February 2023 Goals

My writer productivity skyrockets when I set monthly writer goals. At the beginning of each week I break them down into daily tasks that fit my current schedule. Do you know how great it is to finish projects? Of course you do! For me, setting monthly goals makes it all possible.

Every month I share how I did the previous month as well as what my new goals are. Let’s get to it!

Due to a whole lot of Christmas (three weekends in a row) and a book project I wanted to finish, I skipped posting January’s goals. Sorry! I’m heading back to last December’s goals before sharing February’s.

How did I do? Jill’s December 2022 Goals

• Writing
• Write/revise/submit proposal for contracted book. CHECK.
• Redline a trade-length book. CHECK.
• Plan the next six months of writing. CHECK.

• Health
• Exercise 4 days/week. CHECK.
• Eat 1 fresh vegetable and 2 fruits every weekday. NO CHECK.
• Try to maintain current weight through holidays! CHECK.

• Other
• Read 15 minutes of fiction every weekday. CHECK.
• Make Christmas cookies! CHECK.
• Enjoy the Christmas season! CHECK.

I worked up until the Friday before Christmas Eve to meet my writer goals, and I’m glad I did. It felt good to take the week off between Christmas and New Year’s without worrying about a project. January was busy, too. I spent the first two weeks revising and polishing the book I’d redlined in December. Then I spent a week getting ready for the Depending on the Cowboy release and another week on final edits of a Love Inspired book.

Regarding my health goals–no, I didn’t meet my vegetable/fruit goal every weekday in December, but I did maintain my weight. Hooray! And I kept up with exercising, too. It felt good to fit in my clothes and not dread “getting back on track” in January because I didn’t get off track to begin with.

For my personal goals, I read several Christmas romance novels in December, and I really enjoyed them. And I tried a new Christmas cookie recipe (brown butter pecan cookies recipe is linked). Fun stuff!

Jill’s February 2023 Goals

• Writing
• Draft rest of Wyoming Legacies book 2.
• Revise Wyoming Legacies book 2.
• Spend 30 mins/day Tuesday-Friday revising nonfiction project.

• Health
• Exercise 4 days/week.
• Log calories using MyPlate app every weekday.
• Stretch or walk for 10-15 minutes every evening.

• Other
• Read 15 minutes of fiction every weekday.
• Visit four more coffee shops on the Coffee Quest 419 list.

It will be a writing-filled month. Winter is good for my writing. I’m home more and not tempted to be outside because it’s snowy and cold and brrrrr… I’m also reinstating two things I did regularly the first half of 2022–working 30 mins/day on an alternate project and my once/week Idea Hour where I get out of the house and brainstorm, explore ideas, work through plot issues or just free write. You’d be amazed at how much you can get done in half hour increments. And giving my brain space once a week is necessary.

Oh, the Coffee Quest 419 is a Toledo challenge for coffee lovers. Visit twenty of the twenty-one listed coffee shops by February 28, make a purchase, get your card stamped, and if you meet the challenge, you get a T-shirt. I’ve already accepted that this quest is way too much for me. I could hit ten, maybe fifteen, of the coffee shops, but twenty? Not happening. So in January, I decided to make my own quest to try a minimum of eight, hopefully ten. I’ll let you know how I did next month.

What are your writer goals this month? How did you do last month?

My new book, Depending on the Cowboy (linked), is in stores now! Click on the title for purchase links, Pinterest board and more!