Resolutions!

(This is a busy month for me, so I'm re-running this blog. I think it's one I needed to re-read, anyway. Just FYI, I met my goal of ramping up my efforts and targeting agents and publishers, I did not meet my desire of finding a home for Live and Let Fly. I did find homes for three of the DragonEye, PI, stories, however. Next year, I'm looking for a small press home. Guess DragonEye, PI does not appeal to the big NYC publishers.)

Resolutions!

Oh, bleah! Can you imagine a less original topic for Dec 31? Tell you a secret: I don’t make resolutions. I set goals. Here’s how I do it:

1. I think about where I want to be in the far future, and what I want to be remembered for.
2. I think about the past year—what didn’t work and why, and what did advance me toward my ideal life.
3. I think about what I can do differently (or continue doing) in order to keep advancing.
4. I write those as my goals, assigning them appropriate time frames.
5. I break them down to tasks and deadlines.
6. I get to work.

So, let me give you an example.

1. I would like one day to have my DragonEye, PI books be sharing the spotlight with Discworld and Myth, Inc.
2. This past year, I published Magic, Mensa and Mayhem, got good reviews and regular sales. However, I’ve not been able to sell Live and Let Fly yet, nor did I achieve my goal of writing Gapman! Also, my stories on my website are not selling well, though my newsletter is getting thousands of hits now that I publish it on myebook.com.
3. This next year, I will ramp up my efforts at shopping L&LF, sending out queries more often. I will make some modifications to my newsletter to draw folks to the website and stories. I will consider new venues for selling the short stories.
4.& 5. Deadline to finish Gapman: June 2010. Deadline for shopping L&LF to agents and big traditional publishers: October 2010, after which, I will return to small press. Have a new story written and on the website or being submitted each quarter. I will send out a query a week minimum. I will not wait for a rejection before moving on.

Still not enough for you? Want more information, tips and ideas on making resolutions, setting goals and getting organized? I’m going to post a link or tip every day in January, then have the whole file for download on my website in February.

Working toward making your life better is not a matter of a single night of resolution setting. Take your time, learn, tweak your ideas and build your habits.
Happy New Year!

31 Days of Resolutions, Goals, and Organizing Posts

Each month, I try to make a post a day on Twitter about some interesting topic. I decided to then post them here for those who may have missed a day.

