I mentioned in an earlier post that things were getting to be a little overwhelming lately. When it rains it pours and for me it seems like it's been pouring for months. At this point, my basement is flooded and the water is metaphorically making its way upstairs! haha
I asked you guys for some suggestions on slowing things down and chilling out a bit and you had some really awesome ideas so as a result, I've made a few goals for the month of May that I'm hoping will carry on throughout the rest of the year also.

1. Get Real With The To-Do's

I shit you not I'll write myself a 'to-do' list for the day that will be two pages long typed. Now I don't care how productive you are but I don't know many people, especially not myself, that could ever get through that in one day. One of my goals is going to be more realistic with what I can actually get done in a day. Being kinder to myself by keeping it real with the to-do's will mean that I don't end every day feeling like a failure because I didn't get my list finished. This one is going to be tough but I'm working on seriously scaling back and being more realistic. Which leads me to my next goal.....

2. Saying NO

Gah! The struggle of saying no is oh so real for me. I'm a natural people pleaser and I hate letting others down which is often how I feel any time I say no. So rather than be a little uncomfortable for two minutes to turn down an invitation or opportunity I instead run myself absolutely ragged 7 days a week trying to do the impossible. That shit cray. It's been hard but I'm trying to flex my 'No' muscle and I think the more I do it, *hopefully* the less painful it will become. Event pop up that you don't have time for? NO. Work or client opportunity come across that's not a good fit? NO. Collaboration request that's too time consuming at the moment? NO. Request for coffee or a meet up with someone you'd LOVE to meet but just don't have the time for right now? NO. Man I could go on and on and lately I feel like I've been saying no more than yes but quite frankly it's for the sake of my sanity. Putting myself and my health first is a big priority for me right now and there are only so many hours in a day, especially for this introvert who needs her solo recharge time.

3. Scheduling 'ME' Time and Actually Sticking To It!

At the start of the year to try to slow down I made a bit of a goal to only make plans 3 days a week. This proved to be far more difficult than I'd ever imagined. With MOH duties, house appointments, work and client events and meetings, networking opportunities and oh you know, date nights with James or nights out with the girls I've been going hard 5-7 nights a week with plans and appointments and activities and quite frankly it has to stop. Much of this goes back to #2 but my goal for the month of May is to only have plans 3-4 nights a week so that I can get in some much needed 'Netflix + Chill' time with Herman and James.

4. Make Health A Priority

So many of you suggested yoga when I published this post and I couldn't have agreed more! I used to do yoga several days a week as a part of my regular workout routine and as soon as life got crazy, I dropped yoga and then slowly dropped the other workouts and the importance on my physical health. I feel my best when I cook my meals, eat whole and healthy foods and make time to exercise but that's always the first thing I let go of when my schedule gets too overwhelming. I've made it a goal to make the time to prepare my food every day and find time to workout 3-4 times a week.

DETAILS: Shoes c/o // Pants // Top // Purse // Cuff c/o // Necklace c/o // Manicure via Bella Casa Day Spa

5. Make Alone Time

This goal has a lot to do with my mental health and happiness. I love to read, meditate and journal and I've barely done any of those at all this year. I have a goal to read 12 books this year which normally wouldn't even be an issue but I find that when I over-schedule myself and get home late, I feel guilty for not working so I click away at the laptop in the evenings when normally I'd be hunkering down with a good book about to fall asleep. By making a 10pm phone and laptop curfew for myself I'm hoping I'll disconnect from technology and reconnect more with what makes my mind and my heart happy. (How cheesy is that?! LOL!)

So there you go, just a few of my goals for the month of May. They won't be easy but I'm hoping that for the next few months of extra busy-ness by making these changes, I'll feel less overwhelmed and more 'in the zone'! Do you guys have any goals for the month of May? Let me know in the comments below!

May Goals