The other day, I hear someone say something about productivity that was so profound, that I had to remember it. I was listening to a video and the man on the video said that before he started doing a task or project, he asked himself if there was anything more important that he should have been doing at that moment.

What should I do now?

  Is there something more important that I should be doing rather than doing what I am doing right now?

If I were to be doing something, and I were to come up with an answer that was not no, then I would have to ask myself why am I not doing the thing that is more important? The answer to that question, if answered honestly would probably give you a reason for your procrastination of the reason that you are not doing the more important project.

That can be said about anything that we are doing. If I am tired, is working on that project the most important thing I should be doing? Probably not. Sometimes, getting a good night’s sleep and working on that project in the morning might just probably be the most profitable thing I can do both in the standpoint of the project and my health. I have learned that sleep is a high priority on my list of things to do.

My Most Important Project: Finishing and Publishing A Coward’s Solace

I am coming close to finishing my novel A Coward’s Solace the third book in the Locket Saga. In a few days I will be publishing a private copy for my first beta reader to read. She will read it and give me feedback on what she thought of it.  In the meantime I will be doing a survey on what one of four covers others would like to see on the book.

My Next Big Project: Sailing Under the Black Flag.

I am looking forward to working on my next novel which I call Sailing under the Black Flag. I have been reading lately about the editing process, and like all good writers, I will try to streamline my editing process and put out a better product with each book that I write. Fortunately, I know most of my main characters and I have finished much of my research, and I have finished my first draft. To streamline my editing process, I am going to edit my first draft before moving onto my second draft of 80 thousand words. I will determine what works and what doesn’t work in the first draft so that I am not tripping over poorly written, unnecessary words just so that I can get word count. This is what slowed me down in writing A Coward’s Solace. I didn’t want to lose my word count. The swift knife of editing before moving on will take care of that.

While I am working on my edits of Sailing Under the Black Flag, I am going to create an on-going writing and editing strategy for getting my books written and into my readers more regularly. I have four first drafts of novels in the Locket Saga written and I have the ambitious goal of getting three of those books out this year. If I develop a strategy to get it all done, and actually put in the time every day to make it happen, there is no reason I can’t complete this goal.

Developing an On-going Marketing Strategy

This is one area where I have to admit that I have not done very well when it has come to writing my books. What good is writing the best book ever written (I know, that’s pretty grandiose, but then what is authorship but a grandiose experience?) if no one knows its out there. Its like asking the question: If a tree in the forest falls to the ground, but no one hears it, does it actually make a sound. Of course it does, but there is no one there to care.

As it stands right now, I have a couple of ideas for my first three books that I need to implement right away. These ideas should also help me develop my marketing strategy for both A Coward’s Solace and Sailing Under the Black Flag. More on this as my marketing strategy unfolds.

Planning Ahead for February

I know that we are just over half way through with January, but I am already thinking ahead and planning for my affirmation and posts for February. Here’s what I am thinking. My February Affirmation will be: I am energetic, healthy, and fit. Rather than taking one specific action each day, I am going to change it out a bit and create a checkoff sheet of healthy things that I will do or not do every day of the month. I can even include on this sheet a place to write down how I feel that day about checking off or not checking off the items on the sheet. In order to get this done by February, I will definitely need to have created the sheet before the beginning of that month. Again, more about this later.

Planning for the Rest of the Year

I have a document that I created at the beginning of the month that outlines a little of what I might want to accomplish during the coming year. These include affirmations that still need work. I am also going to start working on some ideas for bubblews that I want to write during the year. (So far I have most of this month’s bubblews written). (Check out my bubblews entries here) During the remainder of this month (January), I intend to work on this document so that I am better able to focus on the other projects that I intend to have done by the end of the year.

If the remainder of the year is as fruitful for me as this month has already been for me, I believe that I will have a successful year indeed.