It’s been a long time since I did a random chatty post. I mean of-course I host the #ChattyBlogs linky every single month, but if you’ve noticed, it’s never a random ramble-y post. I almost always focus on a particular topic, whether it is about me going through the blogger version of an existential crisis, or me updating you guys on the mid-year status of my reading goals, or even my thoughts on Unhauling Books and Indian authors in American libraries.
I don’t really have an excuse for this except that this is just the way I’m wired. For reasons I don’t completely understand myself, I always have to have a ‘topic’ to blog about, else I worry that I would ramble on, like I am doing now, explaining to you why I don’t want to ramble. Sigh.
But you know what? I do enjoy reading more personal posts, which are not about any one thing in particular, but just about random stuff in the person’s life. It gives me a sneak peek into the person behind the blogger, and it helps me to connect with them.
Also I’m not sure if many of you know this, but this was the main reason why the whole #ChattyBlogs thing was born in the first place. I wanted to do more chatty/personal posts on the blog, but I couldn’t convince myself to just write a post that wasn’t about a darn ‘topic’, so Chatty Blogs was my way of giving the rambles a ‘structure’ so to speak. I know it’s such a Type A thing to do, but hey that’s me.
Anyway, like I was saying, I was forcing myself to write more chatty posts, which worked, but I still never got to writing more personal posts. So I thought that’s what I’d do this month. A chatty catch-up over (virtual) coffee post (just like old times) about some random things in my life.
Eternal state of busy
My life, at the moment, is kinda busy, but that’s pretty much my default state these days. It always seems like at any given point of time, I have a million different things to do, mostly because I am simultaneously working on 2-3 unrelated projects outside of my full time job, household chores & spending time with my family.
Of-course this is all a choice, but it still makes me feel like I’m constantly being pulled in many different directions.
Some months/years back, this used to completely overwhelm, and even cripple me, which resulted in me procrastinating the things that were important to me, like my food blog for instance.
But more recently I have figured out a way to deal with this, which is basically a time/project management system that actually works for me. No, I still don’t get everything done all the time, but I don’t even try to do that anymore.
For now, if I am able to get some tasks done, so that things move ahead in the right direction, without compromising on my sanity, or time with my family, I consider it a success.
Of-course, very soon, I would need to pick up the pace on some of these projects. But for now, I am trying to focus on one day, one month, or actually one quarter at a time.
Quarterly goals
Speaking of which, I have to say, that doing the Quarterly Goals Series on the blog has been one of my best decisions this year. Setting/tracking my personal goals on a public platform has held me accountable to the things that are important to me.
I know it sounds kinda ridiculous. One would think that if things are really important to people, they don’t need external motivation to actually do them. Not true. I personally need all the motivation I can get, and trust me, fear of public humiliation is a very strong motivator.
This is not to say that I always achieve all my goals every quarter. Actually if you’ve been following my Quarterly Goals Series, you know that I have pretty much equal number of hits & misses.
But for me, the real value of this series has been in the fact that it has ensured that my goals stay on top of my mind through the quarter, ’cause I know that, come end of quarter, I will have to do a post on my progress.
And while it’s extremely easy to give excuses to myself, it’s kinda difficult to share those excuses on a public platform.
Because for some strange reason, the same excuses that sound perfectly logical in your mind, when you are only giving them to yourself, sound super lame when you are writing them down in a blog post.
To give you a specific example – in my quarterly goals, for fitness, I typically have a step count goal. And trust me, when I am the only recipient of the excuses, I have hundreds of perfectly reasonable excuses to give myself as to why I cannot/couldn’t do the steps on any given day. But I can’t really share them in a blog post, because when I start putting them down in writing, I can’t even sell them to myself.
My Fitbit wasn’t charged today. (It get’s fully charged under an hour, and battery lasts for a whole week, so..)
My Fitbit isn’t waterproof. I removed it while washing dishes & forgot to put it back on. (Memory tablets, anyone?)
I’m tired to walk today. I have had a difficult day. I ‘deserve’ the rest. And anyway, walking is overrated. (Yeah, right!)
So I’m sure you guys see why the Quarterly Goals system has been working so well for me. But there is a reason I am sharing this with you today.
A Quarterly Goals Link-Up, anyone?
Over the past 9 months, almost ever since the first Quarterly Goals post went live, but more so during the recent Quarterly Goals updates, there have been many of you who were interested in taking this up, and while you can really start this on your own at any time, and customize it to your needs (which is what I urged many people to do), I realized that some of you wanted a linky of sorts, so that there is accountability, and it’s streamlined for whoever wanted to participate/join in, and we can all motivate each other.
Now this is fine by me, and I can certainly host the quarterly linky too. But if I do it, then I will have to change a couple of things on my end. For instance, as of now I am posting my Quarterly Goals posts any time once the new quarter starts. But if this is made into a linky, then I guess I’ll have to stick to a set schedule for hosting the linky, and work out some other details too.
