Hello again, Dusty Journal. Nice to meet you at the finish line! Although there are still 3 check-ins left to go for Round 1 (and more than a handful of screwy goals left to accomplish), I declare myself across the finish line. For all of my high-falutin’ goal-tracking, this round was about publishing a book. Manifesto For All went live this week in paperback (an excerpt can be found here). It was only 1/3rd of the work I wanted to finish this round, but it was the goal I resolved to complete. As much as my disappointment might like to second-guess the work I accomplished, I crossed a finish line and let the other goals go.
A week-long jaunt up to the great North somehow turned itself into three and a half weeks of fluff. I’m starting on round three of Medical Mysteries: The Aching Colitis edition. Which is to say, I was far less productive in this round of ROW than I hoped to be. I’ll take the lessons learned from this round into the next round of ROW. The next round starts on April 2nd. Are you taking the plunge too?
Dusty Journal’s Patented ROW Reminders
1. Have a major milestone as a ROW goal. If nothing else, the completion of this one goal can make up for fudging or futzing with secondary mile markers. It will also give you a sense of completion for the round.
2. Don’t stop goal tracking.
3. Find a couple goals that fit together (like drawing and writing for a single project), or goals that can be done concurrently (like writing and exercising, or writing and cooking meals). Starting and stopping projects in the middle of ROW can result in a loss of momentum.
4. Schedule vacations after creative time, not in the middle of it! Taking a break in the middle of ROW80 leads to missed flights, stranger danger, and high insurance co-pays!
5. Keep track of your health, stay fit, but don’t let minor problems get in the way of your larger goals. A.K.A Work through the pain. For those of us who have recurrent or underlying health issues, it’s important to not daily pain and its energy drain in the way of creative projects.
I hope my fellow ROWers have made good progress in their own projects. I look forward to catching up with everyone as this round winds to a close.
Congrats! That’s definitely something to celebrate! Keep up the good work in the next round.
Thanks Ruth! It was fun to watch your progress on your blog & on twitter this round!
Hooray for publication (and an early finish line, to boot)!! The cover looks fantastic.
This has been a good round for me with lots accomplished…hopefully the next round will be just as productive!
Thanks Jessica! I had a blast making the cover.
I’m glad to hear that this round has been productive! I feel that I was productive under the circumstances, and knowing that I had a ROW update to make pushed me to achieve more (and more quickly) than I would have without you guys.
I’ll see you in Round 2!
Many congratulations, Tracy. It’s been great to see your hard work pay off. I’m proud of you, FWIW.
Thank you so much Dan! Thank you for cheering me on my very down days. There have been a lot of hard ones this year. I have a bushel of internet hugs that I couldn’t possibly express in this comment space for you.