Making Time to Write Mondays

2013 A Year in Goals: The Good, The Bad, The Truth

Before I look ahead to 2014, I thought I should look back to 2013, what worked and what didn’t work in my writing life.

Goals

The Good:

I created SMART goals for 2013. I liked setting up my goals this way because it helped me create tangible tasks for each goal.

The Bad:

I didn’t do a great job of keeping track of the goals all year long. I did complete many of them, but as far as documenting every little task related to each goal? Well, that became pretty cumbersome.

The Truth:

I also found that as the year went on, things changed. I needed to derail the timeline for one project because I got a YES to a freelance project. That isn’t a bad thing. It looks like I didn’t complete some goals, but truthfully I was working on things I couldn’t have anticipated when I made the goals in December of 2012.

 

By the Numbers

The Good:

I created 11 goals for 2013. I fully completed or exceeded my goal for 7 of them.

I mostly completed 3 of them. I anticipate 1 more of these will be complete by the end of the year as I’m focusing on it in the month of December.

The Bad:

I didn’t even attempt 1 of them.

The Truth:

I’m not sure why that 1 was even a goal. I’m not sure I totally understood its purpose, which is probably why I didn’t do it.

 

What Worked

Google Calendar

I implemented Google Calendar, setting up different colors for my personal life, writing deadlines, blog posting schedule. This really worked and I could post deadlines or reminders well in advance.

 

My Google calendar minus the personal stuff. I didn't think you wanted to see my appointments.
My Google calendar minus the personal stuff. I didn’t think you wanted to see my appointments.

Weekly To Do Lists

I maintained a weekly to do list. Every weekend, I’d assess what needed to be done in the week ahead and worked on it.

 

To Do List Template from Microsoft Office Templates
To Do List Template from Microsoft Office Templates

Submission Log

I was able to look back at my submission log and really assess how much I’d done over the year.

Submission Log Spreadsheet Sample
Submission Log Spreadsheet Sample

Where I Am Going From Here

I’m going to try to do quarterly goals and monthly focuses for next year. This will help me re-evaluate more often and adjust as necessary.

Stay tuned to next week. I’ll share my working template for 2014.

4 Comments

  • Romelle Broas

    This is great, Marcie! Love the snapshots of your goals, especially by numbers. I wouldn’t know what I’d do without my Google calender. I use it for my family life, but you gave me the idea of trying to use it for my writing life! Yes. It’s come to that.

    • Marcie Flinchum Atkins

      I have different color codes on my calendar. One color for appointments, kids’ activities, etc; one color for writing deadlines or reminders; one color for blog deadlines and reminders. I really, really love it. If it’s too much, you can always just view one calendar at time.

  • Darshana

    Thank Marcie! I had a bunch of goals for this year, some which I kept, some which morphed, and some that fell off the list. I agree things do change through the year. I used Google calendar for a bit but then stopped maintaining the writing goals in there. I like how you track your blog stuff in addition to your writing goals. I look forward to seeing your template for next week.