I’ll be super honest- August really kind of kicked me in the teeth. Our schooling plan got changed last minute before the quarter started and full days of synchronous distance learning while managing two other tiny humans has been really hard. I just flat out gave up on most of my August tending list, which is the first time in a VERY long time something like that has happened so drastically. I’m feeling pretty low and part of me didn’t even want to do my Powersheets for this month, but I told myself a little is better than nothing so… You’ll notice for September I have SUPER scaled back because my one real goal this month is just to survive rest of the first quarter of school… and maybe cry a little less while doing it…

Hiking again was SO good for my mental health. I miss it so much.

AUGUST MONTHLY GOALS:
*Set up School Space and Back to School Prep: This became very different when we realize that we would need to rearrange room plans and build a full desk for this distance learning endeavor. We still did it and we tweaked our strategies as we went. This is done now and we are making our way through this weird learning experience.
*Back to School Celebration/Establish New Routines: Yes! We are trying to make the weekends extra restful and fun because our son is exhausted by all the computer time during the week. It is all really hard but we stuck with some back to school traditions to try and make it feel special.
*Family Time Up North!: YES. the highlight of the month for sure. We LOVED the cooler weather and the time together. It made me so anxious for hiking weather to return to Phoenix. 
*Plan for Hubby’s Birthday:Yes! Due to school changes we can’t celebrate exactly as planned, but we have a plan for a belated getaway later this year and a smaller celebration before then.
*Continue to Declutter/Reorganize Office: Nope. This didn’t happen at all. If anything it has gotten more cluttered in the back to school chaos.

AUGUST WEEKLY GOALS:
*Photo Routines/Project Life Pages: This happened about half the time, but thanks to really catching up earlier I still don’t feel behind on the project life pages at all… organizing and deleting my backed up photos is another story and is going to be a HUGE task when I get around to it…
*1 on 1 Time: This happened, though imperfectly. Sometimes the time was shorter than I wanted but it reminded me that I don’t have to plan anything special for these moments. They are special because we are together.
*Media Free Mondays: 3/4 times isn’t bad! My phone use last month was still SUPER high though so working on that…
*Yoga x3: Nope. Anything related to moving my body kind of fell by the wayside last month, which is probably part of why I’m feeling so low energy and low mentally.
*Budget Check In/ Family Meetings: Pretty much the only weekly goal I did consistently all month. Even when it felt a little painful (August is always a rough month for our budget and this year was no exception… especially when we realized we’d need to add a desk and high chair to our house)
*Finish Coursera Course: Yes. It was a wonderful course and reminded me how happy I am when I am learning new things.

AUGUST DAILY GOALS:
*Morning Routine: If by morning routine you mean setting up all the tabs for distance learning then yes. If by morning routine you mean the basic things I laid out for myself to accomplish each morning then nope nope nope.
*Phone Limits/No Charging In Room: Started out well, crashed and burned once school started.
*Read Aloud: This was the one thing I really enjoyed doing and kept up with all month aside from a few weekend days. We EXTRA loved reading Ramona- my three year old laughed her head off.
*August Arms: I did this every day until school started and then sporadically the first week of school and then nope nope nope.

Here we go September- only three things in each category which is SO LOW compared to what I usually write, but I am genuinely just so exhausted and frustrated that minimal steps on fewer things are the only progress I feel capable of this month.

SEPTEMBER MONTHLY GOALS:
*Celebrate Hubby’s Birthday: We had a mini celebration of cake and BBQ already, but I have a few things planned for his actual birthday and he and I are going to brainstorm together how to make our belated celebration extra special.
*Bulk Meals: I am hoping the weather cools down enough the end of this month so we can stand to be in the kitchen a bit longer and can make some bulk meals to keep in the freezer. We need some lunch options and easy dinner options and this is always a big help to both our budget and our sanity!
*Create Fall Cleaning List/Continue to Declutter: Keeping this general and light and hoping that I feel good enough in October to tackle more, especially if I have created a clear picture of what needs tackling.

SEPTEMBER WEEKLY GOALS:
*1 on 1 time: This is the most important thing right now. I sometimes feel like I am barely hanging on but my kids and husband help to re-center me and remind me of some joy. I love our family time, but finding the time and space for individual connection is SUCH a game changer.
*Budget Check In and Meal Prep: The one item with a sense of normalcy we still have…
*Time ALONE to recharge: It has been a long 5+ months of social distancing and I am getting super stir crazy and exhausted. As I wrote in my coffee shop joys post, it is too easy to get distracted when I am home and so close to everyone so I need some serious set aside alone time either just in my car on a short getaway drive through or pick up excursion or hopefully getting to go on some hikes if the weather cooperates!

SEPTEMBER DAILY GOALS:
*Stay Hydrated/Coffee Curfew:</em> I have been really bad about drinking water. And I have been really bad about drinking an entire pot of coffee on my own. I don’t need more coffee I need…
*Sleep Hygiene/Phone limits: Sleep. My baby is seriously interfering with this, but my own bad sleep hygiene is exacerbating this too. So if I’m cutting out so much of my other daily goals, it is all in the service of being just a little less sleep deprived.
*Read Aloud to Kids: The one calm/joyful spot even if everything else in the day has been rough. I think we’ll be starting another Narnia book and then switching back to the next Ramona book. We also have some one-off library books on hold that I’m really looking forward to sharing with the kids.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with this year, I encourage you to join me in a “scaled down September” and work on progress for just a FEW things instead of getting totally overwhelmed with adding too much on top of just making it through each day!

WE ARE A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR US TO EARN FEES BY LINKING TO AMAZON.COM AND AFFILIATED SITES.
THIS POST CONTAINS AN AFFILIATE LINK, SO IF YOU BUY A PRODUCT THROUGH THAT LINK, I GET A SMALL PERCENTAGE. HOWEVER, THIS DOES NOT CHANGE THE PRICE FOR YOU, SO WINS ALL THE WAY AROUND! I HAVE NOT BEEN PAID OR RECEIVED ANY COMPENSATION TO WRITE THIS POST AND THE VIEWS IN IT ARE 100% MINE. TO PUT IT SIMPLY: I JUST LOVE THIS COMPANY AND WANT TO SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD.