Ideas

Currently working on:

• Blogging regularly about this list. My first post is here. Also see label Ideas Project. 
• Only necessary phone use from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM every night. I put this into practice the night of Wednesday, July 22, 2015 with help from the BreakFree app.
• Be in bed by 11:00 PM
• Always have a book going (as an alternative activity to using my phone). Also: NYT crossword puzzles. Soft goal to get good enough that I can finish the Friday puzzle.
• Eat less bread, pasta, rice; eat more veggies.

Things to try in the future:
(Each of these will be clarified with more concrete, focused details if and when these are moved to the active list.)

• Cut out processed sugar & other sweeteners from my diet
• Keep my phone in my purse, instead of in my pocket or sitting beside me, with the goal of reducing phone usage. This is directly from Bored and Brilliant challenge numero uno.
• Get out of bed as soon as my body naturally wakes up each morning instead of rolling back over and drifting off. This may eliminate the need for an alarm clock most of the time, especially if I achieve a consistent earlier bed time.
• Set a schedule for various housekeeping tasks, one at a time. In other words, I won't set up a schedule for all housekeeping tasks at once; I'll pick one that is currently neglected and begin doing that one thing on a regular schedule. Cooking, cleaning, and organization topics are all on my radar in this category. First on the list will probably be laundry related.
• Set up and really stick to a budget, including tracking spending to the penny for a while, using YNAB.
• Reaching out more to neighbors and acquaintances, to foster a tone of openness and friendliness in my community. Not sure how to implement this one. Might start with making myself say "hello" out loud, clearly and with eye contact, any time I'm out working in the yard or taking a walk or run, to anyone passing by. This idea comes from a recent podcast, I don't remember which, that reported Americans as touching other people much less than most other cultures, and speculating this may be correlated with higher rates of depression and who knows what else. While I don't think I can just start hugging every person I see, I think making verbal contact and eye contact may be a good place to start.
• Moving my body every single day, either by walking or running, or at least by doing a few minutes of stationary exercise inside. I only wear comfortable, flat shoes 99% of the time, so I should be able to get outside and walk a mile even if I'm still dressed for work.
• Pay attention to my house every single day. Even if I spend just five minutes tidying a small area, do something.