Tag Archives: clean

Cleaning Up And Getting Ready (or Still More Prep For 2024)

Posted on December 6, 2023 | Comments Off on Cleaning Up And Getting Ready (or Still More Prep For 2024)

It’s the last month of the year, which is insane to me! This year has flown by, but not just in the normal way that it has been in the last few years. So many of the things that seem to mark different points of the year haven’t happened the same way they have before. Having the strike happen made time feel like it stood still and skipped by at the same time. Even though it feels weird to be in December, I’m also feeling ready for this year to be done. It hasn’t been a horrible year necessarily for me, but I like the feeling of a fresh start with a new year and I feel like I have been setting myself up for what things might come my way in 2024.

In November, I had the challenge to work on cleaning out things that I no longer need. I have been noticing that I’ve had things that I just held onto because they were in my old place and they aren’t really useful anymore. And because I got a lot of new things when I moved, I had a lot of extra stuff that was taking up space that I didn’t need to use up. I didn’t clean out as much as I expected to do this past month, but that’s because I kept finding more things I wanted to go through. I know my desk will continue to be a project because I have so much that I used to use but don’t anymore. But I was able to get a lot of stuff cleared out of my closet and my kitchen drawers. I’ve also started to replace things that I have had for years with higher quality things so I am getting rid of the duplicates.

Even though I didn’t clear out as much as I thought I would by the end of the month, I did make a significant dent in the project and I’ve been creating new systems for reviewing what I still need to go through. And just like so many other challenges I’ve been doing recently, this one isn’t ending just because the month ended. I’ve been starting to work on my dresser, and I’ve gone through about a third of my stuff and found a lot of things that I was able to get rid of or donate.

And my challenge for December is yet another one to set myself up for the new year. But this is one that I’ve been needing to do and finally am getting around to it. I want to get all my stuff ready to really be back in the acting world again in 2024. This is going to be a big process and I know it won’t all be done in December, but I’m working on making a list of what I need to do and trying to get as much of it done this month.

The biggest thing I need to do for my acting career is to find a new agent. I found out that my agent can no longer represent union actors and they also might have gone out of business. I don’t know exactly how long ago this all happened because I discovered this randomly and I wasn’t notified by my agent. No matter how long I’ve been without an agent, I need to find a new one to really be back in the game. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to find representation, so I’m easing into this again by starting with reaching out to people I know. If I could get represented by an agent who already knows me, that would be amazing! If I have to start reaching out to agencies that I don’t know personally, then I’ll do that but that won’t be until the new year.

I also need new headshots. The ones I have are fine and I still look like those photos, but they have been used for a while, and having fresh headshots can help when I’m being submitted for auditions. The timing of doing the new headshots depends a lot on whether I get an agent that I already know. I would prefer to be signed by a new agent and then get new headshots so I can do the photos that they want for me. But if I have to start reaching out to new agents that I don’t know, I should get some new photos to add some more variety to what I have and then I will probably expect that I will have to still get more photos after I sign with someone. So that’s another reason for me to hope that I can find a new agent soon.

I also worked on cutting a new version of a demo reel, although I don’t have a lot of work that I can choose from that is recent. But I made something that I think looks better than what I had before. I did some work on my acting resume, but I might be making some more adjustments on that after I’ve had some more time to think about it. And I’ve been working on my stuff on the online casting sites so everything is updated and ready to go.

Some work has been coming back as the strike has been suspended (by the time you are reading this, hopefully, the new contract has been ratified and the strike is officially done), but things are still slow. It’s normally slow this time of year because of the holidays, and most productions don’t want to start up only to have to shut down again for holiday time off. But I’m hoping that once the new year starts, things will be getting back to a more normal pace and I want to do whatever it takes so that I can be a part of the acting world again. I’ve had too much time feeling disconnected between the pandemic and the strike, and I’m ready to go full force again and see what wins will come my way.

