April was an incredibly busy month! While I feel very accomplished in everything that I did manage to do, I only met some of my April goals. Take a look at what I did and did not complete last month.
April Recap:
For my blog:
- A big shoutout to my friends Dana, Amanda, Kelly, and Carolynn for piloting my sponsorship program. I definitely learned a lot this month–like don’t go on semi-vacation the last week of a sponsorship agreement. I also realized I was a little idealistic to think I could code everything myself and keep up with that. I’ve signed up with AdProval to manage my sidebar ads. It’s not too late for YOU to buy an ad! Use code MAY for 15% off a medium or large ad (small ads are available for swapping!).
- I actually posted three times to The Huffington Post in April, although none of them brought me the expected page views. I have a few plans for May that should increase my page views and readership.
- I know stats aren’t everything, but I was disappointed in my slight drop from March to April. My March stats were just over 10,000 page views, but my April stats were just under 9,000 page views.
- I only planned out my editorial calendar through June 12th… but I did plan out a weekly post through the middle of August. So that sort of evens out. Plus I have a great new idea for a blog series which means I need to adjust my May editorial calendar anyway.
For my health:
- My MRI is scheduled, but not my colonoscopy. I plan on scheduling that today, though! I ran into the roadblock of needing to arrange other people to drive me to these appointments, or having Dan take off work. So that delayed scheduling things.
- I spoke with my gastroenterologist on the phone, but he agreed that I don’t need to seem him again until after my MRI and colonoscopy.
- I’ve been very good about taking my prescriptions and vitamins daily.
- I was amazing at going to bed by 10:30pm and waking up by 7:15am about 75% of the time. On weekends, I slept in until about 8am. At the beach last week, unfortunately, I was up until midnight most nights.
For my marriage:
- I was definitely patient with Dan, but honestly, he’s been such a supportive husband lately that he hasn’t tried my patience!
- Okay, we didn’t have Date Night every single week, but we spent quality time together all month. Our date at the gun range was pretty amazing, and I loved our romantic walk on the beach last week.
https://instagram.com/p/18TYl-Lo9Q/
For our household:
- Wow, I was ambitious in my goals for April! We definitely still have boxes of books, boxes of clothes, boxes of office stuff, and who knows what else left to unpack. Yes, Dan and I have made considerable progress, but the boxes still exist.
- Again, I was really ambitious for my goals! My home office is definitely coming along. Dan built me a beautiful desk, and we bought a beautiful office chair for me. That said, we still have boxes left to unpack. Our bedroom has the furniture mostly organized, but I am undecided on where to hang the art. Plus we still have boxes in here!
https://instagram.com/p/1MEajAro8p/
May Goals:
For my blog:
- Fix my Google Analytics code. This is a problem that just showed up last week, and I’m trying different things to fix it. For now, though, a lot of my pages are missing the code.
- Get my first paid sponsors (or find new bloggers interested in swapping).
- Clean up my Pinterest boards. I’ve slowly started changing my board names and deleting old pins that are unattractive or didn’t receive any repins.
- Plan out my editorial calendar through August, with no more than 3 scheduled posts each week.
For my health:
- Have my MRI, colonoscopy, and follow-up appointment.
- Continue with current prescriptions and vitamins until any changes at my follow-up appointment.
- Continue my sleep schedule. Go to bed by 10:30pm and wake up by 7:15am.
- Practice self-care to ward off stress.
For my marriage:
- Thank Dan regularly for everything he does for me, big and little.
- Do what I can to alleviate his stress.
- Do at least one social activity with new people.
For our household:
- Meal-plan every week.
- Make dinner 5 nights a week.
- Keep up with the laundry.
- Clean all the bathrooms. (No, this hasn’t been done since we moved in, since we either haven’t found or need to buy more cleaning supplies).
- Unpack all of my clothes.
- Decorate my new bookcase.
Once again, Dan and I have a lot going on this month, so hopefully I devised reasonable goals.
There will be one major change in our lives halfway through the month. This will result in a new category of monthly goals! I’m not sure when exactly I’ll announce it, though. More needs to be done first.
The last weekend in May, I reunite with Amelia, Jessica, and Chantal for Chantal’s wedding! Dan and I will fly into Montreal for a long weekend. While I’m most excited about being with my best friends for the first time since July 2010, I’m also looking forward to exploring Montreal. I’ve never been there before!
