Good Habits Badge

This was initially a little scary as I had to address my inbuilt slapdash tendencies and focus on some areas I needed to change for the better. However, much easier than I thought when I got into it.

The areas of positive change I wanted to make are as follows:

Life Admin 

I decided to be my own secretary and keep on top of paperwork, both physical and electronic. Bills are always paid, but I am hopeless at filing paperwork, returning phone calls and making appointments for things that need doing.

For this clause, I have filed all necessary paperwork, shredded/ binned anything I don't need to keep and deleted lots of emails that don't need saving, both on personal and work accounts. I have also unsubscribed to lots of promotional emails that I never read. This has been quite liberating, as the majority of my emails are now relevant and interesting. I have also made medical appointments that I had been procrastinating about, which is a relief!

Health and Fitness

For this I decided to do my Fitness Badge and aim to walk to work at least twice a week and go for a decent walk at the weekends. This isn't incredibly challenging, but I need to walk more and I live a walkable distance from my workplace. I didn't manage every week, but made up for it in other weeks, so the 'three times a week' goal worked out on average and I intend to keep it up.

Household Chores

My goals seem simple, but I am irritated if I don't do them. They are wash up daily, but catch up the next day of this isn't possible, and to make my bed every day. This latter may seem ridiculous, but it wasn't something that I did and I now really appreciate getting into a well made bed every night. It is cosier and makes bedtime calmer! Washing up has always been a real drag, but I am the only person who can do it in the house, for very good reasons that I am not going in to, and we don't have a dishwasher. Our kitchen is small, so when the washing up piles up it can feel like an insurmountable task and makes keeping the whole kitchen tidy much more of a chore. I manage to wash up daily probably 95% of the time and it has made a difference mentally.

Self Care

For this I decided that I needed to make time for myself, on my own, every day doing something I enjoy. This could be for as a little as half an hour to the whole day. 'Tasks' included reading, gardening, drawing, walking, having a nap and spending time with friends. I managed it the majority of the time.

Book or Podcast

I decided to read 'Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention' by Johann Hari, as I do find it hard to remain focused a lot of the time. The book was extremely interesting and thought-provoking and has left me with lots of things to consider. I highly recommend reading it.