by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Happy 2020, everyone! I hope everybody enjoyed their holidays. I went on vacation with my family (actually, I’m returning a little later today, so I’ll be a bit late responding to comments) and enjoyed spending time with them.
Although I’ve never been happy about making resolutions, I’ve always tried to take time at the new year to plan out the year, set goals (better than resolutions, I’ve found), and see what’s working and what’s not.
It was at this point last year that I decided to move forward with my plan to start another series. I managed to publish the first couple of books in that series in 2019. Last year I ended up writing 5 books and I’m planning on matching that this year since it was pretty doable.
The only problem with this approach is that I have less time, obviously. Ordinarily I write about 3 books a year. Adding an extra 2 to the calendar means that I have to be a little more organized with my time and have to evaluate where I might be able to make cuts.
One thing I’m doing sounds minor but really helps me save time: I’m grouping my errands and knocking them all out at one time. Before, I had a little more of a slipshod approach and would run an errand a day.
Something else I’m doing, especially since I’ve got an empty nest now, is reduce the number of days a week that I’m cooking. I’ve discovered that my local grocery stores have a special section for prepared foods that are ready to be popped into the oven. Not only do they have healthy options, the cost isn’t nearly as high as I thought it might be. Plus, the grocery stores seem to be more creative with their recipes than I am. :)
One other thing that will actually impact what I’m doing here: I’m going to cut back on blogging to twice a week. That means I’ll post the Twitterific Sunday post and then blog on Monday (cutting back on Fridays). Although I’ve always felt that blogging has provided me with great writing practice, I’m currently doing so much writing that falling back to twice a week will likely only help me out.
Things I’m not changing: daily exercise, my sleep schedule, and making time to do things with family.
For further reading:
Erin Tolbert’s “4 Simple, Realistic Ways You Can Make Time to Write” (including task delegation…something I need to explore).
Janalyn Voigt’s “Making Time to Write: Quitting to Win” (including retiring a series).
These are just a few of the adjustments I’m making, although I’m definitely looking to find other ways of saving time. How about you? What are your plans for 2020? Are you ramping up your writing? Or needing to shuffle things in your life around to make more time?
Re-evaluating life to make more time: Share on XPhoto on VisualHunt.com
Hi Elizabeth – so glad you had time away over the festive period – welcome to 2020. Sounds like you’re planned and good to go. Also makes sense to reduce blogging time … though I do enjoy reading and learning from your posts. Good luck with all your plans – take care – cheers Hilary
I enjoy yours, too! And thanks. :) Here’s to a great 2020!
Elizabeth, Happy New Year to you and your family!
One of the things I missed about blogging over the past two years was the “writing practice,” apart from the satisfaction of writing reviews of books. I’m hoping to make 2020 more productive both for my blog and other writing projects.
That’s good to hear! I’ve always enjoyed your reviews. :) Glad it’s going to be a productive on for you Prashant.
Happy 2020!
Cutting back on blogging makes sense. Cutting it out never does though.
I need to start mapping out my time better so I can both write more and keep up better with the IWSG.
Definitely agree…nothing gained by cutting out blogging. Hoping we both end up with a bit more time this year!
So glad to see you back, Elizabeth! This is definitely a good time of year to re-evaluate and work out how to spend our energies. I’m doing the same thing, actually. And it’s worth it to reflect on what is essential, what needs to be cut back, and so on. I think you’re wise to make a plan.
Good luck with your planning, Margot! Hope you have a great year. :)
Sounds like a lot, but doable. This year my goal is to write every day, even if it’s a line or two. I find that once I start I always write more than I think I’m going to. It’s the best I can do with the day job.
Good luck with your goals and happy new year!
It definitely makes it easier to keep up with the same thread of thought when we write just a line or two. Happy New Year to you!
Blogging does take a lot of time and energy. I’m thinking through what I want to do in that space going forward as well. Wishing you all the best in 2020!
Thanks so much, Ellen! The same to you. :)
Less cooking – that would help me! I can also cook in bigger batches and freeze some.
Good luck with your goal of 5 books.
Cutting back on cooking really helps! Not just the cooking and shopping time, but the planning time, too. And thanks!
My goal this year is to make a real plan, all written down in one of my many unopened notebooks. Posting on my blog once a week is part of the plan, although I haven’t started yet. I’m still working on rehab from my knee replacement surgery so my new year of writing doesn’t really start until Feb. 1.
I’m glad you’re planning to keep your blog alive, Elizabeth. I don’t often leave comments, but I do follow and read.
Nothing wrong with starting the new year on Feb. 1! Hope you continue improving…that’s a tough recovery, I know. Thanks so much for reading the blog! Looking forward to your posts this year. :)
Good plan! I’m always impressed at how organized you are – and that leads directly into how productive you are!
I started thinking about my next steps yesterday. THey’re making me nervous but I need to take those big steps
I bet 2020 is going to be a big year for you! Excited for all your next steps. :)
5 books a year seems quite a goal! You are intelligent and determined so I have no doubt you will succeed. But our minds are like fields … take too many nutrients from them without replenishing, and the harvests diminish.
I did 2 last year and 3 the year before and that was quite enough for me! Whew!
Come February, I will start the year with another published. Now, if I can persuade a few to buy it! :-)
Being organized is certainly the way to go to free up time. I like your idea about prepared meals from the groceries.
Productive stores do an end year inventory of what they have and what they need to do to replace or drop … it makes sense for individuals to do the same, right?
Two is great! And you’re so right about filling the well. I’ve been burned out before and it’s not pretty.
Prepared meals are great! One of those was supper last night. :)
Happy New Year to you!
Changing the way I work, too. I wish I was as prolific a writer as you, but so far I still write at turtle speed. Happy 2020!
There’s nothing wrong with that! I’ve done turtle speed, too, on the front end of my writing career and was proud of a book a year. :) Hope you have a great 2020!
Happy New Year, Elizabeth!
I think your new blogging schedule is going to be a win-win. You’ll get more writing time (for fiction) but we’ll still have access to the great content you provide.
It looks like 2020 is going to be a hugely productive year for you — although your output seems high to me every year :)
Thanks! Hope yours will be a productive one too. :)
Happy new year dear Elizabeth! I’m hoping for a quieter year – last year was way too busy. I’ve been a real recluse since we moved into this dear house in the woods. Today no one can go anywhere because of a beautiful blizzard, so I’m happily catching up on all sorts of things. I only seem to blog on my writer’s blog once a month (IWSG) but I have a more regular practice with a blog I created when I got out of social media sites. I don’t get much traffic on it, but I send it as a newsletter to a wide assortment of friends, family and acquaintances. How to not be distracted is my focus this year.
I like your area of focus! And I hope you have as peaceful and quiet of a year as it’s been during the blizzard. :)
Love your blog posts! Whatever you give us will be thoughtful and helpful.
If I could change something about my process it would be my slow editing. OH MY GOODNESS. I’m a snail.
Happy New Year!
Teresa
You’re a thoughtful editor, ha! That’s a tough one to speed up on. I usually set a daily goal for my first read-through (and that’s when I take notes on changes I should make in another draft). Then the ‘fixing things’ draft (changing the murderer, making a motive stronger, writing better description) takes as long as it takes to get it done.