Remember the goals I outlined in September? Even though it seems like just last week, I have to remind myself almost half of my work time has already passed me by.
It’s been a busy time: I took a solo trip to the beach to read and write. My brother-in-law got married in Florida and we visited family there for eight days. I started writing a new novel and further pondered my desire to create a spin-off app for Order from Chaos.
I set a lot of goals, knowing I probably wouldn’t accomplish all of them. Here’s how I’m doing:
Professional goals
- Decide what to do about Driving Forces and take a first step in that direction.
I thought I’d made a decision — to revise the first three chapters and submit to my writing group in November — until I sat down to do the work. When I opened up the file to look at this manuscript…I was just done. Not resisting-doing-the-work done, but done done. I’ve taken it as far as I can on my own. Because I still believe in the story, I tweaked my query letter a tiny bit and decided to shop it around to agents again. That part hasn’t happened yet. Once I get a solid first draft in on Tilley, I hope to have more time for querying. - Stay active on my chosen social media platforms: Facebook pages, Instagram, and Twitter. Maybe try a few more experiments with Instagram Stories or IGTV.
I’ve been trying to post every weekday on Twitter, Instagram, and my ADHD Homestead Facebook page — and mostly succeeding. I also recorded a video version of a recent ADHD Homestead post. We’ll see if I ever get around to figuring out how to edit it for IGTV. For now, I’m resharing ADHD-related content in my Instagram stories. - Avoid any new social media platforms.
I thought this would be an effortless check in the success column. Not so! I’ve been hearing about Mastodon from a few corners, and when I heard it discussed on the Print Run podcast, temptation rose anew. However, I reminded myself of my goal and forced myself to wait and see (so far). I already have my Mastodon handle, so it’s not like I stand to lose anything by staying away for now. - Do something every month to promote book sales.
Book Club Babble featured me in September and A Dose of Healthy Distraction ran a guest post from me in October. I plan to do some kind of holiday sale/promotion in December. That just leaves November, and I can always do something easy like a promoted post or ad campaign. While I don’t feel like I’m doing enough to promote my book, writing these efforts down makes me feel a little better. - Release a paperback edition of Order from Chaos.
This is a tough one. I’m realizing it breaks my self-sufficiency rule because I’m relying on my husband to typeset the thing. I talked to him about this, and he told me he still wants to do it. If he hasn’t made any progress by December, I’ll have to reassess. - Hit 50,000 words on my new novel.
My word count as of today is around 20,000. To hit 50,000 by December 31, I’d have to average a little over 700 words per day. That’s faster than my current pace of 200-300, but not unattainable. A few high-word-count days here and there would make a big difference. - Pick out a conference or two I want to attend in 2019.
Oh my. I haven’t looked at any conferences yet and I’m kind of overwhelmed by the idea of choosing one. The Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York has been great in the past. However, I also feel like I’ve had less and less to learn from the sessions as years have gone by. I don’t know how to find the best conference for me right now. Advice is welcome! - Take one or two intentional steps to recruit another member to our critique group.
I added a list of member accomplishments to the website and asked a current member about using their connections to put the word out. My blathering on Twitter generated interest from a writer who might sit in on our critique next month. Finding the right members for our little group feels so intimidating, but I’ve definitely taken intentional steps to make it happen. - Choose a conference or residency to apply to that feels like a real stretch.
Whew. What a punch in the social anxiety/imposter syndrome, am I right? I have a bucket list, but a lot of craft-focused residencies and conferences are too long for me right now. I’m not ready to leave my family for 2-4 weeks. But I know that’s no excuse. I could apply to speak at a small conference, but holy crap anxiety.
Personal goals
- Let myself cut loose on my app project.
- Jump into learning Swift.
I signed up for a membership to RayWenderlich.com and have been loving their Swift learning course. Starting the first week my son went back to school, I added programming tasks to my daily habit hearts. I’ve only missed a couple days so far, and I’m having fun. - Take a friend up on a nice offer to chat about my app and give me an idea of what I’m getting into.
