If I Accomplish A Single New Year's Resolution, It Has To Be This

In the past couple of months, I've come to the conclusion that I seriously need to have a schedule when it comes to DIY Dog Mom Projects, creating new homemade dog biscuit recipes, and sewing up patchwork doggy blankets and other doggy themed stuff. All of these projects require me to use the kitchen counters and table and I can't combine work time with any of the above. In other words, I can't bake biscuits and sew or work on a DIY Dog Mom Project while cutting fabric.

I realized this a couple of months ago when I started working on sample pieces for the Bodacious Country Crackle Holiday ornaments. If I was going to take up the kitchen counters, cookie sheets, and using the rolling pin for salt dough ornaments, there was no way I could bake biscuit love at the same time. When it came time to paint the salt dough ornaments at the kitchen table, there was no room to work on fabric patterns and sewing.

Bottom line, it's obvious I need to assign days of the week to weekly projects. Sewing. Sanding wood. Painting. Baking. Testing dog biscuit dough.

After the first of the year, I'll be making at least one DIY Dog Mom Project per week along with a new homemade dog biscuit recipe. There will be tutorials and photos.

Up until this point, I've always made a tentative schedule over the weekend for the following week. Within a day or so, my schedule crumbles. I expect it to. However, a schedule that assigns my various weekly projects to certain days needs to stay intact.

What I've also learned is that managing and authoring 2 blogs, Bodacious Biscuit Love, creating new homemade dog treat recipes, coming up with cool DIY Dog Mom Projects, sewing projects, taking photos, expanding my social reach, and everything between, is a full time plus job.

That's all on top of being a Dog Mom, my work, writing a book, housework, cooking, etc. 

I need to treat it as such. This is my passion. This is my work. It's ongoing. Indefinite. My lists are long. The stuff I still need to do or catch up on is great. I've got a brain full of inspiration and ideas.

While I'm not a huge fan of New Year's Resolutions, I do like the idea of reflecting on the past year to determine areas of success and areas that need more attention and work. What areas did I totally kick ass on? What areas do I need to work on more? Where are my weak spots? What are the areas I can glide through with ease?

Those, and many more questions, arise. It's not always comfortable to think back and critique how I handled this or that. There are many moments when I reached goals and great stuff happened. On the flip side, there's a lot of things I could have done better with, worked on more, or stayed focus on.

Reflecting back over the past year is a combination of high fives, happy dances, and moments where I need to bow my head, exhale, and admit fault and defeat.

One thing stands out from everything. I need to better manage my time. That branches off into several areas. Staying focused. Improved time management. Standing my ground. Sticking to a schedule.

If I accomplish a single New Year's Resolution for 2017, it has to be this.

I'm determined.