Progress Report March 2013

Today it’s time for me to be accountable, to share my progress with all of you.

March has certainly been more productive than February was, but I’m not satisfied with my progress on most of my goals, and I’ve realized that I’m severely over committed. Falling behind on your projects is one thing. Staying behind on them is another, and it usually means one of two things: either you’re over committed, or you’re not really dedicated to the goals you claim to have.

I’ve realized that I’m suffering from the former problem and I’m currently working on a plan to address that, which includes some changes here at Dianna’s Writing Den. But that’s a conversation for next week. Today I’m going to show you why I need to kill some of my commitments by sharing my progress–and what progress I’d like to make in April.

Here goes nothing:

Finish editing Moonshadow’s Guardian– I edited about three chapters and added one chapter. It’s slow going right now because there are several scenes that need to be added near the beginning, but I’m making headway and I’ve put in more time on this during March. In April I’d like to edit at least six chapters, but I’m really aiming for ten. This means a bigger time commitment, but frankly, I need to finish this damn thing.

Write 12 Guest Posts– This goal I actually made some progress on, with one guest post published at Girl Seeks Place. I also made plans for a second guest post which I’ll be writing today. Once it goes live I’ll be at three guest posts for the year, so I’m doing pretty well on this one. I’ve got a list of other potential blogs and a few people I need to follow up with. With any luck, I’ll be able to pull ahead this month by getting another two guest posts.

My Confession:

At the beginning of the year, I set several goals for myself. In the last month, I’ve only put serious effort into two of them. One of them is intended for much later in the year–writing a novel during Nanowrimo–but the others have accidentally fallen by the wayside.

This month my main goal is to reorganize my life to make time for the goals I’ve set for myself. Those goals are focused on what will build the foundations for my writing career. Since my time is limited by school and working outside the home, I need to focus on making sure my time at home is spent on activities that will build my career.

In previous years I spent a lot of time making goals, but I didn’t spend much time evaluating how I progressed each month. This year I’ve started analyzing where my time goes more carefully. Now that I’ve figured out the patterns, it’s time to create a concrete plan of action. It’s time to decide what stays, and what goes.

It’s always important to analyze where our time is spent and to make sure the majority of our activities contribute to our long term success and happiness. Next week I’ll be unveiling my plans, knowing that if I fail it will essentially be in front of all of you, hoping that I’ll inspire you to create a similar plan to increase time spent working towards your writing goals.

With any luck, we’ll all be able to say April was a productive month.

How much progress did you make towards your goals in March?