I actually heard that writing down your goals doesn’t help you get things done. In fact, it makes it worse because writing it down makes it feel like you’ve completed the task even if you haven’t. I don’t know why. Because the way the human mind works makes absolutely no sense at all.
But that’s not going to stop me! If I post goals, I get to get out of thinking up a new blog idea one day a month feel guilty and humiliated if I don’t complete them and for me, there is no greater motivation than not making a fool out of myself. So! Here we go.
February Goals
Goal 1: Get rid of certain phrasing styles I overuse in COLLAPSE, as well as too many questions, and sentences beginning with “before” or “after”. Update the outline.
Done! This actually took longer than I expected (making it the reverse of last month) so I spent almost the full month on it. I really micro-edited—the MS is now down a full four thousand words. That’s okay, though. It’s still got 93K left.
Goal 2: Work on promoting the Spamfiles. I’m not very good at self-promotion, the annoying fault of being so shy. Expect me to start mentioning it on Twitter a lot.
Done, although not Done! I’ve been tweeting more about it and I even did a guest post at Liz’s, but I’m still pretty bad at self-promotion so…well, it’s really on ongoing process.
Goal 3: Fix the awkward phrasing in GLITCH. Continue word hunt. Trust me, this will take a while.
The first part is mostly done (I’m sure there are some rogue sentences that need fixing). I was only able to focus on the Word Hunt for a few days, though.
And now for this month:
Goal 1: Check for sight, smell, sound, touch and taste on every page of COLLAPSE. This means I’m highlighting and checking every descriptive phrase to make sure it’s A) good and B) correct. Basically, more microediting. I’m thinking this will take a while.
Goal 2: Tweet every new entry on the Spamfiles. Update my Twitter profile to include it (the profile’s long overdue for an updating anyway…).
Goal 3: If I have time, more word hunting in GLITCH. I have nothing pithy and amusing to add to that.
Funny that you've heard writing down your goals is bad. I wrote a post that says otherwise - http://www.ja-bennett.com/2013/01/how-important-is-it-to-set-goals.html
ReplyDeleteGreat job on getting things done!
I keep a list of weekly goals, but I don't post them online. Because I am the way I am, it would freak me out too much. I have to give myself permission to fail sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI never write down goals, only ideas.
ReplyDeleteMy goals bug me constantly. No need to write them. But I enjoy reading about the goals of others and their efforts to meet them. It inspires me. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know it's nothing but hard work. Writing down goals and making a list and prioritising is not necessarily the same thing, though I strongly advocate both. There's satisfaction in ticking off a task completed and it is a good way to focus on work efforts. I keep a paper list of stuff, even long-term goals, beside my computer and refer to it every week or so when I start to lose my way.
ReplyDeleteI keep goals locked away in my head... I won't write them down.
ReplyDelete