ROW80 check-in #13

Another week has said bye, bye. My time management skills are improving, but there are still areas for improvement. A zillion things need to get done everyday and on top we heap on the goals. Is it all a recipe for trouble and stress? Nope, recipe to keep adjusting until we figure it out. If my goals have any hope of completion, I’m going to need to train like an athlete. No, I’m not talking physical fitness. I’m talking about keeping my eye on the ball. Distraction is an evil word and there are many we battle with daily.

In the last few weeks I’ve been taking different approaches to my time management. I seem to be having some success with a certain theory: get a little done all day long. I do a little here…stop…do a littler over there…stop… I think this is working for me, because when I start a new task I’m staying focused. As soon as my focus lapses I get sucked into things that I should not get sucked into. There are not enough hours in a day, but there are 24, and I want to make sure I’m using them wisely.

My problem: it’s easy to get off track, but here is where the training comes in and I will try, try, try again. I’m hoping my goals will get easier over the course of this round. It will be interesting to see how my training goes. How did I do this week? Let’s take a look see

The Goals & week-1 results

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done, easy peasy and effective this week, since I got some needed plotting accomplished
  • Write 2,000 words each week– done! 2,015 šŸ™‚
  • Spend time editing at least 2-times each week– I actually worked on edits 4-days this week
  • Finish reading current craft book and start another– made no progress here, but see the next line
  • Participate inĀ Before You Hit Send Self-Editing Workshop in April– the workshop started this week and so far I’m lovin it!!
  • Turn 2nd-draft chapters to my writer friend for her critique– I did get some editing done this week, but there is much more to do before the 2nd draft is ready. I’m hoping to have a several chapters to her by the end of this round.
  • Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- I got all but one this week. Daily water intake has been spot on, which always helps with the calorie limit and I did get plenty of sleep this week. Unfortunately I fell short on the workout minutes, only getting 160.
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week (the 52-moves isĀ like the ballet bar for Nia lovers): Stepping back onto the ball of your foot: start in Open Stance and keep your head, chest, and pelvis upright. Step directly onto the ball of one foot and keep the heel high. Practice walking around the room, stop, step back onto the ball of your foot. Benefits: improves mobility and stability in the foot and ankle, which helps you move with precision and sensitivity
  • Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)– I made no progress this week 😦
  • Listen to the Nia sound track for the Sanjana routine each week and add Opal when I get to their bars– done
  • Plan out and start participating in the last of my needed continuing education credits for PMP certification– no progress

Progress, but lots of room for improvement. This week I’m going to concentrate on recognizing my lack of focus and attempt to beĀ preemptiveĀ and save some time in the process. I am off and running, which is a good place to start, and did you see I made my word goal!!

I’m going to be gone all day visiting family, but I will be checking up on the other ROW80ers this evening and tomorrow.

Happy Sunday and happy week everyone.

ROW80 -Round 2 2012- The Goals

What’s Row80? A round of words in 80 days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life.

This is my 2nd round of 80-days and this time I’m digging in with both feet and a few other parts too. I actually have other goals in my life besides writing. What did you say, really, you do too? There is no reason to dissect my goals, especially with the ROW80 theme. Besides some shiny new writing goals, I will also be sharing my healthy journey and Nia training goals.

2011 was my year of active change. Not only did I start writing my first serious WIP (the others will go unmentioned), but I started and stayed on a healthy journey and I fell in love with Nia. On April 4th I opened my Simply Sidney blogĀ and a few short months later was introduced to Nia by a fellow blogger. On October 23 I started this blog. Right now SJMaylee is my writing home base, but some day, who knows when, I will be mentioning my published books. In November I took The Nia White Belt TrainingĀ and ever since I have been studying and trying to learn a routine. And there is that Project Management certification that requires me to do continuing education. Lots of stuff going on for sure, but 2012 is a continuation of forward movement.

On a personal front I’m working on my writing chops, my WIP, my health and Nia. On a family front, I’m raising two active little ones, taking care of my husband of 12 years, our home and that evil day job, which can thankfully be done at home. My goals for round 2 will be based on my personal goals, but I will be keeping my family in mind. No crazy bouncing stretches for me, smooth yoga is the way.

We have a life and that lifeĀ nourishesĀ our soul and comes out in our writing. Ah…..feels good.

What does my soul want? It wants to finish a book!

My only goal last round was to spend an hour a day with my characters. Living with my characters keeps them close and talking to me=happy place. Last round I also flirted with a word count goal. No more flirting, it’s time to get serious, but what should the number be? I was handling 2,000 words a week pretty well WHEN I managed my time (ended the round with almost 11,000 words). Some day soon I want my weekly number to be 5,000. I need a challenge right now, not a set-up for failure.

The Goals

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters
  • Write 2,000 words each week or 22,000 for the round
  • Spend time editing at least 2 times each week
  • Finish reading current craft book and start another
  • Participate inĀ Before You Hit Send Self-Editing Workshop in April
  • Turn 2nd draft chapters to my writer friend for her critique
  • Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week
  • Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)
  • Listen to the Nia sound track for the Sanjana routine each week and add Opal when I get to their bars
  • Plan out and start participating in the last of my needed continuing education credits for PMP certification

That’s one long list, especially compared to my list for the 1st round. Well I wanted to get serious. Wonder how drama filled my updates will be? I’m a pretty reasonable person so I hope to get the drama limited or interesting at least šŸ™‚