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Default ThumbnailStill Getting Ready For 2024 (or I Feel Like I Keep Finding More To Do) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For The New Year (or Trying To Set Myself Up For Good Things) Default ThumbnailNew Things To Think About With My Acting Career (or I Need To Plan Things More) Default ThumbnailGiving Myself Some Breathing Room (or Just Getting Ready For Other Things This Summer) Default ThumbnailStarting To Plan Some Next Steps (or Researching Classes and Looking At My Schedule) Default ThumbnailReally Getting Ready To Get Back To My Workouts (or I’m Not Sure I’m Ready To Work That Hard Yet)

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Still Getting Ready For 2024 (or I Feel Like I Keep Finding More To Do)

Posted on November 1, 2023 | Comments Off on Still Getting Ready For 2024 (or I Feel Like I Keep Finding More To Do)

Happy November! I know I say this all the time, but this year has been flying by so quickly. I think it’s been a bit of an unusual year and it doesn’t feel like certain time markers I’m used to have happened. Some of that might be because of the strike and how there is usually a lot around the new fall tv shows and that didn’t happen. Or maybe I’m just in the same routine I’ve been in for a while so I’m not noticing some things as much as I used to. But no matter the reason, I can’t believe we are in the last 2 months of the year!

Last month, I set my monthly challenge to work on getting myself set up for the new year. I didn’t accomplish everything that I wanted to do, but I did put a big focus on doing the financial things that I wanted to get set up. My planning took a bit of a turn when some of my annual expenses were higher than planned. For example, my condo insurance was about 30% higher than I paid the year before. I was able to call in and negotiate a lower rate by raising my deductible, but it still was more expensive than I budgeted for. I had the same issue with my property taxes. I thought I budgeted enough for what they would be, but I was about $1,000 off. Fortunately, I did have enough saved up so I was able to get the money from other saving buckets I have so I was able to pay for it all. But it did make me think about how I need to maybe overestimate my budget goals more than I already did so I don’t run into this problem again. And I’m hoping to be able to afford a few fun things in 2024, so I need to make sure I don’t pull money from a fun fund in order to be able to pay bills. And I want to be able to do something like afford a monthly cleaning service, so I need to be able to budget for that without making my bills an issue.

Even though I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to do, such as working on creating more reminders for myself, I did get a lot done. And I’m working on those reminder ideas, I just haven’t found the perfect system for myself yet. But I did do work on organizing my calendar and email so whatever new system I put into effect will work with those better.

And this month’s challenge continues on the trend of getting set up for the new year. It’s also something that I probably need to do a bit more regularly. I want to go through my things and see what extra stuff I have that I could donate or find a new home for. I did a lot of this when I moved, but somehow I feel like I filled my new place so quickly even though it’s 3 times the size of my old place. I don’t think that anything is cluttered or necessarily messy, but I also know there are a lot of things here that I’m just storing. For example, I have a lot of old books I got from my parents. I had some friends who took books for their kids, but I have so many left. It’s not the end of the world for me to keep holding on to them, but I do want to get new furniture for my office and those books won’t have a spot when I do that. So I should just take them to the library to donate so someone can enjoy them. I finally donated my old tv, which was just sitting on the floor after I got my new one. And I have a few other things that I think I just don’t need but I need to take the time to go through everything and make a plan for where they should go.

I think maybe once I do a lot of this cleaning and donating in my office, I will finally have a better idea of what furniture will work here. I have needed a new desk since I moved, but I just haven’t found a good one. But maybe I’m looking at what will fit what I currently own and not what I think I will keep.

I also want to go through stuff in my kitchen because I do want to get some new pots and pans, but I’m probably not going to just buy a set since I want to get just the pieces I need. But to know what I need, I have to figure out what I have and what is still in good condition so I can continue to use it. I can’t guarantee that getting new kitchen gear will make me cook more, but it would be nice to not have to look at a recipe and realize I don’t have the right equipment to make it.

I don’t know why I keep feeling like I need to set myself up for a really good 2024, but I have a pull to keep working on that. Maybe there are some really good things to come for me and this is getting me ready. And even if next year isn’t anything spectacular, all these things I’m doing will still be positive for me and the coming year.

