Setting Goals

August has arrived and with it comes normal life. Summer, for me and many teachers, is "not normal." I have a lot of free time, no real schedule, and I feel like I wander around aimlessly, looking for purpose. August means that I return to a regular routine with responsibilities and deadlines and a much busier schedule. I am definitely one of those people who needs a routing and a pretty rigorous schedule. Without it, I find it hard to focus. So I truly welcome August!

This August, I'm setting a few goals for myself. I think goals work really well with routine, and I like the push to accomplish my goal, even if there isn't a "pot of gold" waiting on the other side of it. This August, I'm not setting any "teacher" goals; I figure I'll be busy enough with the start of school to worry about any goals.

First, I've decided to set an exercise goal. Quinn's Momma and I have decided to work out/exercise AT LEAST 14 of the 30 days in August. While that isn't quite half of the month, we figure that it is a good place to start since August is such a hectic time for us teachers. to help me accomplish this goal, I have a new little toy to accompany me: My new heart rate monitor! It tracks heart rate, calories burned, distance travelled ... you name it, and then it wireless syncs to my computer, so I can upload all of that information to a program and keep track of it. I started using it today, and I LOVE IT. (But don't worry. I didn't pay the SRP.)

Second, I've signed up for the 750words challenge for August. I've been using it off and on for the past week or so (after a loooooong hiatus from the program), and it's really been helping me make progress on a draft of my dissertation. I figure that if I can keep it up for another month, I'll have made a lot of progress that I can be happy about. By my count, that would equal about 90 pages by the end of the month. Granted, those would be rough, unedited pages, but 90 pages nonetheless.

I think two solid, measurable goals is good for now. That should keep me busy for a little while. And I'll post updates regularly for, you know, an added level of accountability.

In case you are wondering, I have accomplished BOTH of my goals for today. I wrote over 750 words AND I worked out. All in a hard day's work.