January. A review.

5 min read

Normally at the end of the month, I can hardly believe how quickly time has passed. January felt really long. Not in a bad way, but when I think back to New Year’s Eve, it feels like it was ages ago. Here’s a little review of how January went.

This month has been pretty full, but good.

I started the month by setting a bunch of goals – nothing too crazy, just a few things to make sure I approach this busy time in a mindful and deliberate way. Making time for myself to recharge and for the things that are a priority to me.

30 Days of Yoga

So, my first goal was to follow along with a 30-day yoga challenge during the month of January. I started expecting to fail (which is not really a great attitude to have) as I normally get bored if I do the same thing every day. But somehow it was easy to stick with it. Most practices were only about 20-25 minutes, so not a big time commitment. I hoped on my mat first thing every morning and documented the days on my Instagram stories. That helped to stay on track, as it was a bit like being held accountable (even though most people probably did not care whether I made it onto my mat or not).

One little Word Album

I wrote a bit about my word for 2019 earlier this month and also published a review of my word for 2018. To help me think about my word a bit more a signed up for a workshop by Ali Edwards, which gives you a creative prompt each month on how you can make your word come to live. Some pictures below on what my process for January looked like. I am excited to spend some time each month to review how I was able to connect with my word each mont.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Write review of 2018 goals

I am really glad I got round to writing a review of my 2018 goals. It is so helpful to look back and reflect. For me, writing things down helps me to think, so this post was really useful for myself. You can read it here.

Project Life

You can see my January spreads for my Project Life album here. I will upload week 4 to the blog on Sunday. I LOVE this project.

Take time off work to study

For those of you who don’t know – I work as a freelance research assistant. It’s a wonderful job and I can do 90% of my work from the desk I am sitting on right now. However, as I am also a part-time Masters student, it is sometimes difficult to manage my time in a good way and set the right priorities. I knew I had a lot to get done for university, so I deliberately signed off from work on Monday afternoons and Fridays to work on my proposal. This worked really well and I going to continue this discipline in February as well.

Research Proposal

Speaking of February – unfortunately, I didn’t manage to finish my proposal. I made really good progress but there’s still quite a bit left for me to write. I am hoping to finish it next week, so I can send it off for feedback.

Bible Study

Doing my morning yoga was a really great way of establishing a bit of a morning routine. Once I am done with my practice I make breakfast and then I take about 10 – 20 minutes to read a Bible passage. After reading I write down some things that are interesting, puzzling or challenging to me. I use a book called Search the Scriptures by a guy called Alan M. Stibbs, which sets a passage and then some questions for reflection. I would definitely recommend it!

I hope this first month of the year was a good one for you. If not, there’s plenty of time for this year to get better!