A New Season

Finally the eternal winter seems to be over! Although I know some of you were unlucky enough to get snow over Easter weekend here in Oxford the temperature seems to be staying over 10 degrees and we have even been treated to the odd bit of sunshine. I have struggled quite a lot with the continuation of winter and I know so many of my friends have too. It's strange how much the weather can effect our mood and productivity. I have found myself struggling to find motivation and feeling rather low throughout March but I am starting April determined to shake this off.

The first quarter of the year has felt a bit like a trial period. At Christmas I set myself lots of goals and aims for the new year and over the last three months I have found myself trying different ways to make these happen. It's been both a good and difficult three months but I feel much better prepared to set some more goals for the next quarter.

As I am currently working from home it's up to me to set my own goals and targets and I find myself most productive when I break down my years goals into months, weeks and days. At the beginning of each week I tend to plan what I will do each day and I have found this to be such an effective way of getting all the many different jobs I need to do done. I have also struggled a lot on many occasions to do the tasks set and these past few months have been a steep learning curve in not piling on too much work each day. I have a tendency to want to get everything started right away but I've been learning somethings work out much better if I wait to do them.

I've set myself a few goals for the next quarter of 2018 and I thought I would share them all with you. I'd love to hear any goals or targets you've set for yourselves and how you've managed to achieve them.

Health - After a very serious bout of food poisoning last winter I have had a lot of problems with my stomach and digestion and so I decided this year to make a real effort to try and heal my gut. I know it sounds like rather a strange goal but after doing some research in nutrition I found out that a lot of the problems I was experience could be due to a damaged gut. Over the last few months I've been trying different foods and cutting inflammatory foods out. It's been a bit of a difficult trial and error process but I feel I am finally starting to figure out what works best for me and my body. This next quarter I really want to implement my diet plan and to go for it fully to see if it can make a real difference to my digestive health. I am also wanting to lose some weight to help a chronic knee joint  problem I have been suffering with for the last year and so the next three months are really going to be about getting myself to the healthiest version of me I can be.

Yoga - I have been doing Yoga nearly every day for the last three months and I can't tell you how much of a difference it has made. I originally started doing Yoga to try to help with my chronic knee joint condition and it has not only made a big difference to my knees but also to my health. I find I am a lot less stressed on the days I take time out to do Yoga in the morning, I have also found my digestion has improved with this gentle exercise and I am feeling a lot fitter. The physical side of doing yoga has also been exciting to watch as my body becomes more toned and healthy looking. My goal for the next quarter is to keep practising Yoga as much as possible and to try some harder routines as well as my beginners Yoga sessions. I can feel my body is so much stronger and more flexible than it was in January and I am excited to push it a little further and see what I can do.

Writing - I have been so pleased with where my writing has gone in the last three months. I am now regularly writing for Tearfund's online magazine which I absolutely love. I have also managed to get my grades up higher for my course in Creative Writing at Oxford Uni and more and more writing opportunities are opening up to me. It's very exciting and I am looking forward to developing my writing in this next quarter. My biggest plan for the next few months is to get the online magazine I have been working on with my friend Rebekka up and running. We are planning on launching the website this summer and we are so excited but this does mean the next few months will mostly be focused on writing for the website. I will definitely keep you posted on here and I can't wait to share all of it with you.   

Reading - I set myself a goal of reading one book a week in 2018 and since January I have managed to achieve that goal and then some. I've been really conscious to make time for reading, something I really didn't do in 2017, and I have been really enjoying getting back into the rhythm of reading. So far in 2018 I have read 15 books and I am planning on keeping up this momentum into this next quarter. I have also pushed myself to read out of my comfort zone and try a whole range of genres and I definitely want to continue this in the next few months.

I am so excited for the sunnier days and the motivation and excitement this brings. What do you have planned for the next few months? I'd love to hear in the comments below!