2020 Planning

Wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. What better way to start again than with a post on planning?

We are full swing into January, however, this is nearing the end of my first work week of the year. I plan my publishing work around my teaching semester and, for me, school started on Monday, January 6th. I spent a good part of my Christmas holidays planning what I wanted to accomplish during 2020. I tried very hard to keep my expectations realistic and doable. I’m often at fault for expecting to do too much in any given time frame.

So far, though, week one has been very successful! I’m well on track to accomplish everything I wanted to this week, which is a big confidence boost this early on in the year. Here are the steps I took to get organized:

• I started with a week view on Outlook and entered all of my “must-dos” such as class time, driving time, extra-curriculars, kid activities, dog walks, meals, etc.
• Next, I looked at all of the un-accounted-for time and added in time each day for exercise (I’m a dedicated member of My Peak Challenge and always make time for my daily workouts) and for writing, wherever possible
• Next, I made a list of my writing blocks of time – for me, this was Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
• Then, I made a list of all of the writing projects and promotions I wanted to do or create or finish this year
• I then took my writing time slots and added which of my writing or marketing activities would fit into that slot
• Next, I made a publishing calendar for the year, showing the one main thing I wanted to work on or accomplish each week for the whole year
• Then, I made a detailed writing work week itemizing my tasks during each writing time slot, whether it was a general activity like “writing”, or a specific activity like “write a blog post”
• Finally, I created worksheets and checklists for my exercise programs and challenges as well as for my house/personal activities such as de-cluttering and budgeting and trip planning.

I made four packages of my printed materials and posted them on the wall in front of my desk so I see them every day:

• calendar/schedule
• writing
• exercise
• personal/house/finance

I know it’s only been a week, but so far, so good. I really like this new organized me. My day usually starts with an alarm at 6 or 6:30am and ends when I go to bed around 11pm. This week, it’s felt like an organized train wreck instead of an out-of-control train wreck!

Happy organizing!

Barb