I’m writing this towards the end of August and I can’t believe that we’re here. At the end of summer and the start of autumn. It feels surreal, and yet here we are. Many of us are planning for new school years, new semesters, whether we’re students or parents, and while I don’t personally need to plan in that kind of sense, I still feel that strange, almost innate desperation to plan and prepare for the cooler weather. I won’t say colder, because we’re not in winter yet, but the nights are surely set to become that little bit nippier, and more than one of us will notice the influx of spiders and other insects desperate to get into the warmth. I hope you have that spider catcher handy!

You may have noticed the nights starting to draw in. Here in the south of the UK, it’s starting to get dark just after 8pm, rather than the earlier summertime of 9:30pm or even 10pm in some places (and even later in others…!).

I’ve already started burning candles and sipping at Chai Tea, donning slightly warmer jumpers – well, definitely one of my most useful cardigans – of an evening. So it got me thinking. It’s about time to start setting autumn goals, isn’t it?

I’ve actually got a lot of plans already set up for the autumn months. October is both The Big Draw and Inktober, so I’m planning on doodling/drawing a day for then and posting my art on my arty instagram @ kandidart. November is National Novel Writing Month, so of course I’m planning on writing stories for then. That, of course, leaves September… and I wonder if that pun is intended? Anyway. I’ve decided to try my hand at some embroidery. It’s a cute little autumnal piece by Oh Sew Bootiful, and I’m really looking forward to starting – the intention is to begin on the 1st September.

So there’s some goals already. But the big question is, have you started thinking about your goals? I mean, the main one really is doing a big clear out before the winter sets in – I always do a Spring Clean, but I also do an Autumn Clean. That’s just one idea…

To help you (and myself of course) to track your goals, I’ve created a simple and straightforward template. It’s got space to track your monthly goals, and another section to write down any monthly explorations. I like to explore somewhere new every month, so it’s nice to have that there.

If you’re not sure on goals to set yourself, I’ve listed ten suggestions below:

• Autumn clear out
• Autumnal walk a week
• Explore somewhere new once a month
• Read a book a week/month (depending on how much you want to read!)
• Learn a new craft
• Write a short story
• Start a journal
• Carve a pumpkin
• Bake/cook a new recipe once a month
• Start a new exercise regime

Now the nights are drawing in, you’ll likely spend more time indoors, so what better time of year to spend that extra time in the home doing something new? Cooking, baking, crafts, even exercise (there’s so much online these days, I mean, I love YouTube). I’ve just signed up to The Body Coach app, so one of my autumn goals is to get into the habit of exercising 5 days a week.

I’d love to know if you’ve already got plans in motion for the autumnal time of year. Share in the comments some other goals you think would be great to do – from smallish things like going pumpkin picking to perhaps taking up the National Novel Writing Month challenge of writing 50,000 words for November.

Have a very happy and fruitful autumn all!

Kate @ Kandid Chronicles x