I finally have a chance to sit down and write this month’s blog post as it has been an incredibly busy few weeks for me. Between the demands of my job, my household duties, and taking care of my children, I simply haven’t had the time to write until now that my husband is away on business trips. Despite all that, I can finally sit my butt down and write this blog post. I am working tomorrow so I don’t know when there will be time to draft a blog post for the monthly goals I have for May 2023.
Surprisingly, I managed to stay productive with my writing habits this past month in spite of being away in Singapore for the first two weeks of April 🏝️ It wasn’t until April 17 that I got back into the swing of things and started writing blog posts and Medium articles again. Unfortunately, I have limited time and energy now that Becca is at school and I am back at work every. single. week (Friday – Sunday). I apologize for any delays in responding and I’m doing my best to use my free time to catch up. Thank you for understanding.
More Articles for You to Read 📖
On Medium (@sereneluna), I have the freedom to express my honest and sometimes controversial opinions regarding topics related to freelancing, entrepreneurship, and other fields (eg. what defines a toxic person?) that I may not be able to write about on my blog. I’m not an entrepreneur, but I still find practical advice from successful entrepreneurs helpful for personal development. Listening to podcasts hosted by successful entrepreneurs and life coaches is a great way to gain valuable insights.
Here are the Medium articles that I posted during the month of April, which doesn’t include the articles I already uploaded on this blog. For those of you who are members on Medium, if you click on the links below and read these articles, I will earn a small commission to help fuel my steeped tea addiction. Thank you, in advance! ✌️💕
Medium Article Links:
1️⃣ Related Article: Somebody Cut You Out of Their Life, Now What?
2️⃣ Related Article: Stop Dabbling and Start Winning at Life
APRIL GOALS 2023
Career Goals:
- Prepare to go back to work next weekend Yes, I went back to work on April 22nd, and I haven’t had to call in sick yet *knock on wood* As stated above, I work Friday – Sunday (evenings).
- Catch up on work emails I am still catching up on emails. There have been lots of changes at work, so I have been receiving a lot more emails than usual.
- Reorganize backpack + print notes I do this on a weekly basis and will reorganize my backpack tonight. I have already printed my notes.
Personal Goals:
- Publish 1-2 blog posts + monthly recap I uploaded more blog posts this past month than I usually do. In total, I uploaded 4 blog posts in April! I think that is a new record for me 🙂
- Publish 1-2 articles on Medium + share articles on blog I have yet to share the Medium articles on this blog. Is anyone interested in these articles?
- Write an article about Medium 1-month trial experience Since Medium traffic in April was at an all-time low, I didn’t think many people would read my post so I wrote a rough draft of it on my phone. It’s possible that I’ll upload it at some point though.
- Keep tabs on doctor’s appointments/pending appointments Despite my enthusiasm for tracking habits, I haven’t taken the time to use my fancy planner this year. I’m still using my basic one, and I’m not sure why I haven’t been more diligent when it comes to staying organized.
- Daily Duolingo practice + weekly friend quests I made it to Diamond League and am back to grinding for XP on Duolingo! *grumbles* I simply don’t benefit from learning German if I am not grinding for XP and competing in the leagues.
Health Goals:
- Treadmill on days I am not working + upload progress Nope, this did not happen. I have given up on the treadmill because my clothes are fitting tight again and I feel like crap. I figured that I need to focus on my diet and hydration right now.
- Limit drinks to water, tea, and coffee I drank whatever I wanted in Singapore, which included a lot of sugar cane juice! When I returned home, I went back to drinking water, tea, and some coffee.
- Track steps on Pikmin Bloom app By default, this app tracks my steps. I wasn’t too active with the social aspect, so I didn’t really plant virtual flowers. That being said, I still use the app on a daily basis.
- Healthy/clean eating 80% of the time My diet suffered A LOT during the month of April. I felt so dehydrated and gross by the end of April but I couldn’t go back to eating a high carbohydrate diet. I was feeling the adverse effects of consuming too much sugar from all the fruits and snacks I was eating, so I decided to switch to a more intuitive way of eating. As a result, my body naturally gravitated towards intermittent fasting (IF), which is similar to what I used to do years ago before IF was popular.