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Default ThumbnailI Actually Wrote A Book! (or Getting Myself Ready For 2020) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For The New Year (or Trying To Set Myself Up For Good Things) Default ThumbnailSpreading Some Holiday Cheer (or Finding Cheaper Ways To Make People Smile) Default Thumbnail1 Year Of Living In My Condo (or I Do Feel Settled In) Default ThumbnailFinding More Ways To Clean Up (or Now Doing Some Digital Organizing) Default ThumbnailRecapping A Few Challenges From Last Month (or Getting Ready Stop Going Easy On Myself)

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Getting Back Into Good Routines (or Healthy Eating And Cleaning Up)

Posted on September 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting Back Into Good Routines (or Healthy Eating And Cleaning Up)

I feel like August flew by and was such a short month! I felt like I had more time in August so I was putting off getting some of my birthday freebies like the free products at Sephora. But I guess the month slipped by and I missed getting to do that. Oh well. Some months are just faster than others I guess. And since it’s now September, it’s time to recap my August monthly challenge and plan out my September one.

Last month, I wanted to make sure that I was eating more fruits and vegetables. And as it normally goes with my challenges, I wasn’t perfect but I had some great progress. I know in the past, I was better about eating fruit than I was about eating vegetables, but this time it felt like the opposite. I did get some fruit in my meals, but it didn’t feel as often and it felt much more deliberate when I was doing that. But with vegetables, I was able to make plans for meals that just included them and didn’t have to think about it as much.

I made sure that I always had some frozen vegetables so I could easily microwave them and add them to a meal. I also got a new veggie chopper so I could prepare things easier. I had a similar one before, but I can’t find it. I think I lost a box or two during my move because I keep finding random things that I am missing. But having something to make vegetable prep easier is a nice tool to have. I know I could just cut things with a knife, but I like having things that are about the same size, and using a veggie chopper is the easiest way for me to do that. And if that’s what it takes for me to eat more vegetables, that’s an easy thing for me to do.

I’ve been trying to prepare a big salad once or twice a week so I can just have it in the fridge and ready to eat when I’m having lunch or dinner. This has been so helpful with my goals this month and I know I will be keeping it up. I’m also trying to get back into making smoothies with fruits and vegetables, but that hasn’t become as much of a regular habit for me just yet. But I’m in a much better spot with my eating now than I was at the beginning of August.

After making some great progress in August, I’m hoping I will have the same results this month. And I’m doing a challenge this month that is new to me, but also similar to a past challenge. This month, I want to work on doing a nightly reset of my home before going to bed. In the past, I have made it a challenge to do a quick clean every day, and I’m still doing that and it’s very helpful. But something that I’ve discovered in my new home is that it is much easier for me to leave things dirty or not put away.

For example, in my old house, I couldn’t leave things in my sink or on my counter because I wouldn’t have any space left in my kitchen. This also made it hard to be motivated to cook sometimes since I knew that everything would need to be put away. But now, if I leave something in the sink and not put it in the dishwasher or if I leave some things out on the counter after cooking, I still have space to use my kitchen. I don’t feel the same urgency to put everything away. In a much smaller home, every little bit of clutter was magnified. I’m still a pretty clean person and I think most people walking into my house will say it’s clean, but I know that I’m not as clean and tidy as I would like it to be. So I want to do a bit of a reset every evening.

This will be different from my daily cleaning. This will be more about taking a few minutes in the evening to put away things that I took out. Sometimes it might be things I need to put away in my kitchen and sometimes it might be something I put on my dresser in my room that should be hung back up or put back into a drawer. I know if I just spend a few minutes each day doing this, things won’t pile up like they have the potential to do. And it should continue to help me figure out what other organizational things I need in my home. I know I still need more things like some shelving in my bathroom. But until I really focus on resetting my space every day, I know that I will still be a bit unsure of exactly what I want.

I know that when I started doing these monthly challenges several years ago, it was all about helping me become a better person and improving myself. And I feel like recently I’ve been really embracing that idea again after having some struggles with the challenges and goals I’ve set in the last year or so. But I’m really feeling good about what challenges I’ve been setting and so happy to see the positive results from them each month.

