No.859: Plan With Me for October 2024

I’m trying something a little different for goal planning this school year.  My new motto: we are not machines, we don’t have infinite energy levels, we can only do so much!  Hopefully this new method will help me reduce my stress and prioritize the right things at the right times.

So how did it go?  Well, September was a trip.  High highs and low lows, which I’m more and more convinced is just the human experience, you know?  I’m trying to juggle all the things as best I can and just face each day as it comes.  Anyway!  Let’s review my September goals first:

FIVE TOP PRIORITIES

1. complete Confirmation and First Communion paperwork and drop off to the church office (I didn’t realize that we had to hand in the Confirmation sponsor’s paperwork too, so this task is almost done)
2. prepare for chicken processing in early October (This was especially important because due to scheduling conflicts, we had to move our processing date up a week!)
3. clean and vacuum out the cars (nope)
4. mob seed the pastures with winter wheat (I did half in winter wheat and half in winter rye)
5. prepare for September birthdays (We have a new 10-year-old and a new 12-year-old in the house!)

FIVE “WOULD BE GREAT TO DO” TASKS

1. start cutting 2025 firewood (Other more urgent tasks came before this, but we really do need to get started)
2. brush out Samson outside at least once a week (Trying to stay ahead of his summer undercoat blowout!)
3. go apple picking (We’re running out of free weekends!  Hoping to make it happen in October)
4. track everything coming in and out of the house all month (This was an interesting little challenge – more details coming next week)
5. lock in 33 items of clothing for Oct/Nov/Dec Project 333 (I didn’t even think about this, ha!  Clearly not a priority right now)

FIVE LITTLE STEPS TO GET AHEAD

1. debt reduction: earn $150+ to go toward the Car Loan Payoff Plan (Final amount earned: $269.90)
2. mother academia: read The Odyssey (I’ve been chipping away at this 700+ page book for months!  So happy to be done.)
3. walls project: complete peg rail for the back hallway (We hit a little snag but are so, so close)
4. hard times prep: increase food storage with 5 extra things/wk (I’m stocking up on things we often use during the fall/winter like beans, canned tomatoes and pasta. Happy with my progress so far)
5. farm: start pulling out the garden and prepping the beds for winter (Nowhere close to done, but progress)

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On to October!

FIVE TOP PRIORITIES

These tasks tend to have deadlines or really should be completed this month.

1. finish cleaning up the garden
2. densely woodchip the permanent pig paddocks
3. prepare for an October birthday
4. start picking up little things for Christmas
5. drop off sacrament paperwork to the church office

FIVE “WOULD BE GREAT TO DO” TASKS

Examples of these tasks would be seasonal goals or things that just generally have less urgency.

1. restart a snail mail habit by sending at least three letters
2. read Dracula by Bram Stoker
3. start cutting 2025 firewood
4. check the snow gear and make a to-buy list
5. complete Clutterbug’s 30 Day Declutter Challenge

FIVE LITTLE STEPS TO GET AHEAD

This area is for big, overwhelming goals that can be broken down into bite-sized, attainable steps.

1. debt reduction: earn $100+ to go toward the Car Loan Payoff Plan
2. mother academia: finish reading With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln
3. walls project: paint the living room
4. hard times prep: continue adding to our food storage with 5 extra things/wk
5. farm: fortify pig houses for winter