Honoring Goals During the Holidays
The holidays are here. They seem to come in like a tidal wave once the Halloween decorations start going up, and carry me along with the current, often until well into January when I finally recover. It takes a concerted effort to focus on my overall goals: creating content, managing administrative tasks, promoting my business, and above all, remaining productive with all the distractions.
It was easier when my office was at the opposite end of the house from the TV. I’d fix my lunch or dinner, take it to my desk, and get back to work. These days, with my computer in the living room, it’s all too easy to leave my desk to eat, and extend the meal for an hour or two. It’s wreaking havoc with my productivity and production schedule. I’m holding on to some by my fingernails, while others have fallen by the wayside, to be retrieved once distractions go back to their normal level. My squirrels are heavily caffeinated at the moment.
Like anything else, what’s required is a combination of will power and focus, neither of which I have in great supply on the best of days. Still, I’m not as far behind as I’ve been previous holiday seasons, and have somehow found a way to have more productive days than not, even if some of them are dedicated to physical labor instead of my business. I’ve learned to allow the mood to drive me as long as it means I get to knock a task off my list.
Figuring it Out as I Go
Training myself to consistently get up by about 8 has helped since I can look at the clock on my
computer, see I’ve knocked out a couple of tasks by 10 AM, and feel pretty darn good about myself. The funny thing is, the better I feel, the more I accomplish. Conversely, once I let myself slack off, it’s hard to get back on the productivity train and meet current goals.
I’m learning getting started as soon as possible is the link I was missing for the last few years. Once I connected that link, a lot of things began to change. The biggest was to fill my blog queue further in advance. Doing so allowed me to start writing for other sites more regularly. In a world where visibility is key, I’ve always known publishing on sites other than my own was critical, but never seemed to find the time, much less new ideas to make that happen.
I think my mind was stuck on shoving everything else to the back burner until I was able to reach and maintain a 4 week backlog of posts. A lot has changed in the months since I finally reached my goal. Granted, I don’t always stay there. Often, I slide back to 3 weeks, but am finding as long as I don’t slide any further, I’m more inclined to meet those new obligations. At the moment, I’ve committed to one; “An Idea” on Medium. I know just as I committed to being 3 weeks ahead before I upped my game to 4, I have to establish the habit before increasing my expectations.
It’s All About the Plan
Looking back on the days when I wrote a blog post whenever I felt like it with no schedule or 
plan, and the point where I started setting expectations for myself, I see an incredible evolution, but it didn’t occur over night. In fact, until I typed that last sentence, I didn’t even see what I’d done as a plan at all. But looking back, I set a goal.
At first it was 2 posts a week with no pre-scheduling. At someone’s suggestion, I increased it to 3, and found myself scrambling to get things written, often on the day it was supposed to be published. When I discovered WordPress allowed me to pre-schedule posts, I set a new goal of 1 week’s worth of posts in the queue, and kept adding to it until I reached the point I’m at today with 4 weeks of posts in my own queues, with the time and inspiration to create one per week for another site.
I’ve learned I need to allow time for the new habit to set in before I challenge myself to up the stakes again, so right now, my goal is to become consistent with the posts for “An Idea”. At that point, I’ll need another challenge, and have at least 3 sites I can choose from for whom I can start creating regular posts.
Setting Realistic, Achievable Goals
The key to it all is two-fold: I have to set myself challenging but achievable goals, and I have to challenge myself to do more before I become complacent about my level of productivity.
All too often, I’ve either set myself a goal that was too aggressive and got frustrated, or I wallowed in the glory of achieving one goal, and lost sight of the fact it was supposed to be a stepping stone for the next one, not a parking spot.
It’s taken me awhile to learn these lessons, and a ton of smaller ones, but as I not only learn them, but write about them, they become more deeply ingrained in my life. It’s no different from forming healthy habits around eating, exercise, and self care. The first step is to decide what I want to achieve. The second is to create a plan that will get me over the first hurdle. The third is to put the plan into action, and to hold myself accountable until it becomes habit.
Turning Goals Into Habits
Once I’ve created the new habit, my reward is getting to set a new goal, and start the process all 
over again. Not everyone sees adding more to their plate as a reward, but for me, it’s all about the feelings of accomplishment. The more I accomplish with no other motivation than my own desires, the more I want to accomplish, and the higher I set the bar.
The key to meeting and beating my goals is to refrain from setting it so high I get frustrated. I did that for a long time, and got nowhere. Slowly, but surely, I’m learning exactly how challenging to make things without causing myself to give up in frustration. That means not only setting an appropriate goal, but allowing myself to slip and slide around it for a little while before I get a rhythm going, and it becomes more like an easy drift down a river than paddling upstream through the rapids.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.
If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
