By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Happy 2014 everyone!
And, like everyone else on the internet, I have advice for making it a better year. :) I actually had a different post I planned on running today, but since my blog reader was so chock-full of writerly advice for the next year, I felt I needed to run a post as an antidote. When I read too many lofty goals, it both exhausts me and makes me feel as if I’m not doing enough.
So here are my 3 tips for meeting goals in 2014:
Think to-do list, not resolution. We hear this type of advice all the time and the reason we hear it is because it usually works. So, instead of saying write and revise a book in 2014, it would be better to say write for 15 minutes 5 days out of each week in February or ‘by the end of January, create a list all my character names, traits, and motivations.’ Or, by the end of the month, I want to have a plan for the next three chapters in my book. Or even today, I’ll look for and squeeze in 10 minutes of extra writing time. How specific can you make it? How many steps can you turn ‘write a book’ into—keeping the steps actionable and small enough to knock out in the time allotted?
How small can you make your daily goal and still get where you want to be? That’s the trick to everything in life, I think. My goals are frighteningly small and I’m always a little uncomfortable when I share them. But my output is pretty big…because I’m consistent with my small goals. I know I can meet a writing goal of 3 or 3.5 pages a day. For me, that’s 30 minutes in the morning and another 20 in the afternoon. My goal, in the past, has been as low as 15 minutes a day when I had an active toddler in the house (this usually netted me a page). If you write a page a day for 2014 on one project…well, you’ll have a heck of a long book that will actually need to be edited down. But isn’t that better than not having a book to revise, at all?
This goes for everything in life. How low can you set the bar and still get what you want? I know that sounds awful, but for me, that’s how I achieve—I hit all my goals and that motivates me to keep hitting goals. And if I hit my goal and keep going and write more…that doesn’t mean I don’t write the next day. The next day I meet my very modest goal again. With modern life—we’ve just got to be realistic about our time.
I hear folks saying they want to lose twenty-five pounds and want to go to the gym every day. This makes me wince because how many people can live up to that? And what happens when they have a set-back and miss their goal five or six times? Isn’t it so much better to have a ridiculously low goal and make it a no-brainer and meet it? So, instead of losing twenty-five pounds, couldn’t they say by the end of the week, substitute water for Diet Coke or take the stairs at work instead of the elevator three times this week ?
Track your accomplishments and post them.
I mentioned this trick in this post, but it really does help me. I read an article this past year about the psychology of to-do lists and they said they work better if you keep the crossed-off bits on your list so that you can see how far you’ve come.
In that spirit, I think tracking our accomplishments is really helpful. It helps us see that we’re not just treading water—that we’re making inroads. I put some of my accomplishments on my website’s news page, which makes for a more public way of motivating myself.
How do you stay on track with your projects each year? And Happy 2014.
Image: MorgueFile: Efi
Hi Elizabeth – this seems like so much wise advice – thanks for posting and so interesting to see how you achieve so much … with as you say doing so little each day – but the way you describe your achievements – it’s obvious.
I really need to settle down and work out my plan of action .. and I will definitely have smaller step-goals, but regularly each day … workmen and mess in the flat come first – still it will be better once they’ve done their stuff! Some wonderful analogies you’ve given us …
Happy New Year and have a fun time ahead with family and your books .. and thanks for all the wonderful posts you write for us .. cheers Hilary
Hilary–Oh, I’ve been there–good luck with your workmen! I know everything will be better and calmer after you’ve gotten your work done.
Happy 2014 to you and thanks for all the inspiration you’ve provided me over the past year!
Happy New Year, Elizabeth! I hope it’s a great one for you. I like your idea very much of setting and tracking measurable goals. I think that’s the key to accomplishing what we want to accomplish. Goals that are too vague or too lofty are frustrating. The old saying that ‘every march of a thousand miles begins with one step’ makes sense I think. Every book of 90,000 words begins with one sentence.
Margot–A wise old saying, for sure! Happy 2014 to you!
Little goals. I can do that. Actually, I’ve been aiming at five hundred words a day for over a week, working on a new manuscript, and almost every day I’ve beaten that.
Welcome to 2014!
Congratulations on your progress, Alex! And Happy 2014 to you!
I just pinned this on pinterest and it makes sense to me when you talk about those smaller goals —
“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine .” — John C. Maxwell
Kristi–A great quotation. Thanks for sharing it and Happy New Year!
