I’ve been down a research hole for pretty much the entire week looking for resources to help me with my planning and project management in the coming year. I’m delighted that I’m now out of that hole and I have 4 shiny new planners and a Google spreadsheet for my work.
I wanted a project planning worksheet that consisted of 4 specific pages, but I couldn’t find a single package that included them all. Finally, I discovered one on an American site that had an extra page too, and I paid American dollars for it.
I wanted a social media planner, and I found one that had everything I wanted in one set.
I wanted something to put them all in, alongside my novel-planning worksheets, and I looked at and discounted so many folders, so many sizes. In the end I ordered an A4 zipped Filofax folder that matches the A5 one the poet bought for me a couple of years ago. The A5 one is midnight blue, the A4 one is black. I’ll keep my diary (page-a-day with appointments) in the A5 one, but everything else will go in the A4 one. I also ordered a 12-inch ruler/placeholder for the A4 folder.
What I didn’t want was to buy sets of worksheets that included 50 I’d never use just to have 10 that I would use. And I think I’ve managed that.
For a bit of fun, I also ordered a set of Pomodoro work sheets (not sure how they’ll work but they were only pennies and I couldn’t resist), a set of worksheets to help write the first draft of a mystery novel in 60 days, and a funky weight-loss tracker on Google Sheets.
All of the worksheets were delivered to my email last night, so I went through them all this morning to make sure they’re all what I thought I was buying, and the folder and ruler arrived about 5 minutes before I started to write this.
That was 3 days out of my working week, but I think it will pay off next year as I get more and more organised.
Also this week I’ve had grand-doggy #1 with me for a few days, I’ve cleared out a load of files from my Google drive, I’ve sorted the downloaded files on the Mac (how could there have been so many when I’ve only had it for a few months?), on Tuesday I worked on the next client edit, I wrote the domestic cards yesterday (and the poet posted them), and yesterday and this morning I’ve been working on the previous client edit. So I’ve not been completely idle.
What has suffered, as ever, is my writing. So I have a lot of that to catch up on, and I’ll probably end up working on it over the holiday.
I have the second novella to complete and a short story to write. I also have Whitehorse Farm to revise, so it can go in the January bookazine. And yes, that means I have the bookazine to finalise too, but it’s only waiting on these last 2 things. Then, once the file is ready, I have the pdf to format. Before I break up, though, there’s a standalone short story that needs publishing too, so it’s out on Monday.
I also have the end of year roundup to write, the year ahead to plan and write, and the 12-project spreadsheet to update. We still have gifts to buy and wrap for Christmas. And I still have Christmas greetings images to prepare for both me and Monkey Dust.
So, that’s a massive weight off my shoulders, but I still have a lot of work to do. I’ll go and get on with it now, right?
You’re ready to go!
Hope you’re having fun with the dog.