One of the best features of a ‘work’ calendar scheduled from August – July is having TWO opportunities to start over and state bold new personal-improvement-action-plans. Move over New Year’s Day, because the resolutions proposed during this back-to-school season are far more likely to be held on to than those stated after a night of hard drinking and a week of overeating with family. During the holiday season, resolutions are often borne of the guilt of overindulgence, but today I write these out of the annoyingly-sunny-optimism of a brand-new level of academic responsibility and the excitement of seeing new friends again after a few months hiatus.
1) Only use pencil in my new planner. Last year’s lil’ book (R.I.P.) is very difficult to read through now, given the violent ink brawls on most pages.
2) Make time management a top priority. This doesn’t mean rushing through everything, but rather using creative approaches to doing things more efficiently. For example, I plan to experiment with home-delivery groceries, cleaning at home on the same day each week, etc. as ways to free up some much needed time through year 2 at HMS/HSDM.
3) Learn how to sew. Obviously this is in direct conflict with Resolution #2, but Jon got me a beautiful new machine for my birthday and I haven’t yet investigated how it works. Oops. I hope this fantastic gadget can help me completely forget about school stress from time to time, and even help churn out some adorable gifts throughout the year.
4) Get back to budgeting. After kicking off the summer with an unexpectedly long stay in the Midwest, it was very tough to keep up with the “write all spending down” policy that Jon and I adhered to pretty well through the school year. I’m aiming at September 1st for re-launching this practice, but hopefully with a bigger focus on saving than last year, and with some fun goals to work toward for future travel, treasures, etc. It felt rebellious and liberating to just spend promiscuously without concern for record keeping this summer, but I love this book, and look forward to using it again.
So, T-minus-18-hours until my first school-day morning in 2 months. It’s strange how after TWENTY years of going back-to-school (without a single break!), it’s still a geeky exhilarating process. Whether as teacher or student, there’s a universal uprising of stomach butterflies at the sense of starting afresh on the long road ahead.
