We’re already well in Q4 but I still want to post my quarterly recap of Q3. Life has been busy and not in a good way. There were some setbacks in several aspects of my life which have made me neglect the blog. And even though I’m still going through some stuff, I felt it was important to write down this update on my goals for 2019. If only to give myself some much needed perspective that things aren’t really that bad and there are some positive notes to be made.
Nine by Nineteen: how did I do for Q3?
You can read my Nine by Nineteen goals here
1.Afternoon tea
I have been slacking. I ended up throwing away the gooseberry tea because I just really didn’t like it (and no one else wanted it). I was gifted also gifted a new tin of darjeeling at work and will have to finish this one up too. And to be honest, I have been drinking coffee instead of tea in the afternoons lately. The coffee habit is a hard one to kick, especially when I’m stressed or have a lot of work to do.
On a positive note, I did finish a packet of green tea with lemon zest and the autumnal weather has given me more incentive to have a cup of relaxing tea before bedtime. I think I might start to finish up a box of “bedtime tea” soon.
Conclusion: I really need to do better. Hopefully the autumn weather will help.
2.Analyse wardrobe
I moved my dataset from Google Sheets to Airtable because it enables me to add easily add rich data content such as images or urls. I’m gradually adding photos of my clothes to my dataset. This will make it easier for me to find certain items or to make a distinction between similar items. I have also been learning a bit of Python, hopefully I can use this to analyse my wardrobe dataset.
Conclusion: Progress is slow, but it’s there nonetheless.
3.Keep capture
I’m not taking many day-to-day photos anymore. When travelling and such, yes, but I’m not taking photos with my smartphone for example. I’ve also fallen out of love with Instagram, I just keep seeing the same formulaic photos and I have a hard time reaching people outside of my little pond of followers.
On another note though, I have rekindled my love for film photography. I’ve finally tested out a roll of Ektar and I’ve even taken my film camera on a citytrip to Amsterdam! I’m still figuring out how and if I want to share some film photos on the blog though. But right now film photography is giving me all the warm and fuzzy feels that Instagram isn’t.
Conclusion: Things are going well
4.One video
I already completed this goal. You can find my 30 second video of Japan here. And my second video diary (Budapest) here. I’m not so sure about my video for Toronto, I’m not satisfied with the footage I made and am not sure if I can make something out of it.
Conclusion: Done!
5.Learn to sew
As mentioned before, I won’t be doing this goal until after the start of the renovation. I guess about halfway this year it became apparent that I won’t be starting this goal this year. It’s still something I want to learn but I guess it’s just not in the cards for me right now.
Conclusion: On hold for the future
6.Less phone, more books/movies
I’m doing less well than the last quarter. I’m spending too much time on my phone and I have hardly read any books. When I read, it’s usually magazines about home decor and renovation right now. I’m almost done reading the Renovatiebijbel. And I’ve tried to read some books in the A Book Apart series for work but I really struggle with keeping my attention on reading e-books on my phone. When it comes to movies, I’ve watched some that have been on my wishlist for a while. My favourites were Crimson Peak and Dunkirk. I also felt the need to rewatch Pride and Prejudice (swoon!). Come to think of it, I still have an unread copy of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park on my shelf.
We’ve decluttered a book shelf (it contained more junk than books) and I found some half read or not yet read books of mine. I’ve finishing Waarom water sneller kookt in het vliegtuig by Brian Clegg and am currently reading Mansfield Park, as well as a newly purchased book on UX design (Don’t make me think by Steve Krug).
Conclusion: Do better on the books part.
7.Wake up early
Lol…what was I thinking. I guess I’m not meeting this goal because, like I mentioned, some aspects of my life are not going so well and this has been keeping my up at night. Conclusion: Life gets in the way and I think I should prioritize getting sufficient sleep first.
8.Plastic free
I haven’t really done anything else in this area. I’m still using up my disposable cotton rounds before buying the reusable kind.
Conclusion: No changes
9.Minimize clutter
When it comes to house clutter, we haven’t bought anything new due to awaiting renovations. I would like to clean up my bookcase and am working on minimising my makeup and skincare collection.
We have cleaned up one of our bookshelves to make space for a table. Meaning that I’ve done another book declutter too. In hindsight, we realized that not buying new things until the renovation has actually made our house more cluttered. I’ve bought some additional storage boxes and cleaning supplies to help make our house less cluttered. Conclusion: On track. And I’ ve learned that decluttering does not mean you shouldn’t buying things that can be useful in keeping your house clutter free.