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Default ThumbnailTrying To Refocus On Goals (or Doing Another Reset This Month) Default ThumbnailFinding A Balance (or Eating Healthy And Fun At The Same Time) Default ThumbnailSpring Cleaning (or Feeling Pampered) Default ThumbnailAlways Cleaning (or At Least The Pandemic Helped Create This Habit) Default ThumbnailGetting Rid Of Extras (or Cleaning House) Default ThumbnailAnother Bombshell Partnership! (or Doing A Healthy Detox)

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Finding More Ways To Clean Up (or Now Doing Some Digital Organizing)

Posted on June 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Finding More Ways To Clean Up (or Now Doing Some Digital Organizing)

Happy June! As always, a new month brings a new monthly challenge for me. I feel like so many of my challenges so far this year have been about moving, and I have a feeling that trend may continue through this year a bit more.

Last month, I set my challenge to work on consolidating the boxes I still have left. And I think I did an ok job with this challenge. I had some setbacks with moving things out of boxes that I didn’t expect, so I do have a few more boxes than I would like. But I have gotten everything down to only a handful of boxes that are all in my office. I don’t have boxes everywhere, and that has helped me a lot. I do still want to work through the boxes I have in my office and see what can be combined. And I know that if I really worked more on it, I could probably put away a few more things. I would also like to get more boxes into my closet and off of the main room in my office, but I need to work on that still. But compared to how things were at the beginning of the month, this is a huge improvement and I know that it has made me feel more at home.

Even though consolidating boxes isn’t exactly organizing, it feels like it is. And this month, I’m working on a different type of organization. And I think that this was inspired by my move as well.

I want to work on my digital entertainment and organize that as well. And what I mean by that is to go through the podcasts I’m subscribed to and the shows I have set on my DVR and see what I really want to keep. For my DVR, this was something I had to do because of my move. Getting a new DVR means setting up all my series recordings again. So I really thought about all the shows I was recording and started to get rid of things that I know I don’t really enjoy much anymore. Most of these things were news or reality tv since I tend to finish out scripted shows that I watch. But I might want to start seeing which shows I record that I don’t really look forward to watching anymore.

And as I’ve been paying attention to what I’m entertaining myself with, I’ve noticed there are a lot of podcasts that have been piling up in my podcast app. Sometimes I have to be in a specific mood to watch something, but there are some podcasts that I’m not really enjoying anymore or I feel differently about. For example, I used to listen to true crime podcasts a lot, but I feel like those aren’t always done with the best intentions or with the permission of the families involved so I’m not listening to them anymore. And there are some interview-style podcasts that don’t have guests I want to hear from, so I’m always skipping episodes. I have so many podcasts that I’m subscribed to that I haven’t listened to in quite a while, and it’s time to just move on and unsubscribe.

I haven’t decided if this digital organizing is going to extend to going through the apps I have on my phone, but it might. I have found that as I started clearing out things I’m not interested in, it snowballs and I seem to feel more motivated to continue doing that. So I just want to see what happens this month as I work on being a bit more selective about what digital clutter I have.

And maybe, I’ll start the second half of this year in a much less cluttered setup between the physical space and the digital spaces I have.

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Default ThumbnailDoing A Digital Cleanup Too (or Cutting Back On Some Entertainment) Default ThumbnailHaving Things Organized And Clean (or Not Slacking Off Because Of My Upcoming Move) Default ThumbnailGetting Back Into Podcasts (or Finding More Time Even When I’m Busier) Default ThumbnailI Really Did Give Myself An Easy Monthly Challenge (or This Month Will Possibly Be Easy As Well) Default ThumbnailMy Monthly Challenge To Finish Out The First Half Of The Year (or Sleeping And More Organizing) Default ThumbnailPlanning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

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Having Things Organized And Clean (or Not Slacking Off Because Of My Upcoming Move)

Posted on March 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Having Things Organized And Clean (or Not Slacking Off Because Of My Upcoming Move)

Happy March! I’m hoping this will be an exciting month for me. I will either be moving this month or be very close to moving by the end of the month. Things with the pandemic seem to be getting better. And while this might not be able to happen, I might have a trip later this month (it’s very likely to not happen, but I’m still hopeful). And of course, I’m also starting a new monthly challenge.

