I want to simplify my life, and this blog is about my journey towards simple living. I started sharing my goals in January in the hopes that it would help me stick to them (it does not appear to be working very well, but I’m optimistic).
A goal like “simplify” is incredibly vague. I’m still working on what a simpler life looks like for me. But I hope these monthly goals will take me, little by little, closer to that idyll.
I believe in goal-setting, but those goals must be achievable to be helpful. If I set too many goals, I just feel deflated when I can’t reach them all, and then I’m not motivated to achieve the next month’s goals. So if you take any inspiration from these posts, please don’t make your goals into burdens!
How Did I Do With Last Month’s Goals?
1. Try a 1-week challenge to not use my phone at home.
Partial success. The goal was to set aside my phone whenever I got home. I definitely spent less time on my phone. I read more, watched a great Korean show, and really applied myself to household chores for a few days. But I didn’t last a week with this new routine. Morning were particularly challenging.
2. Listen to all my CDs and decide if I want to keep each one.
Success! I listened to CDs in my car while driving and a little bit at home. It was nice listening to some nostalgic tunes while doing chores. I set a couple of CDs aside for donation and kept the rest.
3. Attend a local event on my own.
Success! I attended a lecture at a local library. It was free and I really enjoyed the local history topic.
My Goals for July
Because I’ve struggled the past few months with meeting all my goals, this month I’m only setting two goals.
1. Clean up my phone’s notes app.
My simplicity goal for this month is about cleaning up digital clutter. I have a lot of notes in my notes app, with a combination of to-do lists, shopping wish lists, and snippets of (possibly bad) poetry. So this month, I’m going to get all that off my phone and into the places where they belong—or just delete them altogether.
2. Read 7 books in 7 days.
My reading list is out of control, so I’m picking 7 short books for a 7-day reading challenge. All the books I’ve chosen are fewer than 300 pages. A couple I own; the rest I’ve ordered from the library, and I’m eager to get started!
So there we go! Those are my 2 goals for July. I’ll report back on how these went and whether I think they contributed to simplifying my life.
Do you set monthly goals? Are any of them related to simplifying, starting new habits, or disengaging from your devices? Please share your tips!
