity for us because it saves us time. I suggest trying it to see if it works out for you and your family.

Your challenge today is to try out some of these tips, if you think they'll work for you. Save the printables that go along with meal planning. =]