It is the 17th of July and time for another update for my Jumpstart July Challenge.
HABITS
Wake up at 5:00 AM. I wish I could tell you I wrote down the time I woke up each morning since my last update, but I only remembered to write down Monday – today. Thanks to Bailey, I woke up at 4:40 am on Monday, 5:09 am on Tuesday, 4:50 am on Wednesday, and 5:06 today. The roughest mornings to get up were Wednesday (Tooty had tummy trouble all night, so every 1 1/2 – 2 hours, I was bringing him outside to potty) and today (Bailey was frightened by thunder and lightning, so at 11:15 last night, I had to give her 1/2 a sedative tablet and sit up with her until it kicked in). However, as tired as I was, I refused to miss my morning walks.
Walk at least 30 minutes daily, preferably outside. I am still on a walking streak. My walk begins between 5:40 am and 6:15 am with 6:00 am being the sweet spot. No phone on these daily walks, except today (walked on treadmill). The last couple of days I have not seen any bunnies on my walking route, but I have heard roosters crowing. Saturday evening was the only evening I put my workout clothes on my bathroom counter. I need to write a note to remind myself.
Here are my times for each walk. On Monday, I increased my time by about 6 minutes because I added more road to cover on my walk. However, I was lost in thought and missed my turn on Tuesday, so I went to the entrance of my subdivision to make up some minutes. Oh, well. Yesterday, my right knee was feeling weird; not painful but a slight twinge under my kneecap; therefore, I went back to the route and time I walked from the end of last week. This morning I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes and decreased my speed. The feeling was still there but not as sharp as yesterday. I guess too fast, too far, too soon.
- 07/11 (43:43)
- 07/12 (43:20)
- 07/13 (45:52)
- 07/14 (53:53)
- 07/15 (50:30)
- 07/16 (45:54)
- 07/17 (30:01) – treadmill
Drink more water. I have NOT been consistent with my water intake. And, I have NOT tracked my water consumption.
Mindful eating. I have avoided dairy, gluten, and added sugar 4 of the 7 days. I did up my veggie consumption and drank my protein shake with tumeric for breakfast (Monday-today).
Keep a JOY journal. I made NO attempt with this habit. AGAIN!
Write a daily to-do list. I continue to write a to-do list daily; however, for the past 7 days, I have written it after my walk, shower, and breakfast. I think I prefer this time. Yesterday, for the first time this month, I completed EVERY task on my list. However, I did not designate times to complete the tasks which I think would help with my daily routine.
Track book spending. I continue recording my book spending. I was not supposed to purchase any books for myself since my last update. On July 13th, I used my free book credit ($5.00) from Thrift Books (before it expired) to buy a used book, Bloodsucking Friends, by Christopher Moore. It cost me 21 cents (for the tax; shipping paid by credit card points), and my year-to-date spending for 2025 is now $621.85.
Declutter/Chores (schedule). I completed chores and did NO decluttering; and, I did NOT create a schedule.
Creative Time/Aims (schedule). I wrote this blog post (8/25) which counts toward my 25 posts I want to write in 2025; however, still NO schedule for scrapbooking or completing my aims for this year. HOWEVER, I did visit the Hammond Farmers & Artisans Market on Saturday morning (2/5 times; #23 on my 25 for 2025 list), and I scheduled a reservation yesterday for my hubby and me to visit the English Tea Room in Covington on August 2nd (#22 on my 25 for 2025 list).
Monitor progress (habits/routines). Out of all my habits and routines I am working on this month, I consistently monitor my daily walks.
Not really sure how to rate the past 7 days. I continue to makes strides with a couple of habits but flounder or have nothing to show with other habits. Maybe I am tackling too many habits at one time? By the next update, I want to (1) do better about monitoring the time I wake up each morning 2) walk a day or two on the treadmill at a slower pace to see if this helps with my right knee issue (3) do better with increasing and keeping track of my water intake (4) stop eating by 6:00 PM (5) start my JOY journal (6) continue my daily to-do list with designating times to complete tasks (7) limit the number of books to buy at the Friends of the Library (FOTL) store this weekend (8/9) start creating schedules for decluttering/chores and creative time/aims (10) continue monitoring habits.
ROUTINES
My morning, weekly, and evening routines have still not been established. Maybe instead of establishing all three routines at once, I focus on my morning routine? I already have some semblance of how I want my mornings to flow and there is a framework of a morning routine, so I feel like it will not take much effort to solidify it.
ATOMIC HABITS by James Clear
Our group, who is reading Atomic Habits, completed Chapter 4 on Sunday, 13 July.
Here are some takeaways from Atomic Habits that resonated with me from that chapter that focused on the Habits Scorecard.
1 – There are no good habits or bad habits. There are only effective habits. That is, effective at solving problems. (page 65)
2 – The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them…Hearing your bad habits spoken aloud makes the consequences seem more real. (page 66)
3 – The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. (page 66) I love that “a habit” could be considered good for one person, but bad for another. It might be effective for both people, but the outcomes will be what is negative or positive.
I actually use the Point-and-Calling strategy when I check to make sure the doors in my house are locked before leaving to go somewhere. Then, I do it again to make sure my garage door has gone down after pulling out the garage while still in my driveway.
As I wrap up this post, I am suffering with hayfever and feeling like I need a nap. I feel like a zombie. I am trying not to be too hard on myself for not accomplishing everything I wanted to accomplish with this challenge since my last update. I must remind myself that I have responsibilities for more than just myself. Since my last update, Andrew and I took care of the title transfer, so he now owns my mother-in-law’s vehicle. We also had a fantastic day hanging out afterwards. I also filled out paperwork and got fingerprinted, so I can volunteer at my friend Kathryn’s two book fairs this year at Holy Ghost School. I am keeping up with chores around the house, taking care of my dogs, walking and reading daily, as well as live streaming twice a week on my Youtube channel. Also, I am spending quality time with my husband whenever possible which I think is important. Spending time with my family and friends is time well-spent. Dear reader, what have you been up to the last 7 days of July? Happiness!
“One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits
The Kat Files 
Hey Kat! You have so many habits to track! Isn’t that one of the things they recommend starting slow with? 😂 But kudos on all the progress. I was wondering, since this is one of the ones that derails me, how you deal with adhoc book spending, like credits and freebies. I consider that non-monetary ‘spending’ is progress, since money is not going out from my account, and money is not going into a new book being made, prompting demand (part of why I track this). How do you make those judgment calls? 💚
You raise a good point with having too many habits to track. That is probably why I am having issues tracking them. However, I also don’t have a good tracking system which emphasizes how unorganized I am right now. I should have taken the time to create a chart instead of keeping track in different places.
As for adhoc book spending with regards to credits and freebies, I do not track, but I really should since I have been utilizing my library more, and I have been taking advantage of free books (Thrift Books) or using credit card points when purchasing books. Maybe, I’ll add that as an aim to my 26 for 2026 List. I’m time-famished, so I can’t go back and track that for this year. I got the idea to keep track of my book spending from my friend Alex. I failed last year, but was determined to keep track this year. My book spending total only reflects the books I buy for myself (not gifts or for family members). Hope that makes sense.
[…] are my times for each walk. If you read my last update, on Wednesday (July 16th), my right knee was feeling weird; not painful but a slight twinge under […]