Hi Elizabeth,
Ah, so that’s how you do it. How wise! I have learned to chunk things down to manageable portions, but the way you put it here makes more sense. To whittle down the huge goal into smaller to do’s. It eases my stress just thinking about it. Happy New Year to you and your family.
Here’s to a stress-free 2014, Karen! Hope you have a happy year.
Small goals are good. And keeping track of accomplishments is so important when you are trying to fight off that ‘you never get ANYTHING finished’ self-talk. Sometimes I think it may be good to try smaller writing projects as well, when you are feeling discouraged. Because getting something done and checking it off your list is so good for your self-esteem.
Nissa–Good point about knocking out smaller writing projects and staying motivated. Hope you have a great year!
Love your advice for the new year, Elizabeth! I agree about resolutions versus to-do lists. My first item on my to-do list was to create a plan for achieving all my resolutions/ goals for 2014. Happy New Year and here’s to a great year of writing!
P.M.–Thanks for coming by and Happy 2014!
Lovely advice.
Q1 is “quarter of the short story” for me. It’s an exciting time: a new year full of opportunity.
“Work” seems to be a good mantra! Tom Waits sings a great song: “Get Behind the Mule.” That’s it for me. Work, progress, improve, enjoy. SO much better with a smile, too. We chose this affliction.
Great post.
Jack–I do love short stories. I can’t write one worth a flip, but I do love reading them. Good luck with Q1!
Elizabeth, your advice makes so much sense! I tend to get overwhelmed by the big picture (and by my failure to keep up with my own aspirations), so breaking things down into manageable parts sounds right. As someone else said, I need a plan of action, so that’s the first step–what to do in January, say, in realistic terms re what’s possible. Thanks!
Gerry–Thanks so much for coming by and good luck with your planning!
Deceptively small goals is the way to go, I think. It all adds up!
mood
Moody Writing
Mood–It adds up so much faster than we think. And is easy to commit to, too!
To do lists work better for me as well! Hope we all get a lot done this year! :)
Jemi–Fingers crossed!
[…] Elizabeth S. Craig put it in her, How To Meet Our Goals in 2014, “Since my blog reader was so chock-full of writerly advice for the next year, I felt I […]
I never make resolutions for the new year, because I think of resolutions as something unpleasant to do (jogging/running) or not to do (chewing tobacco/snuff).
Small goals, I can do. Maybe I should try to write some short short stories. I bought a couple of books by the recent Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro to get some inspiration >:)
Cold as: Absolutely! I read an article recently called ‘Why Writers Should Write Short Fiction’– a great way to stay creative, keep motivated, and practice skills. :) http://dld.bz/cY6kN
Elizabeth, you have the right idea. To me, resolutions are like the goals I set for myself in my day job. I’m a big believer in SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. Those “I’m going to climb Mount Everest” goals are demoralizing when you don’t achieve them. Thanks for a helpful and timely post.
CG–Yes, I keep forgetting about the SMART goal acronym–and it really *is* a smart system. Thanks for reminding me about this useful approach!
Happy 2014, Elizabeth! I love this post, and I need this reminder. There’s a great book about this kind of approach called something like Kaizen: How Small Steps Can Change Your Life (can’t think of the author off the top of my head). It’s about a Japanese concept called Kaizen, which promotes small, small goals as the best way to keep your brain from slipping into the fight or flight reaction when faced with a big challenge.
What you’re saying is backed by brain science! And, of course, your own fantastic productivity. Cheers!
Happy New Year to you, Kellye!
I’ve heard of that book….a writer friend of mine, Jan Morrison, mentioned it on her blog a while back and I’ve been meaning to buy it. Thanks for the reminder! Here’s her post on it, and why it made it sound so interesting to me (she adapted it for writers): http://labanan.blogspot.com/search?q=kaizen
What fantastic advice! I’m going to rework my resolutions right now. “Think small” will be my mantra this year. Thanks a bunch for the wisdom!
Thanks for coming by, Anne, and Happy New Year! Think small, for sure!
To do lists work very well for me. They keep me writing. Happy New Year.
Johnnie–For me, too. And Happy New Year to you!
Thanks for coming by, Angela.
Excellent suggestions.
Particularly helpful will be “How small can you make your daily goal and still get where you want to be?” I often expect too much from a day, don’t achieve it, and then lose steam. Some goals are set for me this year by an academic program I am in. I’ll remember your suggestions!
Hope your Christmas and New Years was great!
Warren–That’s my problem, too–if I set my goals too high, I get frustrated and tend to want to give up. Good luck with your goals in 2014!
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