So firstly I would like to know how many of you are interested in this. IF there are enough people interested, then here is what I propose (I am just thinking aloud here, so feel free to share your thoughts/ideas/suggestions in the comments) –
I will have the Quarterly Goals linky live on the first day of the new quarter. On this linky, you can share your update posts from the past quarter, your goals for the new/upcoming quarter, or both, or both of these things could be in the same post, do whatever floats your boat.
I personally do 2 posts every quarter. One is an update of how I did on my past quarter’s goals. This is the post that will go up first, on the first day of the next quarter, and this will be the post that hosts the linky. My next post will be my goals for the new quarter, and that one, I’ll come back and link up once it’s live.
These are just my thoughts on how I can incorporate this (IF we decide to do it), but feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments. I would love to hear from you guys.
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The #ChattyBlogs Linky: A monthly linky which goes up on the first Sunday of every month, and is open for 2 weeks.
Here’s how it works:
- Write a chatty/rambly post – it could be a deep, thought-provoking one or even a random ramble. No judgement here.
- At the bottom of your post – add the #ChattyBlogs badge, and link to this post (which hosts the linky) to encourage other bloggers to join in.
- Add your link to the #ChattyBlogs linky.
- Visit and comment on the fellow bloggers’ post in the linky.
- Enjoy!
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Note: I have created a twitter handle for ChattyBlogs & registered the actual hashtag #ChattyBlogs. So, when you do write and link up your posts, please do use the hashtag & I will be sure to RT & share it.
You can also connect via the Chatty Blogs Facebook Page, on which I will be sharing all the posts that are linked up every month.
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Sudhir Chauhan
nice article….. its very important to have goals…. this keeps us disciplined and provides us direction….. a little planning always helps…..
Shanaya Tales
That’s very true. Thanks for stopping by and reading. 🙂
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Akshata
Now thats quite a thing- putting your goals out in public and making yourself accountable. I like the idea. As a person I am self disciplined and make sure I come out with tangible goals and work towards them. They are however more to do with my job and with my writing. I need some for fitness and as a mum. I would have loved to join but I will be travelling in a fortnight and its a trop for 2 months – I should be thinking about travel goals now! I would love to join once I am back. BTW Shantala love your random ramblings! keep them coming
Shanaya Tales
Thank you so much, Akshata. Glad you like them. 😀 I’ll look forward to you joining in after you are back. 🙂
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Aesha Shah
I need to set goals for myself too. I want to work hard on my blog and become disciplined in writing. B/eing a stay at home mom, I have lot of time for myself after my daughter leaves for school so now I plan to use it productively.
Shanaya Tales
That’s awesome, Aesha. I was a stay-at-home mom too, when I started this blog. It was meant to be a creative outlet of sorts, but it turned into so much more over the years, that I am grateful that I thought to start a blog in my free time.
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Avada Kedavra
Same here. Life has been really stressful. Hardly find time to blog or even read these days. 🙁 Would love to see your youtube channel and foodie blog up. Your quarterly goals are inspiring. Hope to do something similar at least in 2018.
Shanaya Tales
Thank you. I’ll look forward to it. 🙂
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keerthi vydyula
I do not know if its odd but i feel tiresome when i am not busy! With a lot on plate this month to get done with i surely have a lot to think of. This post indeed reminded me to gear up quickly 😛
Shanaya Tales
Oh I wish there were times like that for me. I feel like I’m eternally busy, and on days when I feel like I have nothing to do, I am pretty certain I am forgetting something, something big. 😀
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Shilpa Garg
I am smiling at “giving the rambles a ‘structure’”. I think I can ramble on and on about things around me till the cows come home. In fact most of my posts are just that. 😀
Busyness… Ah! This has become the buzz word of our lives!! We all have so much on our plate and are pulled in multiple directions. But we truly need to work on prioritization. I like the idea of your quarterly goals. They simplify the challenge and are easy to track too.
Shilpa Garg recently posted…Take a Minute, Change a Life #SuicidePrevention
Shanaya Tales
Yeah, that is exactly what appeals to me about this too. When I break down the tasks, and prioritize, it is almost like a mental declutter which helps me focus.
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Rachna
Being busy is not such an enjoyable feeling. I sometimes feel that I have so much that is not in my control. And then I just take off maybe to a closeby place or spend time on my favourite teleseries. I guess, we all need to find these little oases of peace every few days. Take some time out and don’t be so hard on yourself.
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Shanaya Tales
Yeah, very true, I do that too these days. I take time out, even when I feel like I have a lot to do. Because the reality is that I always have a lot to do. I am currently binge-watching a show on Netflix, and it’s my favorite way to de-stress and relax these days. 🙂
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Minakshi bajpai
Great post. I am impressed how you penned down this in funny way. As a working mom theres always a lot of pending work waits for me but I always make excuses for doing them on time. Still you are doing great dear. And this quartly goal concept sounds great and interesting
Shanaya Tales
Glad you like it, Minakshi. Hope you are able to participate. 🙂
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lisa thomson
Nice to hear what you’ve been up to, Shantala. The quarterly goals link up isn’t something I can participate in at this point in time. It’s certainly a great idea though and I’m sure there will be tons of interest in it. You’re so right about writing and publishing goals making them more likely to be accomplished. I hope to join in at some point.
