by Becky Martinez
As we begin the new year we often think about goals and what
we want to accomplish this year. I echo Sue Viders’ thoughts on setting goals
and writing them down. When they are written down, they become much more real
to us. We can see what we are striving for and we can go back later and see
what we have accomplished.
Checking back later is also important. A goal that gets
written down and never re-visited is as useful as a goal you carry in the back
of your head. It is kind of there but not really. If you have written down your
goals and posted them where you can see them everyday you will be much more
likely to have them in mind as you work and you can readily see what you are
accomplishing.
The idea of having a deadline for goals also can work to
make certain you accomplish them. For 30 years I worked with daily deadlines.
In a TV newsroom, if you don’t make your time slot your work probably won’t get
on the air. There was no option to fail. You got it done on time or else. In my
case as a producer, I had no choice. My show was going on the air with or
without me so I better have it ready to go at 5pm or 11pm. Come 6pm or 11:35,
the day and opportunity were over.
Those daily goals worked wonderful for me as a great procrastinator.
As a news person I knew that 95 percent of my goals had to be done by the end
of the day. Come 6pm, if I hadn’t accomplished everything it was done for the
day. It made me work much faster and keep a good daily schedule.
Now as a writer I have much longer range goals, but I still
find that if I don’t set some sort of daily deadline for myself I am not nearly
as successful. I like the idea of having at least 500 or 1000 words as a daily
goal. It means I will get something accomplished. If I know if I set a monthly
goal, I’ll find myself busy on the 29th or 30th
frantically trying to write 30000 words.
My point is to set a goal that works for you and then add
one more thing.
Keep track of your work. It’s one thing to go back and check
it off, but I have come up with a chart to keep track daily of how many words I
write so that at the end of the month I can check back to see how successful I
was.
The idea was a result of NaNoWriMo. I always enjoy that
November writing month because it spurs me on to write every single day and to
post my numbers on a daily basis so I can see the total accumulate. See, there’s
that daily deadline coming back to haunt me. Several years ago I decided I was
going to keep a daily total for myself once the month was over.
I made up my own spreadsheet and began keeping track. What I
discovered as surprising. When I knew I was going to write down a number I made
sure I reached my goal. I hated writing down fewer words than the previous day.
Of course some days I couldn’t hit my goal, but that only made me try harder
the next day.
By the end of the month I was pretty much on target. Imagine
my shock and the months piled up and the totals kept accumulating. I was
getting some writing done for a change.
When I finished the book I found myself with some time to regroup, but
then I started also keeping track of how many pages I edited. Yes, that
spreadsheet grew, but by the end of the year I was amazed at how much I
accomplished.
I did the same thing the next year. This is the fourth year
I will be keeping my chart, but that brings me to something else.
Celebrate those accomplishments. Don’t just keep the goals
but give yourself a special reward when you meet them.
At the beginning of the year I not only write down my goals
for the year I also write down what I accomplished in the last year. It always
amazes me how much I did accomplish every year. It also provides new drive to
try to be better next year.
When I feel like I’m not getting anything done I’ll go back
and look at the goals I’ve set and whether or not I’m getting them done, but I
also look at what I DID accomplish and that makes me feel a whole lot better
and ready to push forward.
So, write down those goals, but don’t forget them, and
always remember to celebrate those accomplishments!
No comments:
Post a Comment