Wicked Wednesday – Goal Setting Schedules

Happy Wednesday! We’re continuing with our theme of planning and goal setting. We’ve talked planners and tips for effective goal setting. Now let’s talk scheduling.

It’s a common refrain: If it’s not scheduled, it’s not real (or some variation of that phrase). This is something that always trips me up – breaking down the really big goals into small chunks. It’s the difference of saying, “I have to write a 75,000 word book (gulp!)” and “I have to write 1000 words today.” The second choice feels a little better, right?

So Wickeds, how do you break down and schedule the pieces that will eventually make up your overall goals?

Edith: On the broadest canvas, I need to keep track of my books’ due dates and release dates. If I lose those, I’m screwed. So I use a super hi-tech three-year calendar to track them. Yes, this one. It’s a piece of printer paper with months drawn on it. I started off color coding but have already lost track of that. And I don’t yet have a few release dates on the calendar. But it’s always on the wall above my laptop. I can glance at it at any moment and make sure I haven’t lost anything. Everything else is a drill down from there. (That said, I also have a daily word count goal of 1500 when I’m writing first draft.)

Liz: I’m trying to get better at chunking things up. For my books, I’m sticking to my 1000 word/day goal, since I’m in the early phase of creating my new book. For my new business venture, it’s a little more overwhelming. I’m finally getting the hand of scheduling a couple hours a week to batch-write content, and then using time when I’m feeling less creative to do the more administrative things.

Jessie: What a great question, Liz! Like Edith and Liz I use both calendars and daily word counts to keep me on track. I use a physical planner to have the space to block out time to accomplish the ings that are important to me. I have a white board type yearly calendar that I use to see deadlines, travel, personal life events and book events at a glance.

Also every day I pick out the top three accomplishments that will make my day feel like a success and write them on a sticky note. Then I postion the note in a small frame that I keep on my desk. It helps keep my priorities at the top of my mind. To wrangle the daily to do list I use the Personal Kan Ban method that I have mentioned on the blog in the past.

Sherry: I don’t have a system. I have in my mind what my writing goals are, what needs to be done around the house, and then I check my emails to see what other work has popped up that I wasn’t expecting.

Julie: I’m working on a time goal rather than a word count goal for 2019. At least an hour a day of writing or editing. I’m blocking separate time for blogging and business tasks. Since I’m working on amping up my business and writing, smart scheduling has been something I’m trying to tackle mindfully.

Readers, do you schedule everything relating to your goals? We’d love to hear how you all do it!