MARCH GOALS

If you've noticed that I've been slightly quiet on the social media front, you're not wrong. Remember how my goal was to continue with my crazy work schedule? Well, I can say that that goal worked quite spectacularly. It's probably illegal from how much overtime I'm doing, but I'm actually quite enjoying it. I'm still waiting for the moment where I burn out, but so far, I haven't come to that stage just yet. And that's great.

This may very well be my first (of three) days off where I've been able to sit, recollect my thoughts and do something creative (which so happened to consist of a mad rush to finish off my projects before March). I must admit though, I have been in a slight creative rut too. I've been fiddling around with my planner (again), second guessing my Traveler's Notebook and failing at my daily memory keeping. I'm hoping that a new month (and season) will bring a change to my creative life.

But anyway, here's a look at how February went and the hopes that March will bring about some new changes:

• (FAIL) READ: Still not reading. I probably touched a chapter when I was waiting around at work, but that was it. Oops.
• (TICK) WORK: Yep, still going strong. Not too sure how March will be though. Maybe I might cut down slightly to focus on new adventures with a colleague, or to catch up on my memory keeping, but I can't guarantee that!
• (FAIL) BLOG: Fact is, I'm running out of blogging ideas. I do need to create before I blog, and if I'm not creating, I'm sorry if my blog follows!
• (TICK) EXERCISE: I have faltered on days where I've been exhausted from working, but I've more or less exercise every day of February. I'm not sure if there has been any difference, but I'm hoping there is (even minimally!)
• (TICK) JOURNAL: I'm still going strong, but have missed out on journaling the last few days of February (which I will update right after this!). I have noticed that my Hobonichi has become just a recunt of my days. My deep and personal thoughts always seem to end up on scrap pieces of paper because for one, I don't carry my Hobonichi with me everywhere, and for another, there's just not enough space. The amount I write each day really depends, however. I have been thinking about a few things in my life these days, which have caused my influx in writing. Come next year, and I'm sure it'll die down again with an A6 Hobonichi being adequate enough for both my thoughts and daily happenings. For now, I've decided to recount my days in my Hobonichi while keeping my personal thoughts in a grid MTN.
• (TICK) EXPENSES: Fact is, I've been making about the same as a junior doctor (I've checked), and I'm not too concerned with spending much these days. Not working in the city means I haven't been impulse shopping much (which helps), and online shopping doesn't seem to be too interesting these days either. I'm not saying I haven't spent a bit in February, but I think it's been declining, which makes it a win for me and my bank account. So for the first time in probably a year, I'm going to scrap keeping a low expense sheet for March!
• (TICK) UPCOMING CLASS: Every time I try to start early so I don't have to rush before the deadline, it fails miserably. I must admit, my mad rush was mostly due to the fact that all my weekends have been spent working. I have managed to finished everything just on time though, so I guess that's the most important bit!

I'm actually quite amazed at how well February went (despite the fact that I thought otherwise). I'm hoping March will be somewhat different though, and I have opted for some new goals that I hope to achieve with the new season:

• READ: No more excuses! Autumn calls for sweater weather with a new book in a park.
• ADVENTURE: I'm still missing an adventure buddy, but now that my colleague is back from her holidays, I'm hoping that we'll be able to squeeze in some adventure time in the cooler month.
• WORK: It seems odd that my March work schedule isn't as full as it was in February, but I think I need to cut down my work time too (as much as I disapprove). I'll probably end up picking up shifts as we go, but for now, I think I need to settle on the fact that I have a 'normal' work schedule
• CREATIVITY: I need to pick myself up from my creative rut and get a move on with documenting again. After all, these memories are not going to document themselves! I'm hoping that March will see me going back to documenting memories in my Traveler's Notebook, including keeping a separate notebook on all my personal thoughts
• EXERCISE: When March is over, it will be 90 days since I first started my weight training routine. It might not be so evident physically (because I haven't really changed my lifestyle much), but I'm hoping it's still progress. It might take another 90 days before progress is perceivable, but I'll at least be halfway into my goals than I was before I started.
• SELF DIRECTED STUDY: I'm going to aim to do something new every month. I used to have similar goals each month last year, but I think I need to fit something different in my life to better myself. This month would be self-directed studying. It's been the best not needing to study eversince I ended my degree in 2015, but now, I'm itching to get more knowledge in my head. I've been mixing around a lot with ED doctors and nurses lately, and sometimes, it sucks that despite the fact that I'm a medical professional too, I don't exactly have that in depth knowledge of the drugs / terminology they use. I've picked up a few books from Book Depository recently, so I'm planning to study some drugs / medical emergencies when I can. Hopefully that will bring me up to speed and with the crowd.

Let's go, March!

FEBRUARY GOALS

Oh my, that went by quick. We're already in the second month of the new year, and I'm (admittedly) disappointed that I haven't actually done anything major this month. I think I'm gonna aim for something each month, something I can remember and know that that was the highlight of the month. It doesn't have to be specific, and it doesn't even have to be something great, it just has to be something different from my every day norm. I think that's the only way we know we're improving with our lives. Anyway, here's a look at how my January went:

• Read: FAIL
  I'm actually disappointed that I didn't pick up or flick through a single book this month. Let's hope February will be different.
• Work: TICK
  I must admit, the last week of January would probably be the highlight of the month, if only because my boss noticed how much I was working. Hah. I'm still excited to take on crazy workloads for the time being, so forgive me if I'm away from social media for a bit!
• Blog: FAIL
  I tried. Really.
• Exercise: TICK
  I'm actually pretty proud that I managed to go through the whole month exercising in my room, missing just two days of exercise for very good reasons (once it was 37 degrees celcius, and the other, I was just too exhausted from work). Hoping to keep this up for another 70 days to see if there are any major changes to my body by day 100.
• Journal: TICK
  I'm actually still pretty up to date with 3 of the journals / planners I'm planning to use throughout the year, so yay!
• Expenses: TICK
  I'm not too sure how much I spent this month (and I don't want to calculate), but because the sales have died off since Boxing Day, I feel like I haven't actually spent much on things I don't need. I hope to keep this up in February and with all the extra money I'm making from my crazy work schedule, my savings would be getting a great boost.

February is a short month, no doubt, but I'm hoping to get things done to its full extent either way:

• READ: Unlike last year, my reading seems to be taking a backseat. I can't seem to find the motivation to pick up a book or my kindle. Let's just hope I can fit some time for reading this month
• WORK: I'm still on the work all day every day ride, and haven't burnt out yet.. which is a good thing. I still have all the energy in me and I'm hoping to go just as hard this month
• BLOG: I'm going to try to keep this blog up to date, but forgive me if I fall behind!
• EXERCISE: I'm aiming for at least 100 days of weight training, and I really want to see if there is any difference by the end of those days. I love that I've kept up with it for the whole of January, so let's hope February stays the same
• JOURNAL: I'm loving journaling in my Hobonichi as it allows me to keep everything in one place, and I can't see February being any different!
• EXPENSES: I think I'm going to relax my expenditure just a little. I haven't actually been spending much, and with all the overtime shifts I've been picking up, I think it's fair that I reward myself at the same time
• UPCOMING CLASS: It's still under wraps, but this month's goal is to complete my upcoming class with BPC (before due date!). Details on what the class is about won't be unveiled till closer to release date, but do expect one in the near future! I just need to buckle down and write it all up before due date at the end of this month!

It's going to be a full month again and I can't wait to see what happens by the end of it!