OK, OK, clearly I wanted this blog title to rhyme really bad because that title needs some work, but I’m rolling with it! 2018 was a year of growth for me! And now that we are a whole month into 2019, I want to start the new year reflecting on the things I did, what worked, and what clearly didn’t! So I can keep on keeping on knowing what I need to improve on and what I should continue to do!

Flops!

Bullet Journaling– I don’t think bullet journaling itself is a flop guys, but I do think that I suck at it! I crafted a gorgeous journal, created goals and had the year set up, only to hit my busy season and abandon the journal altogether. I would LOVE to try this again for 2019, and try my gosh dang darnedest to stick with it, but meh, idk yet!

Starbucks rewards– At the beginning of the year, I would hit up Starbucks, maybe once a week to every 2 weeks. Near the end, almost EVERY DAY! What changed? I got the rewards app… I seemed like an awesome idea! If I was already buying Starbucks I should be earning the points! But what it did was actually trigger my brain to think it was OK to make my weekly treat, a daily routine. I was earning all these points so it was fine! NOT FINE!!! It was excessive, expensive, and habit I definitely want to leave in 2018!

Saying “YES!” to just about everything- Not going to lie guys, I took on a MASSIVE amount of work in 2018. Some weeks I would schedule 4 sessions, 1 wedding, 2 meetings, write 6 blog post, stay on top of social media, handle it all extremely well, but have zero energy left for my family. When I look at how much I said yes to, holy moly! And maybe that’s part of finally going full time. Just going absolutly nuts saying yes to any and every opportunity to find your groove. But every time I said yes to all the things, I was saying no to quality time with my family. To summer adventures. To after school activities. To date nights. So even though I’m still in that hustle mentality, I’m going into 2019 with much more intentional hustle by saying yes to the things that are the right fit for me that get me totally stoked!

Tops!

The Later scheduling app– This app have given me so much of my life back guys! As someone whose job requires social media, I was spending too much time on just trying to post a photo! At least 30-45 mins every morning finding a photo, creating a caption, then actually posting it, hash tagging it etc. Guys, thats time I could be spending siping my morning coffee with my kids. Nope. So I found Later! I now spend one day planning out my social media strategy for the month! And my mornings are as calm as ever!

Education– I poured my heart, soul (and a good chunk of my business earnings) into education guys. So much so that I really started to panic about if it was even worth it. Because I am an education junkie. I LOVE learning new things and feel there is no one ever who knows it all and doesn’t have room to grow! So I started to wonder if I was investing myself into things that I just bought for the fun of learning, or if they were actually working. Well, after looking back at where I was 12 months ago as a business owner and artist, it was so dang worth it! From online courses, reading old school books, to actually traveling for workshops, I tried it all and loved it all! Here’s to even more growing and learning in 2019!

Getting rid of our living room TV– I spend a lot of time in our living room, It has the biggest window with so much light (and we all know how much I love natural light!) and it also has my work nook. So of course, while I was editing, blogging, parenting, reading, you name it, that tele would always manage to be on. It was either background noise, or distracting my little ones so I could wrap up an important project. It was a crutch that drove me nuts. So, I took it down. Chip Gaines style! Okay maybe no demo was involved… But I haven’t regretted it since! I now can focus without reruns of the office on a perpetual loop, and my kiddos have learned to give mom her work time while playing with actual toys!

‘Batching’ tasks- This changed my life guys! Early 2018 I would plan meetings, errands, and sessions all over the week. 7 out of 7 days in a week I had something I needed to leave the house for. What this ended up doing was wasting time money and energy. I stumbled on to this practice of ‘batching’ the things I need to do. Have a session scheduled tomorrow? That is when I will get the groceries and go to the post office! Have a coffee date on Tuesday? You better believe I’m scheduling all my coffee dates on that same Tuesday! It’s amazing how accomplished I feel at the end of my batch days and how relaxing it is to have days build into my calendar that I know will not be touched. I no longer go to the grocery store randomly for that one thing I forgot. I now wait until the next time I will be on that side of town to get that coffee creamer I so desperately need!

There ya go guys! Last years biggest flops and tops! I really loved sitting down and thinking about last year in this way, what worked? What didn’t? What do I want to try again? And what do I want to leave behind all together!? I encourage you all to think about 2018 and find patterns that really helped you flourish, and ones you’d rather not continue!