What are your goals this month?
I’m curious – what do you use to measure your page views? Google Analytics or another tracker?
I use WordPress stats and Google Analytics. I actually think WP stats are more accurate because they automatically filter out referral spam, whereas I’ve had to set up multiple filters in GA against referral spam. GA is handy for understanding things like audience behavior, search terms, CTRs, etc. But like I said, my tracking code messed up recently (I use the Yoast plugin), and I’m trying to figure out how to fix it. The problem is I have to wait 24 hours each time I make an update to see if that worked, because it takes that long to update with GA.
I enjoyed your goals! Nice job meeting your wakeup & bedtime goals. I failed desperately at that one last month. 🙂
Nice cliffhanger on your new goal category! I’m curious.
Good luck getting your calendar scheduled out through August. I could never meet that goal!! Here are my May Goals: http://www.morningmotivatedmom.com/may-goals/
Changing my sleep habits has made a HUGE difference in my energy levels. I was always getting 8+ hours of sleep each day, but I still felt exhausted each morning.
I’m sooooo excited about that cliffhanger, too. I told my parents last week. Today I received a note of encouragement from my best friend (who I told right after telling my husband). I’m dying keeping it offline for now, but SOON.
I like how you divide up your goals – it makes it concise and gives an organized plan to tackle them. In regards to blog analytics, they will be the death of me. I have learned that they are important to keep track of, but boy can it get easy to obsess over them!
Small goals mean I’m more likely to do them… or at least try to do them.
I try not to obsess over my blog stats, but I need more consistency for when I re-apply to programs that pair up bloggers with brands. Plus Google Analytics totally suck me in with all the good information I can glean. I recently followed advice by Neil Patel to go through my landing pages and my search queries to put together a spreadsheet of how I’m ranking and converting for certain keyword phrases. I found a few posts that I can improve to make them more appealing in search results. Now if only I could find the time to improve them…
I really like that you separated the goals! Makes it more streamlined! I try not to worry too much about the stats in the warmer months. I think that most people are like me, and itching to get outside and enjoy warmer weather so they don’t read blogs as much!
I figure multiple parts of my life could use some work, so I try to set a few small goals in each main area.
Oooh…I think you just inspired a future goal for me with this list–I need to bring more socialization with other people into our marriage. I would love to help alleviate my husband’s stress, too, but sometimes it’s hard to know HOW! Great goals!
Yes! It can be so easy to be content in a little perfect cocoon of marriage, but we need friends too. It’s hard since we just moved. We were very social back in Ohio. But the effort will be worth it!
I agree with @sharleehatch:disqus! I love that you’re making it a goal to socialize with other people. I think I need that goal for this month because with the baby, it seems easier to just do things on our own.
Thank you! I think people will understand if you hibernate for a month or two. Newborn babies are exhausting!
These are some great (and ambitious) goals! I believe I’ve helped you with the paid sponsors one… 😉 And thanking your husband is so important. I don’t think any of us do it enough!
Awwwwwww THANK YOU! Seriously, you made my day!
Hello Brita,
I need to figure out this blog analytics thing out myself I keep seeing a difference between that and my wordpress stats, but my goals for the month are sending out more pitches and organizing my time more efficiently between business, blogging, and family. Thanks for sharing #turnituptuesday #pinned
Assuming your GA stats are higher than your WP stats, the WP ones are more accurate. It took me awhile to figure out how to set up a filter for the ip address that produces a LOT of referral spam. Now my stats between the two are pretty close.
Where do you pitch? Do you pitch for paid publications, or for guest posts with links? Inquiring minds need to know!
I love this idea! I usually just make goals for myself every year, but I usually lose track of them and forget. I’m going to start my monthly goals now!
clean the bathroom #FTW It’s my most hated house chore to think about doing, but literally takes 5 min-15 min depending and is so rewarding 🙂
Great goals! I’ve been trying to set more realistic goals and I find those are easier to achieve and less likely to make me upset when I can’t.
I like how you do goals and recaps each month — that’s such a great way to keep on track and get things done!
I’d love to swap ads with you if you’re interested! Way to go on accomplishing so much! I really need to schedule a colonoscopy myself but I hate how I lose two work days (one for prep and one for the day of) unless I prep on Sunday which is THE WORST. But staying well is important!