For February, my challenge was all about working on to-do and task lists. I knew I needed to be more organized with my time, especially as I took on new projects at work. And I was hoping I could work on planning what I would be doing after work so I could be better about my free time. Well, I did do pretty well about making lists for work. I still have a running list of tasks and projects I’m working on and for some of them I have the due dates listed as well. But for my free time, I didn’t plan too much. I think this had more to do with not having much to do after work this past month and not as much about not wanting to do it. If I had an errand or a bunch of errands I needed to do after work, I did write things out and plan the order I wanted to do them in. Even without doing all the lists I was hoping I would do, I did feel more in control with my time than I did before so that was a positive result.

And this month, my challenge is something that I feel like I have to add in because I have noticed myself slipping. I am pretty clean and usually have a clean house. I’m not perfect and sometimes things build up, but I’ve been good in the past with having a regular cleaning routine and making sure I don’t slack off too much. But for the past two months, I have used the excuse of my upcoming move as a reason to not clean. Like not dusting because I’ll just be putting things into a box soon. Or not stressing that my floors haven’t been mopped because I am dragging something out of my house soon so I can clean after that. But what I think is the messiest thing lately is having piles of things I’m still sorting through and saying it’s ok to leave it and deal with it later.

But having a messy house is affecting me and despite me thinking it’s ok to put things off, it’s not good for me. So I want to get back to my regular cleaning routine as much as possible and to continue things as if I wasn’t going to be moving soon. There are some things that I can’t exactly do because of prepping for a move (some boxes are around and I can’t put things away since they are going to the new place soon), but those are the exceptions and not the rule. I know I could do a lot more with my cleaning and making my space feel more comfortable for me. I will still have some discomfort with how my place is coming apart and being put into boxes, but I shouldn’t be adding more stress to it when I can help it.

In the past, I have done speed cleaning every day and I kept that up for a while. But I stopped doing it when I got into a better routine and had regular days to do different tasks. But I think I need to get back into my daily speed clean just to make sure I’m not ignoring something that I am telling myself I can put off until later. And when I move, I will probably need to have a new routine so getting back into the groove with speed cleans will probably help me when figuring that out when I move.

I know I won’t be perfect with this challenge since as the month goes on I will have more obstacles to cleaning the way I want to. But I don’t want to use that as an excuse to not do the things I know I can get done now.

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Doing A Digital Cleanup Too (or Cutting Back On Some Entertainment)

Posted on January 26, 2022 | Comments Off on Doing A Digital Cleanup Too (or Cutting Back On Some Entertainment)

As I’ve been cleaning up my house and getting ready to move, I’ve also been reevaluating other things in my life. I feel like a move is a fresh start in so many ways for me. And I don’t move often (my last move was about 12 years ago), so this feels like a big opportunity to really clean up things. But I have hit a bit of a wall with going through my physical things and getting rid of stuff, so I am taking a little break from that. But while I am not cleaning up actual things, I am now working on cleaning up things that take up some mental space and not physical space.

A lot of my entertainment comes from things that are essentially on-demand for me. Almost all the tv I watch is stuff I have recorded on my DVR and I almost exclusively listen to podcasts and not music. Those things are available for me whenever I’m ready to enjoy them, but at the same time they can stack up if I’m not watching or listening to them on a regular basis. So I’ve been working on going through what I am saving, what I watch or listen to, and what I seem to be putting off.

I have an odd attachment to shows and podcasts that I’ve been enjoying for a long time. I feel a bit of loyalty and have a need to finish out a tv show or continue listening to a podcast. But as my time becomes a bit more limited, I keep putting off the things that I don’t want to enjoy but feel like I have to keep watching and listening. I don’t know why I’ve kept this up for so long (and I’m sure I could have an entire therapy appointment about it), but I’ve decided I’ve had enough of doing this and there’s no need to use up my time for things that aren’t what I want to be enjoying.

