Quarterly Goals Recap - March 2019

Read the original goal post here.

Phone Lock Screen Reminder; Source unknown
I'm here to write. Write I did. What I've been up to these last three months:

What Were My Goals?


  1. First Draft of Shallow Seas
    1. Failed. This is all on me. I wrote some +100K words. Most of that ended up in outlines that were rewritten and scrapped. One-and-a-half months spent on that. Heck, I have another outline. I learned I need to be faster on outlining and commit earlier. For now, I can get this draft done, my first draft of a novel-length work! (Almost there - another quarter should have it written.)
  2. Time Efficiency
    1. Won. From spending 40-50% of my time on what I categorize as time wasters (commuting, internet browsing) and chores (hygiene, food, cleaning), I'm sitting nicely at 25-26.5%! By any measure, this is a huge improvement. The goal was to get below 33% of time spent on these activities; the goal now is to maintain it.
  3. Be Assertive
    1. Won. I am asking more for what I want. I fear less of saying the word 'no'. There's a lot of improvement to be made here, though I think I'm on my way to... Better decisiveness? Self command? Self respect? Anyway, it's a good place to be.
  4. Voice Acting Credit
    1. Failed. Totally missed this. Time spent on writing Shallow Seas might have been split up to take on voice work. However, to attempt equal time for both would guarantee the mediocrity of each. I've learned a lot having two creative endeavors in one quarter.
  5. Marathon Capacity
    1. Failed. As soon as I posted this goal, I went for another half-marathon practice run in December. Only now, three months later, is the rough scar fading. I certainly need better shoes and socks if a full marathon is to be adequately trained for. The tangential benefit is that I spent more time on the low-impact stationary bike!
  6. Play Games
    1. Failed. I have an entry in my time tracking software for 'Pleasure - Games'. I have only now in the last week spent more time playing video games (six hours) than I have in the entirety of the last three months. This article sums up the paralysis I'm working on overcoming in not just game playing, but in many aspects of what is termed 'self care'.
  7. Read
    1. Won. Maybe. I'm doing this somewhat. Nearly every night before getting ready for bed or in the middle of a weekend's afternoon I'll settle down for an hour of physical browsing. I will do more of this, but that's a general statement of 'protect and value your time to yourself'. So for now, let's chalk this up to a win.

43% success rate. Ouch. And even after (temporarily) ending my time as a Couchsurfing host! Can I recover from that supposed failure? What are the lessons, the return, from all of this?

For one, be a lot faster in the brainstorming and outlining stages of writing - I wrote a full outline of Shallow Seas with everything but world description and dialogue, only to throw that out.

Another thing would be to have only one creative, product-generating goal in a quarter. Getting to voice acting felt as a drag on my psyche after spending two hours every morning writing on Shallow Seas. I must focus and there's only so much focus to go around.

Generally, protect my time. Really think about saying 'yes' to anything. 'No' ought to be the default; "if it's not a HELL YES, it's a no".

What's for next time? Here's a shortlist of some considerations:
  • Finish Shallow Seas's first draft.
  • Make a JimmyChattin.com website.
  • Edit a bunch of written short stories.
  • Spend a little less time on others.
  • Leverage certain financial saving opportunities.

Heck, maybe I'll just hire a life coach March 1st. Do you know one?


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