Checking in for October for my "Designing a Well-Lived Life" blogging. This is about making small changes during the year to make larger changes.

• Administrative focus: Erm, this month wasn't great for that. Work has been pretty hot-and-heavy for me so anything else has been taking a back seat during this time. My lists are stale at best and I need to take some time to go through them and clean them up. This is one area that I'm feeling pretty out of whack.

• Writing more: Started OK but haven't given this any time. I'm going to have to improve my focus on this more.

• Design more: See above. Not much focus here, Not sure what I want to do to change that. Feeling rather over-extended at the moment.

• Programming more: The only programming I've been doing at the moment is work-related programming. Not sure if this will get more focus in the coming weeks, but definitely feeling like I need to give this more attention.

• Getting out of debt: Making small progress here, but mostly because I haven't been spending as much money. Need to get our budget back online. Oddly enough this was a focus area for one of the programs that I'm working through, but I've not given it any focus at all.

• Physical Health: No change. Feeling like this needs some more focus in the coming month.

• Mindfulness: Sporadic at best, though I have been practicing with my work.

• Deeper work: Funnily enough this has gotten more attention because I've been allowing myself more focus while working. This has taken the form of shutting down social media, which has worked to a point (sadly I've also gotten to where I'll start binging on social media to compensate or feel like I'm catching up for lost time. Need to work on letting things be more ephemeral.

Hoping to give more focus to my writing and design in November, and to give myself more chances to write in this blog about my progress. But for now I'm not feeling that great about what I haven't worked on. That said I am practicing with being more mindful about being kind to myself when I feel like beating myself up over these things, and understanding the groundlessness that even the best laid plans aren't necessarily how things will work out.