It probably seems silly that I’m writing a post about deleting series recordings on my DVR or unsubscribing to podcasts, but honestly it has made me so much happier as I’ve been doing it. I do still keep a few shows that I don’t enjoy as much has I used to but still enjoy enough to finish them out. But for shows that I was waiting a few weeks and then just binging through a bunch of episodes to clear space, I have decided I don’t need to force myself to do that for whatever arbitrary reason I have. Nobody is going to judge me for not having all the same entertainment options as I used to.

I’ve worked for a while on making sure I do things that make me happy and bring me joy. But this was something that I was putting off because in a way, any form of entertainment should be something that brings me joy. But just because the idea of watching shows or listening to podcasts makes me happy, I can still be selective in what I choose to enjoy. And if I want to keep working on managing my time better and finding ways to maximize the time I do have, then being selective in my entertainment is an important thing to do.

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Letting Go Of The Old Me (or This Was Very Overdue)

Posted on November 11, 2021 | Comments Off on Letting Go Of The Old Me (or This Was Very Overdue)

For quite some time, I have said I needed to go through my closet and dresser and get rid of clothes I don’t wear anymore. I also needed to see what things might have holes or other things that needed to be repaired so I could decide if they should be tossed or fixed. I’ve gone through my clothes from time to time and have gotten rid of a lot that was just taking up space, but I know I need to do more work with this because there are things that I’m convincing myself I will wear again.

But there is one part of my wardrobe that I didn’t look at any time I did a closet clean. I think a lot of people who have lost a significant amount of weight do this, but I had a small collection of my favorite skinny clothes. This wasn’t in my closet but in a storage bag under my bed. So I didn’t have to look at them and be reminded of my skinny clothes that often, but I always knew they were there.

When I lost weight, I was more than happy to get clothes that fit me better. I would try smaller sizes as soon as my current clothes felt even a little baggy. When I gained weight, I held on to those smaller sizes until it was painful to wear them anymore and then I would size up. I haven’t been my skinny size in well over a decade, but for some reason, I still held on to my favorite pieces.

So the other day, when I was doing a big clean to really look at what I want to move and what I don’t need, I decided to finally open up those storage bags and see what I could get rid of. Most of the items in there were things I kept for sentimental reasons. There was one thing that wasn’t skinny clothes, but only sentimental. I had my high school prom dress in that storage bag. I did like my prom dress, but it wasn’t like it was a dream dress or anything. I struggled to find something in my size but I was glad I found something that fit me and was pretty. I only wore it one other time for a costume party, but I was holding on to it. And I figured it was time to let it go so it went into the pile of things to get rid of (which was going to be donated).

And then I started going through the rest of the clothing from the bag. I had 2 pairs of jeans that were the smallest jeans I wore as an adult and they really fit me well when I was that size. I had a few different dresses that I kept for random reasons. One was a cocktail dress that I lucked into finding and wore quite a bit when I was that size. Another I never wore but I bought because it fit perfectly, was a color I loved, and was on clearance when I found it. The only way I knew it was on clearance was because the tags were still on it. I also had a few different shirts that were a mix of fancy dress shirts and silly t-shirts that reminded me of something specific. I thought I had a lot more in that storage bag, but it was under a dozen things.

I thought about keeping a few of my favorites, but honestly, there isn’t really a good reason to do that. I will have more closet space at my new place, but I don’t need to hold onto these things. Even if I fit into them again, they aren’t really in style or my taste anymore. And while they do remind me of a good time when I felt much better about my body than I do now, I don’t need to be reminded of what I used to have. I try not to think about how my life might be different if I never gained weight again. And looking at that clothing did make me wonder about the alternative life I could have had. And while my life would likely be different if I was still skinny, I have no way to know if it would be better than my current life. So I’m choosing not to think like that too much. And the easiest way to do that is to not have any of my skinny clothes in my house anymore.

It was a little tough to get rid of things I have held onto for over a decade, but I did feel a sense of relief when they were gone. I don’t have a reminder of the old me anymore and I don’t need to reflect on my past in terms of my body, weight, or size. I know that I have some clothes in my closet now that probably don’t fit and are the wrong size, but they are things that might just be a size or two off. So I’ll need to do a day where I try on what I own and consider getting rid of what I don’t want to hold onto even if it’s almost the right size.

