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May has not been as productive as I was hoping, as you my have noticed from my lack of posting. Due to the changes to my job, my work is now at a very pleasant level and I feel I am making good progress through my tasks, but I am also aware this could be temporary as two of my projects are currently paused. At home I have been very lethargic and unfocussed so although I have been completely tasks it is not very noticeable if you look around the house. We have spent both bank holiday weekends in Dorset, unfortunately they were both rainy, but we still managed to get some walks in.

Goals - Hmm, not much to say on this one really as I have not progressed it at all

April has been a strange month. It was quiet at the start as I had left one of my projects and was able to pass all outstanding actions on to someone else, however I have now started on an additional two projects so my workload now is as busy as ever, just over a larger number of projects. The good news is my energy levels seem to be picking up again after several weeks of very low energy so I am planning on increasing my productivity levels, particularly when I’m at home.

Goals - I have not progressed this at all during April, however now that I have started catching up tasks around the house this is quickly rising up my to do list and I intend to write a post on this during May

March has been strange a month because I’ve been on leave for two weeks and it is the last month of my company’s financial year so I’ve fluctuated between relaxation and being very busy. Plus, I think the hours I’ve been working over the last few months has finally got to me as I feel exhausted and I’m struggling to do much outside of the office, hence the lack of posts recently (I had intended do a lot of writing while I was in Japan, however their public transport system is so efficient that I did not find the time).

Goals - again, I have not progressed identifying my goals in the last month. I have a very first draft and I’m thinking of just posting it so that I start progressing this area again.

It has continued to be busy during February, but I’m hoping normality will return soon, and I think for my health and sanity I think I need it to. However, the good news is I am continuing to make progress and starting to get large sections of work completed. On the more unsettling side there are changes occurring at work which will have a large impact on my role for next year, but as there is a little I can do about it at the moment I am just progressing with life as usual.

Goals - Unfortunately I have not found the time to progress the development of my mission statement , however my post appears to have started something on the internet, with several people posting their statements this week

Not surprisingly January has continued on from December and has been another busy month, it is unlikely that this will change until April. However, this month I have seen some outcomes for all this effort, including an event at the House of Lords, and I think it has all been worthwhile.However, it has been difficult to keep things organised at home as I have been spending longer hours in the office and feeling tired in the evenings as a consequence. Thankfully, during the last week and a half of January I have started getting back on track so the house is now clean and tidy which mkes everything else seem easier.

Goals - Having completed the brainstorming exercise in December I have identified that I need to develop a mission statement that will provide the framework of where I am heading.

December is always an exciting month because not only because of Christmas, but it also means the arrival of my birthday. As I’ve mentioned previously my lovely husband bought me a laptop which I am currently using and he followed that up with some wireless headphones for Christmas so I can walk around the house listening to music, they are fantastic. December is always a great month to catch up with family and friends and we did plenty of that, catching up with my parents, university friends and my in-laws (including aunts, uncles and cousins). I also went to a 70s fancy dress party of one my college friends (for those of you not in the UK, I was at college between the ages of 16 and 18) and met several friends who I haven’t seen for over 5 years. I wore a dress my mother made in the 70s.

Goals - yes I have made progress on my goals; I have completed a brainstorm on what I want.

You may have already noticed that November was a busy month for me. I spent less than half of the month working in the office with several overnight stays. Of course when I was in the office I had plenty of work to do that meant I was working over lunch or staying late, and frequently both.

However, there was also fantastic news in November because I got a Rollabind punch , and what is even better is I did not have to pay £60 for it. I bought it, along with over 1000 discs of different sizes and colours, for £36. I don’t want anyone in the UK to get excited at the prospect that Rollabind is available for a decent price here, because I’m afraid it’s not, this purchase came from the Polish equivalent of Ebay, Allegro. The items are still for sale there, but apparently the seller only takes payments through a Polish bank and does not want to post internationally. Fortunately someone did a great favour for me and purchased it on my behalf, I would love to mention them here, but I am reluctant in case they are bombarded with requests to help others.

Instead of a month focused on action and improvement October ended up being a month that feels like it never actually got started.

Goals - I didn’t progress this. I can’t even say that I thought about identifying my goals, unfortunately

Fitness - My good habits on the fitness seemed to stop in October, I suspect as I was very busy with work and all I wanted to do after leaving the office was to go home and certainly not exercise. Yes I know it is no excuse. However my weight has stayed consistent, despite getting my appetite back after my illness in September (and my new addiction to peanut M&Ms). At the end of October I weighed 66.6kg.

I feel I could have made more progress during September than I have. I have been feeling very tired, which is a consequence of being very busy at work and not having had much leave this year. However, I’ve just had a week away from work so I’m sure all my energy will be back soon.

Goal - although I haven’t completed the brainstorm exercise as part of the Goal Setting College tutorial, I did do a brainstorm inspired by what I discovered when I completed the Past, Future and Present review and I’m sure this will be useful for when I do complete the next exercise.

Fitness - I haven’t been as strict about exercising everyday as in August, however I am now able to cycle the route to work in a quicker time and I think I will soon be confident to commute to work on my bike. I have also lost 2kg in weight to 66.4kg, although this may not be realistic as most of it has come off in the last week and a half after losing my appetite due to a cold.

August has been a mixed month. It was nice to have a long weekend in the sun in Dorset, but I needed this time to relax after two hectic weeks at the office.

Goals - I’ve made some progress on identifying my goals during August and feel excited about continuing with the process.

Fitness - I have exercised every day in August, apart from one day when I was ill. I have mixed up the exercise so I don’t become dependent on being able to go to the gym which I think contributed to me losing the habit last time. I have walked, run, cycled, swum, rowed, cross trained, sailed and hiked. On some days when I’ve been aching or haven’t been feeling very energetic I have gone for a walk around the estate where I live and have really enjoyed this quiet time.