2016 intentions | starting new habits

after a few weeks off over christmas and new year (nice to meet you 2016.) I'm really excited about the year ahead!

having some time away from the computer has been really refreshing -it gave me the opportunity to evaluate what makes me happy and what I'd like to achieve in 2016. as cliche as new years resolutions are I still love the ambition behind them, a fresh start is good for the mind and setting yourself goals can be a great way to stay focused.

I have a list of things I want to work on, I like to think of them as intentions rather than targets (I guess I don't like to set myself up to fail.) I'm basically just trying to adopt a few new habits ..sounds easy enough right?

so here are my 2016 intentions!

-start a new morning routine.

get up earlier. this is a big one for me, I started adopting this late last year and it's made a huge difference already. ignoring the snooze button means I have a little time to myself before the day begins. it's been especially great over winter as my day can revolve around shooting when the light is best so being up and organised a few hours earlier means I'm under less pressure. being able to plan my day and tackle my emails before it's bright outside is a huge win. over christmas I abandoned my early starts so now I'm keen to start over as having so many lie in's left me feeling lethargic and unmotivated.

-eat less, move more.

when it comes to my diet I'm just going to focus on portion control not faddy eating. I don't believe in cutting out food groups or making myself miserable- if I go out for a huge meal once a week so be it, that's my treat. on the other days I'll simply be eating in moderation and getting back to a more balanced approach. when it comes to exercise I'm going to stick to a realistic approach- move more. I'll be taking the stairs, walking instead of driving, and setting aside 10-15minutes to work on toning and weights in the morning. simple little changes that I'll incorporate into my daily life that will make me feel a little better.

-have more adventures.

I don't tend to book holidays in advance, instead I love to take lots of shorter trips to give me lots to look forward to over the course of a year. this year the only confirmed trip we have is santorini so I'll soon be getting into city break scouting mode- if you have any suggestions let me know!

-be organised.

over the christmas break I've been on a mission to reorganise my house and my life! in terms of the house- so far so good. we've moved out the old furniture and even cleaned our kitchen cupboards from top to bottom (I won't tell you how many out of date containers of food we found... gah.)

a fresh start feels great and nothing beats the arrival of a new yearly planner, I'm going to keep mine focused on my daily schedule. I've started using the wunderlist app again to help keep me on top of the to do's -from people I need to email, items I need to shoot and even materials I need to order for DIY projects.

-interact more.

I'm a bit of a social media lurker. I often find myself laughing at peoples tweets or admiring a blog post but I don't always let those people know. this is one thing I really want to address in 2016- I'd like to be more active, from posting, commenting or even just hitting the like button.

-blog selectively.

last year I put the focus onto DIY and interior posts on burkatron and immediately felt like I'd found my niche. having such wonderful feedback and seeing people try my projects was inspiring- it pushed me to be more creative and always put a smile on my face. I've always tried to blog about what I'm excited about but occasionally I grew bored of the repetition of outfit posts or painting my nails and cutting back on that content helped me grow this blog in other ways. james and I go for coffee now without having to schedule it around the best lighting/weather/wind conditions. a weekend away doesn't always mean 7 outfit changes and endless photo ops- now I'll only shoot those type of posts when I feel like I want to share them- not because it's expected. this year I intend to continue working on the creative things I love most, DIY's, interior advice and lifestyle posts- maybe even a few recipes along the way!

-be more selfish.

I often find myself running around after people or agreeing to things that leave me stressed or under pressure. I'm really going to try and be firm about my workload and setting periods of time out (be it evenings off or just switching my phone onto airplane mode!) saying no can be a really good thing and it's something I intend to do a little more often.

so those are my intentions for the year ahead- what are yours?

back soon

caroline x

ps. I hope you all had a wicked christmas and happy ny!