One day, I might be that skinny size again and I’ll need to buy clothes if that happens. But for now, I want to focus on my size right now and make sure I have clothes that fit who I am now and not who I used to be or who I might be in the future.

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Planning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

Posted on October 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Planning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

Last month, I made my monthly challenge all about not overthinking the future. And that ended up being the perfect challenge since I found out right after I set my challenge about my landlord selling my place. I did have some freakouts about having to move, but I was able to keep myself calm. And in a weird way, focusing on looking for a condo was a good distraction from other things that might have made me overthink the future more. So while I did have something that made me work on my monthly challenge, it might have been a bit easier than expected since all my focus went to that one thing.

But I’m still glad I did it because I know this is something I need to continuously do and practice. And I want to keep working on it so it’s more instinctual for me and not something I have to really think about when working on it.

And while my challenge for last month was all about not overthinking the future, my challenge this month is almost the opposite with planning for the future more. That’s not the reason why I did it, but it’s connected in a weird way.

The general idea for my challenge this month is to plan for the future, but that doesn’t exactly explain it. I guess it’s also a bit of a reset in a way, but again, that doesn’t explain it. But I have 2 main ideas within this challenge that I’m trying to accomplish in my reset/future planning.

The first is that I want to really work on cleaning my current place. I know I have a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t want to move when I move, so I want to work on clearing things over time. I also don’t want to worry about not having trash space as I throw things out, and I only have a single trash can. So my challenge is to work on cleaning out things like my desk (which has been a recurring project), my clothing, and stuff I have stored. I know I have so much stuff that is just there because I don’t think about it being there. So being more mindful about it all will help.

And the other part of the future planning I want to work on is related to my health. I don’t have a specific goal connected to my health, but I want to make it more of a focus. I want to work on eating more fruits and vegetables and being better about eating real meals and not snacking. Maybe I’ll do some meal planning or prepping, but I’m not too specific on what I want to do other than to put more of a focus into my life. I need to do this and I’ve been almost craving to work on this (but it’s not always my only or strongest craving, which is the problem).

I know this isn’t the most specific goal, but I think I’m also doing another flexible goal because I know October will be a bit crazy for me. Besides the usual craziness, I will also have condo hunting as well as the SAG-AFTRA Convention! So I don’t want to add something else to my calendar that I might not be able to focus on that much. But hopefully whatever focus I can put on this challenge this month, I will have another positive outcome and feel really happy about what I did.

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A New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now)

Posted on September 2, 2021 | Comments Off on A New Reason To Do Big Cleaning Projects (or Putting Other Projects On Hold For Now)

Over the past year and a half, I feel like I’ve done a lot of projects around my house. Sometimes I was doing them because I was getting bored while I was out of work and sometimes I was doing them because they were things I was bothered by in my house and I knew that with a small project I could fix it. And my project list seemed like it never ended because there were always little improvements I’d like to make. But because of budget, I often have to just keep them on the list and not actually do them.

But there have been a few projects lately that I was starting to get ready to do and I was doing some comparison shopping online to figure out the best thing for me. But as soon as I found out that my place was being sold, I put a stop to all the projects on my list. I know that I’m not moving out right now or even in the next month or two, but I don’t want to do improvements around my place if I’m going to be moving soon. A lot of these things would be removing something that I would have to put back when I eventually move out, such as finding a new curved shower curtain rod so things didn’t feel as cramped in my shower or bathroom. I don’t want to do things that I might have put back again soon when they aren’t urgent projects to do. And other things on the list were about buying things to fit into a specific space, mainly to provide more storage for me. But because this might not be my space that much longer, I don’t want to spend money on something that might not fit into whatever place I move into next.

