Writer-Reminders
.... the
ezine for sidetracked writers.
Jan 2, 2007 -
The Joy of Goals
Thought for the Week - The Joy of Goals™
Happy New Year! I've got so
much fun stuff to share with you this month so make sure
you read all the way to the end.
Don't you love the new year? A
clean slate, a chance to start over with your goals and
plans, and so much promise for what can happen in the
year ahead.
This year we've expanded a new
program called the Joy of Goals™...
it's a whole new fun way to set your goals and plans for
the upcoming year.
I'll share a little secret from the class with you...
only 20% of people who set goals for the new year
actually achieve them.... and I want to make sure you
are one of those 20%!
Step 1 is to figure out exactly
what you want this year. Not the pipe-dream,
unbelievable, I'll-never-be-able-to-do-it goal, but the
project you actually believe you can accomplish.
Step 2 is to put together the
exact plan for making it happen. One of the
secrets to this process is that once you have the plan,
it becomes completely believable-- and then all you have
to do is execute your to do list!
Here's what I for 2007.... I had a
"Think Day" where I left my home office (on the recliner
in my living room) and spent the day at a coffee house
with my computer and my notebooks. Then I went
through exactly what I wanted.... what the numbers are
behind them.... what months I can work on what.
The last piece I still need is the rest of the plan.
So how does this work for you?
Suppose you want to make $20,000
from your freelance writing this year. That works
out to 20 articles at $1,000 each.
Next think about how many queries
you need to send out to get 20 acceptances.... it
depends on your acceptance rate, of course, but let's
just say you get one "yes" for every 10 queries you send
out. So to get your 20 articles, you need to send
200 queries this year.
Let's suppose you do this in the
first 10 months of the year.... that's 20 queries a
month, or about 5 a week. What will it take for
you to send 5 queries a week? What will you give
up to accomplish this goal (because I know your life is
full and busy right now)? Fill out the rest of
your plan with the time you're assigning to this project
and what steps you need to do.
(If you want to know more, the Joy
of Goals three-week teleseminar starts on Monday.
Get registered here before it fills up!)
"I'm on day 5 of your book and already have done more writing and compiled more ideas in this short time as I usually do over several months." -- reader M. Howard
Angela Hoy of
WritersWeekly.com says "...the most organized writer I know is
Julie Hood...."
Turn your daily to-do list into a daily "ta-da" list when you have a good system
for tracking what and when you need to do those "things."
I've tried tons of different systems through
the years and here are my thoughts on what makes them work (or not work)!
Convenient. Your system has
to be easy to use and easy to take with you so you can keep it with you
whenever you get a flash of memory about what you need to do.
Organized. Your system needs
to give you a way to track stuff by day and by category. Some of your
"things" need to occur on a certain day... and some things need to occur
along with others (for example, if you group all your phone calls together,
then when you sit down at the telephone you can whip through your list
quickly). I group places to go, emails, calls, and chores.
In the right format.
Do you need a full page for each day? Or can you
put everything together on one page for the week?
Room for notes. You want
plenty of room for taking notes. Some planners have separate sections
for notes, or some people I know use a separate notebook just for places to
take notes.
What are some of the most common systems?
Planners like the FranklinCovey® and
DayRunner® binders are paper-based calendars that make it easy to track
items by day. A friend loves her Planner Pads which give you a week at a time.
Computer-based planners like Microsoft
Outlook or Iambic Agendus give you some additional really useful options...
alarms that remind you of appointments or to-dos and search boxes that let
you search through your contacts, to dos and appointments.
Simple items like spiral-notebooks and
index cards can even be a system if they work for you. I've been using
custom-made spiral planners and notebooks, and I love them. If you get
The Organized
Writer ebook, you can print the exact pages you want and either
put them in a three-ring binder or get them bound together at the office
supply store.
Spend some time finding the perfect to-do
list system for you for the new year!
Success... It's In Your Nature ezine
Since we are getting all jazzed for success in 2007, I wanted to share this
email newsletter with you. Written by the talented author of
Seven Sacred Attitudes, Erica Ross-Krieger, Success...It's In Your Nature
is a wonderful ezine with insightful suggestions for living your life to
the fullest.
Read the rest of the archives here and
sign up in the registration box on the left hand side of the page.
What's on my bookshelf....
My hubby knows me so well.... for Christmas he gave me wireless headphones for my
computer so I can wander around the house cleaning and listening AND a whole
pile of books.
Right now I'm reading Houseworks:
Cut the Clutter, Speed Your Cleaning and Calm the Chaos
by Cynthia Townley Ewer, the guru behind OrganizedHome.com. I've always
loved her writing style, and the book is filled with full color photos and is
beautifully put together. It's comprehensive and concise, and tells you
exactly how to set up your household to "work" for you.
Click
hereto read more about the book and get your copy.
"Julie, I am sending a quick note to thank you for your well measured and extra-ordinary website. You have
a tremendous amount of information at a very reasonable cost. I subscribed to your free site and, for the
first time in forty years of writing, found a planner that works for me.
I felt so guilty for receiving so much information free from your
site that I have now ordered and downloaded the e book. I have found that you have struck a cord among so
many writers regarding procrastination and simple organization. Keep up the good work.
-- Raymond Freeman
M T W T F S S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Read (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. Write (at least 5 minutes)
Weekly Checklist
For freelance writers: Use this weekly checklist to find, write and send a
query every week this year!
Monday
__ Make notes on a new idea.
Tuesday: Accounting Day
__ Post your accounting records.
__ Pay bills.
__ Follow up on outstanding invoices and queries.
Wednesday
__ Find a new market using links below.
Thursday: Errand Day
__ Make copies.
__ Return books to library.
__ Make deposit at bank.
Friday
__ Finish query and submit.
__ Match your query to the market.
Saturday Weekly Review
__ How was this week?
__ What's up next week?
__ Review your Projects list in your planner and check the
status.
__ Jot the next action steps for your projects on next week's
calendar.
__ Backup your computer files.
__ Virus scan your computer.
__ Update windows software at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
__ Update Microsoft(R) office software at http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx
Sunday
__ Relax and enjoy!
__ Do something fun today!
Thanks for visiting Writer-Reminders! If you have comments,
success stories, or suggestions, reply to this message or e-mail
me at :julie@writer-reminders.com
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