My first normally scheduled week in weeks. What a relief. The first real test of my new plan, hard stuff first. I started the week diving into edits and the notes from my lovely beta reader and I sprinkled in several things that I usually push till the end of the week. Did I feel more on top of my list? Did I feel less stress?

Typical things happened this week. I started out strong, the week got away from me at the 3/4 point, and I struggled in the end. Apparently, pacing is not just for your prose. For week 7, I’m going to work on hard stuff first and forward movement all week long.

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $40.71) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 (total so far: $4.29)

The Goals – week-6 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- a couple ideas are brewing, but I’m not going to rush it.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- last week I was short by 1,295 words and this week I was short by 843 words. Better, but still a miss.
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- I spent 6-days editing this week.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I got through a giant chunk of my beta’s notes this week. Next week I hope to finish those notes and start another read through.
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- got some new inspiration this week and made more progress on the query.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- I’ve been saying all along: at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August. Mid-August is almost here. Shazbot! I still have about 6800 words to go.
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- a whole chapter and then some, I’m so close to done I can feel it.
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Downward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, down, and out, blocking the area in front of your groin. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I added the movement notations to the bars I documented last week and made my mirror notes. One more song and I’ll be in the cool down cycle!! I also did a couple of practice teaches on the first 6-songs this week. Each week I’m getting more comfortable.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- I have two books to read under the self-directed learning category to finish my PDUs and I’m almost done with the the first.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- one parent meeting, a small deposit, wrote a couple of checks and created/sent one invoice. Easy peasy, done.

I’m hoping we all have a nice smooth week, daily progress full of writing and loads of fun.

Two weeks into the new plan, get the hard stuff done first. Did this week go as well as last? I was out of town for 3-days, did I let go of the rules and just try and make the best of it? Totally. By the time I got home and back on track with the evil day job the week was almost over. Did I get anything done?

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 13-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $6.96 (total so far: $33.75) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.54 🙂 (total so far: $3.75)***

The Goals – week-5 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- It’s time to listen to my instincts here. I have not been able to say this is done, because the titles I’ve picked aren’t sitting right with me. They feel boring. Maybe they describe the theme of each book, but my gut says that’s not enough. So, it’s back to the drawing board. The decision might be a step back, but this will lead to the final step forward.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- not done, I added 1,705 this week. ***I’m considering offering myself a make-up. If I write a total of 6,000 words between week 5 and 6 I’m going to call both weeks good and money in the Wardrobe jar.***
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- this goal got another pass this week, but this will be the last pass. Check out the news two lines down.
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- Goal complete.
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- I got notes back from the 2nd beta Friday night and I am excited. First, I’m now pretty certain I will get this baby to shine enough that I will query with it. OMG. Her thoughts and notes hit on my worries and I can already tell they will help nudge in the direction that will fix what I’ve been worrying about.
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- I tweaked things a bit this week, but now that I have beta notes I will dive back into this goal.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- not a whole chapter, but I did get a good chunk read again this week
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Inward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, up, and in, blocking the side of your face. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- I got the bars drawn for the music in the next song, no movement yet, but it’s still progress.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- I have two books to read under the self-directed learning category to finish my PDUs and I’m now 1/2 way through the first.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- I had way too much to do this week here and, after being out of town the first several days of the week, it almost got ugly, but I did it. Monthly reporting, deposits, budget meeting, board meeting, yuck, but it is done. Next week should be easier, after Monday when I’ll have 1 small deposit, a report to run/analyze and a parent meeting. But then I should be done here for the week. yeah.

I don’t have to go out of town this week, freaken fabulous 🙂 Hope something goes a little easier for you this week too, have a great one.

Last week I declared frustration is not welcome here. I was, well, angry that a couple of my goals were not getting done week after week. My priorities for the past many weeks have been: write first. I was not always prepared to write when I got the time, which dragged out my time needed to get to my word goal. By the time I got most of my goals done I was running out of time for the last two. So I tried something new, one I’m sure you’ve heard before. Hard stuff first. It felt strange, but it worked real well. So, did I write this week?

Motivation Jars (14-goals in all & $7.50 is up for grabs each week): 14-goals had real good progress or they’re in line for progress. Wardrobe Jar gets $7.50 (total so far: $26.79) and NOT my political party of choice jar gets $0.00 🙂 (total so far: $3.21)

The Goals – week-4 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters– done
• Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2- I decided to change and to keep my current titles a dozen times this week. More fermentation needed.
• Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round- done, I added 3,025 this week
• Spend time editing at least 3 times each week- I finished my latest round of edits on Voyage Novu #1. Wahoo!!
• Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta- I sent my beta the file on Tuesday and in time for her plane ride 🙂
• Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1- to be done after feedback is received from 2nd beta
• Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round- progress slow and steady again this week.
• Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit- at 3k per week this goal should beginning in Mid-August
• Finish reading current craft book and start another- not a whole chapter, but I did get a good chunk read
• Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done. 🙂
• Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Outward Block: start in the ready position. Bring one fist and forearm across, up, and out, blocking the side of your face. Return to read position and repeat. The non-blocking arm remains in the ready position to maintain vertical alignment.
• Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- you may need to sit down because I made progress on this goal this week!! 😀 I updated my mirror notes (notes I hang on the mirror to help me practice teaching a class) and charted a whole new song in the routine!! Six done and 4 to go. The last two will be easier as they are in the cool down cycle.
• Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years- keep sitting, because this puppy is making progress too. Not only have I finished the latest e-class, but I’ve discovered a less strenuous way to finish the credits I still need. Oh, the relief feels good.
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- This week was finally an easier week and I kept up with it too. Yeah.

Back to work for me. Hard stuff first will be the rule again this week. I hope I get to write this week too, hope you do as well. Have a fabulous week.