As we were away for a week at the start of the month it seems like July has really sped past! Reflect with me on the month and share your July adventures/successes in the comments below.
We were in Bordeaux from the 6th to the 13th for my mum’s birthday. The trip involved sleep-ins, sunburns (not clever!), catching up with friends and eating too much food at a Lebanese restaurant (give it a go but order conservatively!). I left my laptop in the UK and intentionally didn’t do any work while we were away. Disconnecting gave me some head space and the feeling of being refreshed and able to tackle my projects again.
Before and after the trip, I’ve been laying the foundations of three different projects. Though I was reluctant about it at first, The $100 Startup book has given me good frameworks to think about the value each project will bring. Stay tuned for more information soon!
One thing I have been excited about towards the end of the month is starting a 100 day blogging challenge. I will be drafting blog posts during my long commute Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, then typing them up on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. I’m giving myself Saturdays, our upcoming holiday to Greece and the Summer Bank Holiday (28th of August this year) off, so my challenge will end on the 27th of November, which is very close to my birthday (the 29th). I will be scheduling the posts, so they won’t be coming out every other day, but do expect more consistency!
There have been a few too many late nights in July, some self inflicted (hum Civilisation hum), some from going with the flow (staying up late when out with other people – playing Tichu for example) and some because I get grouchy when I’m up late and more likely to get all wound up. In How I Met Your Mother, they claim that nothing good happens after 2am – in my case more often than not it’s 10pm! I’ve decided that I definitely am a morning person: if I don’t get up early (or if I get up early but sleep-deprived!) I’m not a happy bunny and I accomplish less than planned.
I eat a plant-based diet and will always advocate the benefits of veganism, but I recently had a memorable slip-up at a barbecue and then experienced a troubling reaction to eating meat. I had a gory nightmare, that continued even once I was awake looking at myself in the mirror… And put me off meat even more than before!
Goals
- Disconnect in Bordeaux: no working, no emails, no newsfeeds – done! 13/07/17
- Go on two parkruns – 50%: I went on a “rogue” parkrun near Bordeaux (the organisers didn’t show up so I didn’t officially count as a parkrun) and have yet to make it to a second one
- Visit several properties for sale – done 15/07/17 however we are now changing tack with our property plans, more on that in a later post (this article is worth a read in the meantime)
Wins and accomplishments
- Relaxing break in France offered me the headspace to want to take on new projects
- Being more consistent with my blogging work
- Having a bit of a breakdown from putting too much on my plate: allowing me to put less pressure on myself
Losses
- Getting overwhelmed and not accomplishing as much as I would want
- Unhealthy habits catching up with me: abdominal pain, tiredness and anxiety
- Late nights followed by unproductive days
Fixes
- Giving myself no more than nine tasks a day
- Putting health and wellbeing first
- Saying no to some things on weeknights
Things I am grateful for
- Going to bed early
- Having a weekend packed with things I want to do
- The Young House Love podcast – inspiring!
- Having a lot of important work to keep me busy
- Everything coming together ahead of our trip to France
- Taking it slow on holiday
- Playing the Game of Life
- The mug that changes colour
- Having short, medium and long-term goals
- Regaining motivation for blogging
- Going to Greece soon, having wanted to visit for a lot of my life
- A slow morning spent reading
- Watching Homes Under the Hammer with my mum
- Having my iPod back [forgot it at work] and being able to listen to podcasts
- A warm, sunny day
- Having done the food shopping
- Working from home
- Being accepted into a (funded) PhD
- Being able to run
- Having lots of blog post ideas
- Cycling to and from work
- Having created short business plans for my upcoming projects
- Going on a short run
- The process of replacing me at work going well
- Reading about 100 day blogging challenges
- Going out in the evening: an opportunity to dress up a bit
- Pumping up tires on bike
- Working on gaining control of my inbox
- Cuddles with Rob
- Starting to read books related to Greece
- Being more committed to my boundaries so that I can get enough sleep
- Committing to the blogging process
- Finally typing up part one of the Rio travel guide [check it out in early August]
- The determination of the volunteers to keep the youth club I take part in going
Share the love and tell me what you have been up to in the past month too / what you have planned for the month ahead!
Jessica
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