I’m a little late with this again, but not as bad as last month!
Old Goals
As outlined in October’s Recap, in November I was aiming to:
- finish editing my planner pages so hey weren’t in limbo any more and I could really get into a rhythm of using the Planner
- have 2 Work Days a week for chores, and about 3 Work Nights (12AM) a week for writing
- write to the next point on the story outline OR complete four scenes
I was getting discouraged with my slow progress this month. I have always been a little annoyed by it and irritated that I couldn’t meet my own deadlines, but it was really grating on me this month.
Read on for how November went, or jump down for my December 2020 Goals.
Month Recap
November started out with an incredibly productive day of writing sprints (25 minutes writing, 5 minute break, repeat ad nauseam or until you’re used up all your work time). Once a week I have the afternoon to myself then meet with a writing group in the evening. I intend for my afternoon to be spent writing before the group, but I usually end up completing errands or chores during that time. I had done this enough times to realize that if I was going to get any writing done in those afternoons before writing group, I would have to get out of the house and park myself somewhere that I could only focus on my writing.
I follow Kate Cavanaugh on YouTube, and have heard her talk a lot about writing sprints, I thought I’d give it a try. And it worked really well – with two writing sprint afternoons, and some Work Nights, I was able to complete four scenes and accomplish my writing goal as well as get some writing done for this Blog.
My Planner goal, however, was completely shot. Microsoft Office still wasn’t running on the laptop I’m loaning from the library, and I really didn’t want to format the files in a different program, then waste more hours trying to reformat them to Word later. Sooo, nothing even remotely exciting there.
With my Work Nights and Work Days goal, it was a little strange. I definitely didn’t meet my goal (I might have had two Work Days all month), but my Work Nights seem to be shifting due to a random Work Night lasting until 5AM.
I’ve mentioned before how it is very easy for me to stay up late working, this was a perfect storm of my Night Owl tendencies colliding with a strong productive streak. I leaned into it, and would have happily kept on working if I didn’t remind myself that I needed SOME sleep. I learned that if I’m super cautious and tuned in to how my body is feeling the next day, I can make it through without going crazy or getting a headache. And one night of this is actually more productive than a few 12AM Work Nights, I think this might be because it’s a giant chunk of time – enough to start and finish a project, or to get into the flow of something and not have to cut it off. I should also note that I am currently drafting this at 4:30 AM.
So I ditched the 12AM Work Nights, and looked for what days I would basically pull an all-nighter. As expected, the subsequent 5AM Work Nights didn’t completely go to writing. Some time went to chores, but most time went to an online membership I’m in that focuses on understanding and fostering your child’s learning. Our oldest seems to be wanting more, and I want to feel at least a little prepared, especially since we’re planning on navigating some sort of Unschooling/ Homeschooling approach.
With my focus on the content of this course increasing, my work time consistently being used for things other than writing, and with virtually no progress on my Planner formatting, the slow progress of my writing and how other necessary things keep becoming priorities over my writing, was really highlighted to me. It’s incredibly disheartening to repeatedly schedule time for writing, only to look back on it and realize that hardly any of that time was used for writing. Maybe this is me needing to adjust my priorities, or maybe I just need to be more flexible about it and give myself some understanding. Best laid plans, right?
Either way, I was going to need to shift my goals again. First, I was able to buy a laptop with Microsoft Office, and a printer; I will be able to use both with writing and with Planner formatting. Second, I am adjusting my Work Nights to take advantage of that 5AM productivity. And third, I’m planning on taking January off of writing so I can finally get some reading in (lookin’ at you Legends of the First Empire!). This means that, by the end of December, I really want to have written through a certain scene that basically ends one part of the story and begins another. I’m going to have to really focus to get all that writing done, especially since I know it will take more than four scenes.
New Goals
Here’s what I’m going to be working toward in the coming month:
- at least 1 5AM Work Night a week
- post my backlog of book reviews on the Blog and Goodreads
- write through the Return to City scene
The ordered laptop won’t be arriving until late December or early January, so I’m holding off on trying to work on the Planner until January. And for February, I’m thinking of typing up what I currently have hand written of the story, but we’ll nail that down later.
I clearly haven’t figured out exactly what works for me for writing time yet, seems like it’s going to be a long process of trial and error. I’d love to hear what works for you! If you have a passion that doesn’t directly add to your income or isn’t necessary for your family, how do you allocate your time to work on it?