5 Goals for 2011: Month 1 Checkup

I've now been working towards my 5 goals for one month. I've made progress in some areas but still have a long way to go. I suppose they wouldn't be very high goals if I mastered everything the first month though.

1. Exercise on a regular basis 

I haven't been doing too well on this one. Since our laundry room for our apartments doubles as the exercise room, it's a good use of my time to use the elliptical while my laundry is in the washer, which I did three of the four times I did laundry this month. But that's it. Other than a couple longish walks with Nenya and burning a few calories on the Wii Fit, I really haven't exercised at all this month. Part of my problem is working it into my schedule, part of it is the weather, but mainly it's just a lack of motivation.

2. Wake up earlier.

This is also an area of slow progress. I have been able to get myself out of bed early enough to eat breakfast at the table, but obviously I haven't been getting up early enough to exercise. Going to bed earlier isn't happening yet either most nights.

 

3. Keep our apartment clean.

This has been my biggest victory! I made a chore list of what needs to be done on which day, and Nathan made my list into a check list and put it on the bulletin board. It's amazing what a difference it makes just seeing it all planned out for me and getting to put a check in those boxes. I hate leaving any box unchecked. I guess chore charts aren't just for kids! While I had a general cleaning plan before, my new list is broken down into smaller and more manageable tasks. Before, I hated the day I had to clean the bathroom because spending that much time in a small, windowless room for that long and cleaning the entire time is just torture for me. Now, I mop the floor Sunday, clean the bathtub Tuesday, the sink Wednesday, and the toilet Friday. I need to make some adjustments, but I'm still cleaning a lot more often than I ever have. 

4. Continue to find ways to decrease our expenses and increase income.

Now that I'm more aware of what good grocery deals are, how often they happen, and how much we consume, I've gotten a little better at stocking up on items when they go on sale. But due to limited cabinet space, I can't really stockpile too much. (I mentioned to Nathan the other day that I sometimes put soup cans and cereal in my dresser, a fact that he found somewhat disturbing.) I still feel like we're spending a lot in other areas, but we're at least spending less than we're making and putting nearly half of our take home pay towards paying off debt. I haven't made any major progress on increasing our income but did sign up MyPoints, which will eventually get us a little money.

5. Write at least 2 blog posts a week.

This one I've managed to accomplish. I wrote 12 posts last month, with at least 2 every week. This is further proof that not exercising is due to lack of motivation, not lack of time.

Any tips on how to improve? How are you doing with your goals?