The idea of talking to someone with way more experience than I have about this project makes me feel like an interloper. I’m a little surprised at my level of anxiety about this. It’s not like I have a degree in writing, but I’m fine calling myself a writer. My husband and I have had a few nice conversations lately where we just sit around and chat about code. This has been super helpful. Once I have a solid plan for my real app — not the one I’m writing now for funsies — I want to promise myself I’ll seek whatever help/resources I have available to me.
- Jump into learning Swift.
- Plan more than one ski trip for this winter.
To be honest, I spent the first weeks of fall feeling depressed about the weather. Then that doomsday climate change report hit the news and my lust for life really started to fade. Now that we’ve had a few cooler days, I’m starting to have a little hope, even though it’s an El Nino year. This week I priced out some weekend ski trips and looked at my kiddo’s school holiday schedule. We’ll see. - Take two more trips to the beach house.
I spent a little solo writing weekend at the beach at the end of September. I don’t know if I’ll be back before the end of the year. If my writing buddy is available, I’m there. If not, I may skip a second trip alone in favor of taking an extra weekend to work on projects at home. - Keep playing the guitar every day.
I did a fantastic job with this until we went on vacation. I played while we were away, but not daily. Then I had trouble resuming my habit hearts when we returned. This week has felt better, but I still feel the effects in my playing. - Get my money’s worth out of my membership to our local climbing gym.
I went to a few yoga classes, but I haven’t been climbing since school started. I’m bummed and I hope I can get there with the kiddo soon. - Repaint our living room.
Just thinking about this makes me feel bad about myself. - Clean and reorganize my office so it feels better to work in there.
I’m really struggling a lot to pay myself first here. Because it’s “just” my room, I’m still neglecting it in favor of making the rest of the house look nice. I don’t feel great about that. If I want it to change, I’m going to have to dedicate a habit heart to it for at least a week or two.
Here’s my take on my progress: I can split my goals into three parts. One-third are going great, one-third are going okay, and one-third are being completely neglected. I’m not sure how I feel about this, or what it means for my achievements by the end of the year.
Finding balance in a new chapter of my life.
It’s possible I’m trying to do too much. Maybe I can’t expect myself to repaint the house while drafting a new novel. But I made tons of excuses last school year about writing a new book and not getting projects done around the house. I need to either get my butt in gear or hire a painter, and I’m not sure which is the right course of action.
But that brings up a larger point: I’ve been behaving like I have a job, working while my son’s in school. In a way this is great. I’m making a little more money — my business is actually supporting itself — and feeling a little better about my side projects. At the same time, I want to have time for everything. I feel bad about not being more on top of our financial planning or home decor or, I don’t know, my mom’s birthday.
My writing and coding projects are the only ones getting any airtime. I don’t like that, but I also don’t like spending every waking working my butt off. For the first time in my life, I feel like I deserve a little fun. I deserve to play video games on occasion or play a board game with my husband on a weeknight. I need to figure out a way to balance these competing needs and obligations.
Some new (meta) goals.
My first idea: pay for my kiddo to go to aftercare one or two days a week and/or set up more frequent playdates for him. I could use this time to get around-the-house stuff done. While I’m all for teaching children to stay out from underfoot and help around the house, it’s not always practical. An extroverted five-year-old is going to struggle to give me quiet time alone to write. Priming over lead paint isn’t the best all-ages activity. So we’ll see. Whatever I do, I probably have to stop expecting myself to do this much stuff with the time I currently have available.
With that in mind, I’m excusing myself from any expectations of perfection on the list of goals above. And I’m going to set a new goal: I want to do one thing to give myself more time to maintain our household. For the first time, I’m not going to steal from my writing to feed my household responsibilities. I’m going to figure out a way to gain more productive time.
Hopefully I’ll have a positive report on this by the end of the year!
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