(っ◔◡◔)っ FYI: If you’re not already following me on Twitter (@serene_hilz), I’m tracking my health & fitness progress, and you can get real-time updates about my day-to-day life there.
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P.S. As a special celebration for the 7th anniversary of my blog, I am holding a giveaway exclusively for my Canadian readers! If you live in Canada and already following my blog, you need to act fast – the deadline to enter this giveaway is May 22. I’ll announce the lucky winner on this blog so make sure to watch this space!
➤ Click here to enter the giveaway
Thanks for stopping by! ♥
Sereneluna 
I literally have a toxic relationship with leagues on Duolingo so I turned them off. Fortunately I still go on there and study but it’s too much to do leagues because I feel like I’m playing more to win than learn.
On topic, your goals are so well organized and have so much thought to them. What kind of career do you have?
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This 🙌 I feel this. I ended up going private and quitting the leagues just to get some peace of mind, but then I lost interest in Duolingo altogether and was doing the absolute bare minimum to keep the steak going 😅 I wasn’t learning much German at all. So then I came back and I got suckered into the leagues again 🙄 At least I’m practicing German a lot on my days off! I try not to cheat on the lessons unless I have to write out the entire sentence because I can’t write German to save my life (and always get those sentences wrong). What language(s) are you learning?
Thank you for your kind words. I tend to get overwhelmed if I don’t write down my monthly goals. I’m terrible at keeping a planner but at least these blog posts are always here. If I forget what I’m supposed to be doing, I can revisit the monthly goals and stay on track. I forget things a lot and lose interest in things very quickly. Uploading my progress to Twitter has also helped a ton with keeping myself accountable.
I am a registered nurse (RN). This weekend, I’ll be working evenings Friday – Sunday.
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Oooo.
And omg you’re smart smart! A RN? Dang!
I am currently learning French and Italian and I got between trying to study Spanish, French, Portuguese (I like the European one but both European and Brazilian), and Italian. I end up taking too long of breaks!
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You can see me practice French and Spanish on my blog I recently posted.
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That’s a lot of languages you’re studying. I saw your blog post and didn’t understand any of it lol I’m terrible at languages 😆
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😂😂 I’m good with languages, but I’m lazy so unless I study, I don’t get anything.
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Amazing
Great post! It’s impressive that you were able to stay productive with your writing habits even while away in Singapore. My question is, how do you balance your various responsibilities while still finding time to write and maintain your blog? Do you have any tips for staying disciplined and focused?
Jessica Dunne
BeFitandHealthy.net
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Thank you so much for your kind words! I’ve been away for the last few days. In Singapore, I didn’t do any writing at all but got back into writing after we went home.
Great question! During the week, my husband travels for work. And when he does, that’s when I can sit down and finally write. I also try to write when my daughter is at school. Whatever little time I have, I try to spend it maintaining this blog. I also try to limit other social media platforms, so it’s just this blog, Medium, and Twitter that I’m active on. That helps me cut down on distractions and stay focussed on the important things. Hope that helps! 🙂
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You are way too organized for me. Lol. Hope you have a good weekend working.
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Thank you lol tbh I don’t think I’m that organized but writing out my goals helps a lot. Also, using the same template month after month helps too.
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👍👍
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I get what you mean about Duo, I find that the competition keeps me going and it keeps me on the right track. Otherwise, I get lazy lol. Intermediate fasting is really beneficial for many so good luck with that. I think it’s a great way to decrease calories, give your stomach a rest and eat better overall. Hope you achieve all your goals in may.
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I agree, Pooja! Private mode did not work for me because I got too lazy. But I find the Duo leagues aren’t perfect either. For instance, I find myself grinding for XP (this week, for example) and I don’t like grinding. At the end of the week, at least I know I tried my best. It sucks that I don’t have time to practice Friday – Sunday and the leagues reset Sunday evening.
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True, it’s sort of a catch-22 but for me the leagues is the lesser of two evils.
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If I didn’t have to grind for XP and spend hours on Duolingo, I think it would be more enjoyable. I just want to finish the diamond tournament, at least 💎
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And yes, I agree. Private mode wasn’t fun at all so I ended up switching it back lol
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Well…. Good luck for may! 🙂🙏🏼
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There’s a lot for you in may I guess.
But yes, take care of your health 🔆
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