1. Did you make New Year’s Resolutions? Here’s mine: http://www.fabianspace.blogspot.com
2. 8 tips for making resolutions that stick: http://psychcentral.com/lib/2002/making-new-years-resolutions-that-last/
3. How to make resolutions that matter: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/79/mgoldsmith.html
4. Just to tie in with yesterday’s post on resolutions that matter… http://site.despair.com/images/dpage/priorities03.jpg
5. My own way to make goals: spend 15 min deciding my old year’s regrets, 15 on old year’s successes, and find goals to address them both.
6. Resolutions are not goals-Resolutions are general; goals specific. Learn more: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/79/mgoldsmith.html
7. Here’s more on the SMART concept of goal-setting: http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/smart-goals.html
8. Still need help goal setting? Here’s a tutorial! http://www.about-goal-setting.com/
9. Here’s a whole website dedicated to goal-setting tips: http://www.success77.com/
10. For the graphics-minded, here’s a goal-setting chart. http://www.blog.iqmatrix.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/goal-setting-process.jpg (Scares me!)
11. Is one of your resolutions this year to keep a cleaner house? Cut clutter? FLY lady takes you baby step by baby step. I’m going to try her this year. http://flylady.com/
12. Authors: Is one of your goals to market your books better? 30-Minute Marketer is a weekly newsletter of marketing tasks (not just tips). I tell you what to do, how and when. http://www.karinafabian.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=24
13. Once you have big goals, break them into smaller goals: http://eliteteam300.com/?p=80
14. Step-by-step in the planning process: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/GREENHOUSE/nursery/guides/econ/chgoals.html
15. How to build a smarter to-do list: http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/12/building-a-smarter-to-do-list-part-i
16. Need your to-do lists online? Here’s an assessment of 25 services (including free ones) http://www.solutionwatch.com/450/25-to-do-lists-to-stay-productive/
17. Rob showed me iGoogle’s homepage maker. I love the aps--calendar, a to-do list, a sticky note, and gmail instead of news and force-fed entertainment. http://www.google.com/ig
18. Authors: Having trouble knowing what to do for marketing? 30-Minute Marketer schedules tasks for you. http://www.karinafabian.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=24
19. Is your goal to organize your home? Cut clutter first! Here’s FLY Lady’s advice: http://flylady.com/pages/FLYingLessons_Decluttertips.asp
20. Here’s a whole website for cutting clutter: http://organizedhome.com/articles/cut-clutter
21. My own cut-clutter ideas: Keep 4, toss 1. When we do it quarterly, esp. with the kids’ toys, it helps a lot!
22. Cool website for organizing in the workplace: http://managementhelp.org/orgnzing/orgnzing.htm
23. Cut the clutter in your writing: http://grammar.about.com/od/words/tp/clutter_tips.htm
24. Computer cluttered with programs and other junk? Get the decrapifier: http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/ (Rob uses it on any new computer we get)
25. On Facebook? Here are some ways to cut clutter and increase effectiveness: http://www.mba4success.com/pages/opinion/opinion_content.php?ID=1851&post_title=WCW/Management/Social-Networking/Special-Report:-Effective-Steps-To-Maximise-Facebook
26. Some good ideas for organizing yourself and your time. (Warning—site has a lot of ads) http://www.askmen.com/money/how_to/27_how_to.html
27. Good organizing tips: http://www.successfulacademic.com/success_tips/Manage_time_organize.htm (My fave: tackle worst first, tho I tackle most important first)
28. Writers: Here’s an article about managing your writing time. http://www.writing-world.com/life/organize.shtml
29. Writers: Here’s one on organizing your writing space: http://www.literary-liaisons.com/article048.html
30. Authors: Don’t have your marketing tasks organized? For $12/year, I do it for you: http://www.karinafabian.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=24

Small Steps Making Big Progress

Some of the things I decided I wanted to do this year was walk away from my computer when the kids come home from school, keep a cleaner house, and pay more attention to my kids. We're three weeks into 2010, and I've not had a perfect record, but I'm really amazed at the progress I've made.

First, I changed a couple of habits. For one, I cut out a lot of stuff. In a way, losing my old computer helped; I didn't have a lot of garbage calling to me and I was able to start anew on my schedule. So for my writing day, I've set aside the morning two hours for writing--then walk the dog and check e-mail at lunch, then the afternoon hours for projects--a specific one per day, rather than bunches of small ones throughout the week.

Next, I thought small. I broke down big projects into small steps and will allow myself to make as much progress as I can instead of pressuring myself to get it all done. This is especially true of housework, which comes to my next point:

I looked for outside help. In the case of the house, I enrolled in flylady.com. She helps homemakers break down the upkeep of their house into small steps. Now she has a lot of stuff you can do, including control journals and other things. Me, I just wanted the daily routine and the "Kelly's Missions" that break deep cleaning into 15-minute daily chores. Two things in the routine have made an amazing difference:

Daily Laundry: Usually, I saved my laundry--six loads--for the weekend. With six in the family, I dealt with huge piles and had full baskets for the kids which often didn't get put away or were shoved haphazardly into drawers. With a load a day, I'm doing a few more loads, but things get put away more regularly because it doesn't look as intimidating. Also Rob had clean pants every day without worry!

"Swish and Swipe": Each day, I take a rag and wipe down the bathroom sink and then the toilet and run a brush over the inside. Takes two minutes, but it makes a difference. I knew I got annoyed at the toothpaste buildup, but never realized how much of a difference it made to not see it each day.

I talked to the family, and we all agreed to do 5- to 10-minute chores instead of fussing for a couple of hours on the weekend over the chores. Each day, I give them a short chore--wipe the light switches, vacuum just one room. Weekends, they clean their room. And they each have a "swish and swipe" duty--the older have their bathrooms, the little ones straighten up the living room. The house is a lot cleaner and we're a lot less stressed.

Even if this is as far as I get this year toward my goals, I'm proud of the progress I've made with just a few changes and some determination.