All the projects I had planned were taken off my list and one big one was added on. I need to do a big clean of my stuff in my house. I used to joke about how annoying it will be when I eventually move out because I have collected so much stuff and I know that I don’t need to move it all with me. Well, that time is upon me, and now is the time to start working on seeing what I really have and what I really need. And a lot of this is stuff that I know I’ve needed to do and have just put off. For example, my filing cabinets have things that I really don’t need anymore but it’s easy enough to keep since they are in a folder. But when I will have to take that folder into a new place, I don’t know if I’ll want everything in there. Same with stuff in my closet. I know I have shoes and bags that I don’t use and there is no point in me eventually moving stuff that I don’t have a use for.

I’m glad that I will probably have a while before I’m moving because I know cleaning out a lot of stuff will take more than an afternoon or a weekend. I really need to evaluate what I have and what I use and make sure that when I move I only move things that I want to have with me, not stuff that I feel like I should keep for one reason or another.

I have made cleaning different parts of my house monthly challenges from time to time. And while I haven’t always succeeded at those challenges, I have always made at least a dent in what I was hoping to do. But now, I have a new motivation to get this done because I know when I start packing up my place it will be easier if I’m not sorting and cleaning then. Getting it out of the way now when I’m not stressing about a lot of other things will be best for me. And allowing myself lots of time to go through things will be good too. And maybe this will stress me out a bit, but I know I have to do it. And I know I will feel much better about things once I know I’ve removed things I’ve been holding on to just because it was easy to do that.

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Being Organized and Stylish (or Working On Getting Into A Post-Pandemic Life)

Posted on July 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Being Organized and Stylish (or Working On Getting Into A Post-Pandemic Life)

Happy July! 2021 is officially half over! And half my monthly challenges for the year are done as well. I haven’t done really well with my monthly challenges, but it’s also been a tough first half of the year for me. Things are getting better for me, so hopefully the challenges will as well. But I also have been picking challenges that I know might take me longer than just a month.

For June, I had a challenge to work on organizing my desk. This was a project that I have been putting off for a while and I knew it needed to be done. My desk has been very messy for a long time and I got lazy with keeping it organized when my work life was in flux. I was storing a lot of paperwork that I might need or used to need and wasn’t too worried about keeping my workspace clean and easy to find everything. But as I started to work more and more, the piles were making my workspace cluttered and I wasted time looking for things.

While this challenge can’t be considered complete, I have made a lot of steps in the right direction and have more work I plan on doing. I have to do a big overhaul of my filing cabinet and storage and it takes time to go through everything I have in there and decide what to keep. I also have been working on scanning paperwork that I want to keep but don’t need the originals. This is a big project and I knew that going into it, but I’m seeing lots of progress and I know it will continue to be worked on. Hopefully soon, I’ll have the nice and clean workspace that I dream of.

And for July, my challenge is all about being out and about in the world again. I tend to wear a lot of comfortable clothes. When working at home, you don’t need to dress cute and I would prefer to be comfortable. And when I wasn’t going out for anything, staying in comfortable clothes all the time became the norm. But as I am going out and doing things more and more, I want to find ways to feel cute and stylish again.

This doesn’t necessarily mean I need to buy a ton of new clothes. I will buy a few new things, but I’m working on being a bit picky and making sure they are really what I want. But I have plenty of clothes that I could wear, I just am out of the habit of putting together outfits. And I want to take more risks with style a bit. For a long time, I dressed to hide my body. I don’t know if that made me think I was hiding my size and shape or it was just a lack of confidence. But I’ve realized that there’s no point in me doing that. I want to feel cute and if someone sees what I really look like then they do. A good example of a risk (that seems like a very nothing risk) I took recently with clothes was tucking in a flowy shirt with jeans. In the past, I would let it stay flowy over my stomach and feel ok that you couldn’t see anything. But it also made me look bigger than I really am. So I did a French tuck in the front so it was still flowy but you could see my shape. I won’t say I was completely comfortable with it, but it felt good to not feel like I’m in shapeless clothes and I tried to feel more confident. But I think the more I do this, the easier it will be for me.

So hopefully this month, I will work on finding new favorite outfits in my closet and finding ways to feel more stylish. I know this is superficial, but finding some more confidence is important to me. And I think being confident can lead to other positive things in my life.

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