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Shanaya Tales
I’ll look forward to it, Lisa. 🙂
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Tarang Sinha
I like it when you say, ‘Giving the rambles a ‘structure.’ It’s not an easy thing to do. 🙂
I can set a writing/reading goals, but I feel both inspired and nervous when it comes to fitness goals. I fail miserably. This sounds a good idea. It would be motivating, I think. 🙂
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Shanaya Tales
Glad you like it, Tarang. I feel (to begin with) you should only set goals in areas you are comfortable with. You can always challenge yourself later. No point setting goals in areas that stress you out. It will defeat the whole purpose of the exercise. 🙂
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SHALINI BAISIWALA
Oh my woman you need a break from it all 😉 I think you are being too hard on yourself. I too make excuses to myself to not get up and go for a walk but I have promised myself 15 days in a month of exercise and try to reach that goal. I am damn lazy and these days becuase of thyroid, super tired too!! My weight has zoomed up a lot and its worrying me no end but I have to take baby steps as I cant stretch myself too much! So baby steps and revel in doing them!
I am very bad a doing goal realted posts – I will forget half the time to do it or even write it down 😉 But I love reading yours as it motivates me to think about structuring my things to do like that too! 🙂
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Shanaya Tales
Yeah baby steps are the way to go, Shalini. I believe that is true for any goal we set. And it’s also important to give ourselves some grace and not be too hard on ourselves.
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Nabanita Dhar
Ahh, don’t even get me started on busy! I crave for doing random things which I just don’t seem to find the time or energy for anymore doing all that I have to do. Sometimes I wonder what the hell am I really doing if I have no time to breathe! I guess that’s where blogs and reading blogs such as yours help me 🙂
And I love your quarterly goals posts, a good way to keep track of all that you need to do
Nabanita Dhar recently posted…Practicing Gratitude
Shanaya Tales
Yay! I am glad you like the idea of a quarterly goals linky. We can all cheer each other on, as we work towards our goals, in the final lap of 2017. 🙂
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Sanch @ Sanch Writes
Busyness seems to be the norm these days…not sure what’s happening to all of us. Sigh. I love your quarterly goals and I think a link up would be great. It might make me start to hold myself a bit more accountable as well.
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Shanaya Tales
I am so glad you like the idea of a link up. I’ll definitely keep you posted on when it’s up. 🙂
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Vasantha Vivek
I too being bitten by busy bug now a days. So much on my plate. But I enjoy that quite well. Happy to join with for #ChattyBlogs !!!
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Shanaya Tales
Glad to have you here for Chatty Blogs, Vasantha. Thanks for joining in every month. 🙂
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Shilpa Gupte
Ramblyyyyy! 🙂
Shantala, I think you really deserve a break, every once in a while. Don’t overwork, dearie. Do things that make you “want” to do them, not “have” to do, okay?
When I read your posts, I feel like you are sitting here, across from me, and chatting with me…pouring your heart out..that’s how I felt just now!
<3
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Shanaya Tales
I am so glad to hear that, Shilpa. That is how I feel when I write these posts, like I am talking to a friend. So I am happy to know it comes across that way too. Thank you so much for letting me know. 🙂
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Damyanti
We’re all leading stressful lives with too many things to do, with too little time. Kudos to your for persisting with your goals, despite all the demands upon your time and energy.
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Shanaya Tales
Thank you, Damyanti. 🙂
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Ramya
I have too many things on my plate these days, but I am fine with making a little progress than none. So, somehow pushing through it but not beyond limits. Regarding Quarterly goals, I cannot work on this concept for reading books because if I put goals, it might become stressful to finish on time and I might miss the enjoyment of reading. But, when it comes to my professional goals, I think, I need that push and stress 🙂
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Shanaya Tales
Yeah, if reading goals stress you out, you can skip them. After all these goals are meant to organize our priorities and reduce stress, not induce it.
And you are right, some progress is better than nothing. So these days, as long as I am moving, and in the right direction, I’m not too hard on myself.
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Obsessivemom
You’re funny, you know – to want to structure a ramble! You really are handling a lot of things – I find myself overwhelmed with even simple routine tasks of late. Think I need a long long vacation. I give myself the same excuses that I hear you giving yourself. Most of the time it’s that last one – that I deserve the rest. A quarterly goal linky sounds good to me.
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Shanaya Tales
That’s great. I’ll make the fourth quarter goals post into a linky, so we can all share our goals, and cheer each other on, in the final lap of 2017.
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