It’s a new year!
I’m planning my schedule so I can be better about posting here consistently and reach those elusive goals I’ve been dreaming of for years now. I don’t normally make new years resolutions, and I dislike being slave to a strict routine, but as busy as I am and with so much to keep track of, I’m finding it necessary to nail down a schedule so I can get it all done, don’t get overwhelmed, and have time for family, too.
I had such high hopes for the last year.
But things went haywire and it was all I could do to write just a few times a month. I’ve felt like I can barely keep my head above water all year long.
It started out as a great year. I had a story published for the first time in the book Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes which rose to be a top seller on Amazon and won for best new anthology in the San Francisco Book Festival 2015 as well as the Holiday Book Fair 2015! Better yet, proceeds go to animal charities. This month, actually, January 2016, your purchase will help my own local animal shelter, the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter!
[Tweet “For the month of Jan purchases of the book Rescued benefit the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter”]
So the last year was looking fantastic in January! However, a few family members and friends passed away leaving big holes in my heart. And my husband’s old injury had been getting much worse. He already had been unable to work for a year and he had to file for permanent disability. We are still fighting for that, but it’s been a long hard road and he is in so much pain and barely sleeps. I’m caring for him, taking care of kids and home, and had to pick up more work to make ends meet, so I haven’t been able to focus on writing or art as I have wanted.
Every time I think I can’t take one more road block, another challenge gets thrown in our path. Though I still seem to be tumbling down a steep cliff with no end in sight, I can’t continue waiting for things to get better. I still want to get to my goals, so I’m creating a plan to make it happen. I’m listing them here so you can keep me accountable. Thanks!
Goals for 2016:
- Publish children’s books
- Create a new art collection and sell prints
- Blog consistently
- Stick to my schedule
- Add extra silliness in my family life
How will I accomplish these things?
- Recognize that my work of writing, blogging, and art is my career and treat it as a business
- Make writing and creating art a priority and plan time for it
- Stick to the editorial calendar I created for my blogging
- Focus on my goals
- Get up earlier each day and do the major tasks before the easy ones
- Don’t let myself get side tracked (lost in Facebook or Pinterest lands)
- Schedule family time in my planner and add extra silly activities or themes for the day. More laughter during these tough times is a necessity!
I’ve felt like I’m drowning in to-do lists and my attempts at keeping track of all the different jobs, health care paperwork, kids schedules, etc, is next to impossible. I have had no set family time where I can give my kids or my husband undivided attention. So this year I’m starting out with a still very full, but strategically thought out planner. I may have to let much go, but I need to be realistic about what I can fit into each day and be really strict with myself to get to the really big tasks. I love crossing things off lists and I am famous for doing all the small easy tasks first, just so I can cross more off. However, I always end up taking too long or getting distracted, lost in email or researching something I came across, that isn’t productive for the goals I had for that day. It won’t be easy, not at all, but I am determined to succeed.
Do you have goals in mind for this year? Have you created a plan to actually reach them? Share your goals and how you’ll achieve them in the comments!
First of all, I love your 2016 goals! Best of luck in accomplishing them!
I am the exact same way you described when it comes to completing smaller tasks first and leaving the bigger, often more important tasks for last … meaning I don’t end up getting to them and push them off for another day. Let me know if you find the secret to fixing this problem 🙂 It’s something I’m trying to work on in the new year as well!
For one I stopped checking email first thing. That help a lot! It’s never ending. I’m really trying to write most important tasks on the top of my list and do them first before all the smaller things. So far it’s helping me feel more accomplished. Best of luck to you, too!
I am right there with you when it comes to a need for more organization. Last fall, I felt that I was working and not getting anything done because I was disorganized. This year, the goal is to use the planner I bought and find a healthy balance between work, family, and taking care of myself.
I’ve had so many days where I worked for hours, but didn’t accomplish the major things I needed to get done. I need to stop putting busy work first and go straight for the harder tasks. Definitely needed to get organized so I know exactly what I need to do each time I sit down at the computer. A healthy balance is one of my goals as well. I need to schedule family time so they have my full attention.