It's September! How did that happen? It seems like summer just started and here we are, with the kids back in school and the days getting shorter. I'm a summer gal so I still try to squeeze every ounce out of summer that I can before the weather turns colder.
It's the beginning of a new month and that means a Monthly Family Goals printable for you! I know this is a bit late, but I'm sure there are some of you, like me, who are still working on getting organized for fall.
September Family Goals printable
If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out how we use our monthly family goals sheet. And stay tuned each month as I share a printable so you can also set monthly goals in your family.
If you'd like to print ahead for the whole year, you can find all the monthly goals printable sheets in the Printables tab at the top of this page.
Here's the printable for September:
{Note: I've switched from Scribd to Dropbox for sharing printables. If you have any problems downloading this printable, please let me know! Thanks to the readers who let me know that Scribd was no longer a free service!}
September is the perfect month to set goals, as it's a new start. It's kind of like January that way. I really hope this printable helps you achieve your goals this month in your family!
Achieving Balance in 2014
In January I shared my word for the year: balance. I've continued working towards this all year. Overall, I feel like I've been more aware of my boundaries and I've been working on prioritizing what I spend my time on. {For example, you may have noticed I didn't blog much in August. This was because I worked a lot the first half of the month and then prioritized spending time with my kids the last two weeks so they could have at least a few weeks of the stay-at-home summer they'd been hoping for but didn't get because I worked so much.}
One of the things I've been working on this year is establishing new habits one at a time, instead of starting several at once. It started out fairly well.
- In January, I worked on utilizing short amounts of time better
- In February, my new habit was planning our dinners for the week every Sunday
- In March I started drinking a 16 oz glass of water at least 4-5 times per day
- In April I worked on eating more fruits and vegetables
- In May I continued drinking water and eating more fruits and vegetables
- In June I set a goal of going to bed by midnight
- In July I didn't set any new goals because I knew I'd be working a fair bit (which turned out to be even more than I expected) and I didn't want to take on anything new
- Same for August
I've kept up the first two habits really well, which really helps me keep things organized, even (or especially) when life gets busy. I haven't been as diligent at keeping up the rest of the habits... which I guess means they aren't really habits at all. I know I need to work on being healthier, but I haven't made it enough of a priority.
I'll keep working on drinking water, eating fruits and vegetables, and going to bed earlier, but for September, my priority is to establish a habit of keeping our main floor clutter free on a daily basis. I saw what happens when I let things pile up this summer. And I'm going to be working quite a bit this fall too. So I need to stay on top of the clutter.
So my goal for September is: clear the clutter from the hallway, kitchen table and counters, and living room table and floor every day.
I'll update you at the end of the month on how I did, but feel free to ask me from time to time how I'm doing... I can use the accountability :)
As a family, we're continuing to work on being more grateful, my son is working on being more generous, and my daughter is working on being more peaceful. These were words we picked for the year and when we set goals each month at our family meeting, we're thinking of ways we can achieve them.
At our September family meeting, we brainstormed ways we can practically do these things. My daughter tends to get negative and grumpy when she gets frustrated so she is working on being happier and more positive this month, as a way to be more peaceful. She is going to say 10 things she likes or is thankful for every time she feels grumpy {with some gentle reminders as needed}. My son is going to help by being more encouraging this month. He tends to say and do things that she finds annoying when she's frustrated {pretty typical brother/sister stuff - but it escalates quickly because neither of them know how/when to quit}. So he's going to say lots of encouraging things when she is doing well at something to help her avoid getting as frustrated in the first place. So far it's working fairly well.
If you've never set family goals, this month is a brand new opportunity to set some! Have a family meeting and discuss what you'd like to accomplish this month and write down your ideas on this printable. It's a great way to help you live more intentionally!
A Quick Look Back at August on the Blog
Last month, I only set 1 goal for the blog. I planned to post once a week. Technically, I posted 4 posts in 4 weeks, but 3 of them were right at the beginning of August and one was in the middle. The rest of the month was very quiet.
If you've missed any posts last month, you can read all the August posts here. I got a lot of feedback from When Life Happens: A Professional Organizer's Messy Home. I'll be writing a follow-up post soon so you can see how it all turned out and I'll share some tips to help you deal with things when "life" happens.
What's Coming Up In September On The Blog?
I plan to get back to my regular posts and series, but since September is always busy with the start of school and extra curricular activities, and I've already booked several organizing clients this month, I only plan to post twice a week.
Here are my blog goals for September:
- Update you on our summer and how we're organizing for the school year
- Share tips on how to stay organized when "life" happens
- Write at least one Organizing Ideas for the Weekend post
- Update you on my progress in the 365 Items in 365 Days challenge
- Write at least one decluttering tips post to help those of you who are participating in the 365 Items in 365 Days challenge
- Begin planning for and writing my 31 DIY Organizers series for October. I'm so excited to share tons of great ideas of organizers that you can easily create using everyday household items, so you can organize your home without buying expensive organizing products! Every year I plan to start writing my 31 Days series ahead of time so I'm not scrambling to finish posts every day, and every year I end up not getting as much done in advance as I'd hoped. But I'll be working a lot in October with two clients who are moving so I HAVE to get a head start on the series this year!
So, what are your family, personal, or blog goals for September? How are your 2014 goals coming along? What are you most looking forward to this month? Are you looking forward to fall or are you hoping to enjoy more summer before it's officially gone later this month?
Happy organizing!
