It's December! It's the beginning of a new month and that means a Monthly Family Goals printable for you!
December is one of my favourite months of the year. Of course Christmas is in December so there are lots of holiday festivities and gatherings. And my birthday is also in December!
But December is always a really busy month, so it's extra important to take some time at the beginning of the month to think about the month ahead and set some goals. Otherwise, time will fly by and at the end of the month you'll feel like you were always busy, but not necessarily doing things you wanted to do.
So, use the December goals printable to help you live more intentionally this month! You'll be glad you did :)
December 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.
For December, I have to printables. It's just such a fun month :)
Here's the first printable for December with a cute Christmas tree border (don't worry that little line doesn't show up on the printable):
And here's a second printable option for you with a poinsettia border:
{Note: if you have any problems downloading this printable, please let me know!}
With the holidays approaching, now is the perfect time to set some family goals, so you can be more intentional about how you spend your time this month. 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.
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's working 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
- In September my goal was to establish a habit of keeping our main floor clutter free on a daily basis (hallway, kitchen table and counters, and living room table and floor)
- In October my goal was to keep up the main floor decluttering habit daily.
- In November I set a goal to only check my personal email and my personal Facebook page 3 times per day.
I did pretty well with this. I kind of surprised myself even. Of course, I've been working a lot this month, so there were days when I wasn't at my computer very much, so that helped. But I found I could keep up enough with the things my friends and family were sharing when I just checked in the morning, afternoon, and evening. And I could respond to things all at once, rather than in bits and pieces all throughout the day. It definitely helped me stay more balanced. For the days when I was on the computer a lot, I found it much less distracting when I only looked at these personal pages at certain times. I was better able to focus on the projects I was doing.
My goal for December is: to only check my business email and my business social media pages 3 times per day.
This may be tougher. After all, I want to be accessible to clients and potential clients, as well as respond quickly to your questions or comments on social media and by email. But, over the last few weeks I've started scheduling some posts on social media so I don't have to actually post "live" at all different times of the day. This helps me keep focused on what I'm doing too and I'm not as overwhelmed at sharing tips all the time. I'll still share things "live" on social media and interact with you there, but I'll aim to do that only 3 times per day. Again, this should increase my productivity and help me be more balanced.
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.
Little by little I'm seeing more signs of generosity and peacefulness in my kids. It's so nice to see that the goals they've set for themselves are working. My daughter has already started thinking about what her word will be for 2015! Guess I better start thinking about that too... :)
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 November on the Blog
Last month, I set 4 goals for the blog. I'm happy that, despite a busier work schedule than I'd expected, I was still able to achieve all 4 of them.
- I shared more about the blog redesign and new social media profiles
- I conducted a reader survey and I was really happy with the results (thanks again!)
- I finished more blog redesign "tweaks" (I still have a few more things I want to do, but I think some of those behind-the-scenes things will always be on my to-do list!)
- I started a series to help you get organized for Christmas.
If you've missed any posts last month, you can read all the November posts here. I didn't really have a favourite post... did you?
What's Coming Up In December On The Blog?
I always have so many ideas to share in December, but it's such a busy month I have a hard time fitting everything in! I'm setting these goals to help hold me accountable this month:
- Finish the 12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays series (8 more posts to go!)
- Wrap up the 365 Items in 365 Days declutter challenge for 2014
- Complete the behind-the-scenes work to launch a virtual organizing business in January
So, what are your family, personal, or blog goals for December? How are your 2014 goals coming along? What are you most looking forward to this month? Are you excited about the coming holidays?
Happy organizing!
