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.
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.
Submission Log
I was able to look back at my submission log and really assess how much I’d done over the year.
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.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thanks, Darshana! I think so much changes in a year’s time. I think one mistake I made was not revisiting and adjusting those goals this year.