ratherastory: ([Me] Fish Fear Me)
ratherastory ([personal profile] ratherastory) wrote2014-01-05 04:42 am

Happy New Year!

Okay, so I'm, like, five days late. Whoops.

Still, I hope 2014 is treating everyone beautifully so far! If it's not, I hope it mends its ways very quickly for you.

I have actually written words this year. Only 1,000 of them, but that's 1,000 more than I managed to write in the last 6 months, so I'm taking it as a win.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I sat down and plotted out just how much free time I have for writing these days, and figured out that I have about 10-12 hours a month in which I can write. On a REALLY good day I can write about 1,000 words in an hour. Given that some of that "writing" time will have to go toward research and plotting, I think that a goal of 6,000-10,000 words a month is reasonable. Time will tell, of course, if that's feasible.

I am making a serious attempt to turn my life around, to be more present for my family, and that means a lot less time spent online when I'm at home. When I'm at work (or, rather, in the city where I work) I allow myself to be online more, because that's basically the only interaction I get with friends. But when I'm home, I want to spend as much time as possible with my family. When they're not home, I need to maximise the time I do have to do chores, run errands, and also sometimes write. That means no more screwing around on the internet when I could be doing things.

I will also be making extra special efforts to stay on top of the community stuff I'm in charge of. I've been doing okay, but not great, and I am determined to be a better mod this year. Here's hoping.

What's everyone else up to these days? Inquiring minds want to know!

[identity profile] nerthus.livejournal.com 2014-01-05 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy birthday!! Hope your time management plans work out well for you in 2014; I'm horrible at organizing and managing my hours once I'm off work, so I guess I should make that bad word PROCRASTINATE become obsolete in my vocabulary, ha. But I know myself too well and I know I shall likely bumble my way through another year, my head in a fog and my thoughts drifting like the tide when I should be focusing on something in particular. Ah, well, I'm okay with that, ha, so kudos to you for having will power and determination and the desire to improve yourself! The one thing I DO need and desire this year is more patience and learning to be a more attentive listener to others.

[identity profile] ratherastory.livejournal.com 2014-01-05 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I've been working on my own procrastination thanks to Timothy Pychyl, his blog on Psychology Today and his podcast (iProcrastinate). He's a professor at Carleton University and specializes in procrastination and self-regulation failure, and his work his both fascinating and very helpful (at least so far!).