March 2023 Goals

My writer productivity skyrockets when I set monthly writer goals, and it’s time to share my March 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!

How Did I Do? Jill’s February 2023 Goals

• Writing
• Draft rest of Wyoming Legacies book 2. CHECK!
• Revise Wyoming Legacies book 2. CHECK! I still need to edit/polish the book.
• Spend 30 mins/day Tuesday-Friday revising nonfiction project. NO CHECK.

• Health
• Exercise 4 days/week. CHECK!
• Log calories using MyPlate app every weekday. CHECK!
• Stretch or walk for 10-15 minutes every evening. NO CHECK.

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

It took the first three weeks of February for me to finish writing the draft of my book. During that time, I was in a funk. The writing was super-slow going, and I had NO energy for anything else. I decided to pause the nonfiction until the draft was done.

As far as my health, I actually exercised 5 days/week all but one week when I exercised 4 days. Logging my calories with MyPlate during the week is helping me lose weight–yay!!–and I enjoy my weekends without all that pesky tracking. As far as the walking/stretching? Five days feels like too much, and I’m hoping three days will be just right.

Moving on to the coffee quest…I actually did the entire quest! I made it to twenty coffee shops, got all my stamps and am waiting to get my T-shirt! So exciting! It wasn’t always easy. The shops are spread out. One was a 45 minute drive. Since writing is my full-time gig, I had to be strategic. I ended up batching visits together. I will definitely be returning to some of the shops, and I’m glad I visited all of them. It was a nice break from my normal routine.

Jill’s March Goals 2023

• Writing
• Edit/polish Wyoming Legacies book 2.
• Plot, draft long synopsis and draft sample chapters of Wyoming Legacies book 3.
• Spend 30 mins/day, 3 days/week revising nonfiction project.

• Health
• Exercise 4 days/week.
• Log calories using MyPlate app every weekday.
• Stretch or walk for 10-15 minutes 3 times/week.

• Other
• Read 15 minutes of fiction every weekday.
• Visit an art supply store I’ve wanted to check out for years but have never got around to visiting.

I’ve been rethinking how I approach writing a draft. I do best when I get the story down quickly, which means long hours writing. But those hours are very tiring, and I struggle to meet my other goals. I think the solution is to simply focus on the book and not worry about the other goals, beyond the maintenance marketing I do. It would take off the pressure I put on myself. We’ll see!

Oh, and I’m one pound away from my goal weight! Yippee! The weight itself isn’t a big deal to me. Fitting into my clothes, being consistent with exercise (I feel strong!) and eating healthy most of the time is what I find rewarding. The number on the scale simply shows me I’m making progress. I have weeks where I blow it and eat all the comfort foods. I’m not perfect and never will be. I just return to my plan, and get back on track.

What are your March goals? How did you do last month?

Have a delightful day!