Hello all~ Today’s post is taken from one of Princess Lunaria’s Quaintrelle Writing Prompts:
What lifestyle aspects do you want to improve in your life? This can be anything from “I want to be more grateful of what I have” or maybe even “I want to keep my living space tidy.” Why do you want to improve in this aspect? Do you feel this would help in your Quaintrelle lifestyle?
I am going to expand on this prompt slightly by describing the setbacks I believe have prevented me from achieving each goal. This is something that I have found helpful in reaching my goals in the past.
Goal #1: Sleep at least 7 hours each night
I have always been a night-owl, which isn’t a bad thing in of itself, but my habit of going to bed late and waking up late has really had a negative effect on my life. Firstly, and most obviously, is the effect it has had on my body. I am often tired, and that really affects my stress and productivity levels. Scientists have proven that sleep is essential to good health, both physical and mental, and that is really important to me. I strongly believe that a Princess should be health-conscious and take proper care of her body.
What is holding me back?
I am certain that the #1 cause of my lack of sleep is my excessive screen-time before bed. I find it very relaxing to surf the internet on my phone while laying in bed, but I think that staring at a bright screen late at night has messed up my circadian rhythm. Using night-mode on my phone has helped, but not enough. Perhaps I could implement a “bed-time” for myself, where electronics usage is not permitted after 10 o’clock.
Goal #2: Regular practice of handicrafts
I find it very relaxing and fulfilling to make things with my hands. I used to knit fairly regularly but have long been out of practice. I would love to take that back up. I also think sewing is an extremely useful skill and I have been wanting to learn it for a long time now. I find it interesting that sewing used to be an essential women’s skill that even young girls could do, and I think practicing it could help me engage with that part of history.
What is holding me back?
Right now, my main setback with this goal is my lack of supplies. I have several knitting supplies but they are all at my parents’ house, and with the current pandemic situation I have not been able to go back there yet to retrieve them. I also prefer to shop for materials in-person, but with store closings I may need to make some educated online purchases based on customer reviews.
Goal #3: Maintain a more consistent blogging schedule
I may not post on Gingham Rose very often, but I find it incredibly rewarding each time I do. It is a personal and creative outlet for me unlike any other, and I want to continue to take advantage of that!
What is holding me back?
Blogging is a hobby of mine, and I tend to “cycle” through hobbies. I may be very fixated on one hobby for a few weeks, and then I will move on to something else. That is why you may find there are periods where I am quite active here, and then disappear suddenly. I think that I need to make blogging a higher priority to be more consistent with it. For example, one of my goals for this year was to cook more often, and I made that one of my top priorities in my life. Because of that focus, I have been consistently cooking meals almost every day now since January. I know I have the ability to be consistent, I just need to have the right mindset!
Special Thanks to Lunaria for writing this blogging prompt! I hope you enjoyed this post and I will be back with another one soon~
I love how you included the setbacks to each goal with this prompt! I also find it helpful to know what is holding me back in order to reach a goal!
I also completely understand how you feel about cycling through hobbies. I do this with my special interests or hyper-fixations, and sometimes hobbies come with that. I will often hyper-focus on one interest/hobby for weeks or months, and neglect the others in the background. I really want to find a way to balance it all. If you find a strategy for this, please post about it! ^-^
As for taking up some handicrafts but having no access to supplies- are you still going out for groceries, or do you have them delivered? If you go out for them, many grocery stores have emergency sewing kits that include basic colors of thread, needles, a threader, and sometimes even small thread scissors. This could be a way to “work around” the current situation, if that helps! As for fabric to practice on, I find old clothes work well, but you could probably also find fairly cheap felt or hand towels at the grocery store as well to practice on. I wish you luck! (As for knitting, finger-weaving could be a good alternative until you could get your hands on some knitting needles, but I’m not entirely sure where you would find yarn..)
Oh, I’m glad I’m not the only one who cycles through interests. That’s something I’ve always struggled with and I have no idea how to balance it, but if I ever figure it out I’ll let you know.
I am still going out for groceries, yes. I’ll have to look for a sewing kit there. That’s a really good tip, thank you for sharing! ^_^