Day 1, of 365, of the rest of my life.
I committed to blogging daily…
At the end of 2016, I committed to a daily rigour (in 2017) of reflecting and publishing a daily report on my goals. Not all my goals for the year, but whatever I was working on for the day.
Why?
Partly to ‘put it out there’, and raise my bar on personal accountability; and partly to find, contribute-to, and connect with like-minded people on the same pursuits.
Where I left off on December 31…
My focus for January 2017 is on ‘Clutter’ – or rather, eliminating clutter – so that I can re-gain focus, energy, time and resources for things that matter.
In yesterday’s post, I listed four areas where clutter builds up; and today, I’ll quickly report on the results:
Decluttering in 4 Areas: Some Practical Steps & The Results
- Physiological/Health – I eased into a vegan fast today with no meats in my diet (except for some bits in my soup). I was celebrating the new year with friends and (just for today) did not want to miss out on the communal dining experience. I decided to eliminate sugar and snacks from my diet; and did just that today. I mindlessly popped a couple of non-organic grapes in my mouth at a party, until my wife reminded me that it was pointless to adopt a clean fast, if I was going to consume pesticide indirectly! Key results: starting the vegan fast; making and sticking to the decision to eliminate sugar and snacks from my diet.
- Material – I didn’t spend any significant time working on this today. However, I made a decision to put a very large container in my study, and labelled it “TEMP”. I’ve been decluttering (material possessions) long enough to know that it’s hard to declutter with speed. It’s so easy to linger on… wondering if I’ll ever need that thing I was holding in my hands, in the future. I decided that it was faster to decide to put things into a big “TEMP” bucket, and empty the entire bucket after 2 months if I don’t miss any item in it.
- Mental – Last night, I logged out of my Facebook account, deleted the app on my mobile devices (except for the Messenger app), and did not spend a single minute today reading the news, and learning how my friends were counting down last night, or spending their New Year’s Day. Instead……
- Relationship – I fully enjoyed a dinner party with close family friends, and I had the opportunity to learn about their dreams and hopes for 2017, what they were thankful for in 2016. More importantly, I had the chance to acknowledge them for their friendship through the years… I missed doing this in person during dinner, but I sent them a message right after. So – check, check, check… everything I hoped for – in a dinner with friends tonight.
What worked
I resumed using my daily planner. On it – are a handwritten schedule for the day, with a list of my intentions for every activity, and a column for time-logging as I go along. I also have my daily task list, list of decisions to make, and space for mindful reflection and note-taking.
My Theme for Today
Last night, I thought I’d create daily themes for the first few days of the year… so that I can create a daily focus. Today’s theme was – ‘Family & Friends’ – and creating that theme enabled me to keep my focus on what mattered… nothing else.
My Theme for Tomorrow
Tomorrow’s theme is ‘Business’; and I’ll be starting work at 7:00 am, even though it’s a public holiday in Singapore. Why? Somehow, I really love working on public holidays – when the office is quiet, and I have uninterrupted space. And the reward is some time off, when everyone else is in the CBD, leaving cafes and other public spaces rather empty and enjoyable! :)
Happy New Year!
Note: This post was a little too over-indulgent. I spent more time than I originally intended. (Time spent: 45 mins) Wait, the real problem is – I didn’t give myself a time-limit. That said, I enjoyed being able to analyse how I started the year, and worked on my goals.
