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It’s Time to Focus!

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It’s Time to Focus!

Dear Blog,

The other day, I wrote about distractions as well as stress and overwhelm due to self-imposed deadlines (check it out here). Well, today, I have some excellent news and a great tip.

I shared my inner monologue on Facebook and Twitter the other day. It went like this:

After I posted that, I proceeded to choose my three projects…

But then I got to thinking.

I’ve been spreading my writing focus too thin (clearly) and it feels like I’m getting virtually nowhere (no surprise). And in six months, at my current rate, maybe I’ll have five new books to release. That’s a huge maybe because I keep getting distracted. But the more distracted I get, the more frustrated I become because every time I turn around, I’m barely any farther ahead on one single project than I was a few weeks ago.

So, something clearly had to change. Hence my inner monologue. Which is quite common with writers. We get these shiny new ideas and we have to write them. It’s fun. And it can really boost our word count.

But let’s face it. We need focus. We need to work on a few projects. Not twenty. Not five. Just a few.

Once I had my three projects picked out, I realized I knew myself a little better than I gave myself credit for (who knew!). I truly needed one project where I could apply the majority of my focus.

So, here was my plan…

If I could devote two weeks (yes, 14 days!) to complete one current project, I would start to see some real progress. My overall focus would improve and I’d be able to reach my publication goals this year.

I started two days ago. And so far, it’s been a huge success. On Day 1, I wrote a smidge over my required daily minimum. And since I had some time left over before bedtime, I worked on two other projects. I figured a little progress on those extra projects would make me feel really good instead of me having to wait until the current two-week session was up.

On Day 2, which was yesterday, I met my required word count again.

And today, I’m already a quarter of the way there.

Plus I’ve kept up my new plan for this blog – second article and counting!

But here’s the other thing – I have to keep this going because if I don’t, I’ll look like an idiot. It’s not like I haven’t looked like one before, but I’m highly motivated to make this new plan work. I want those new releases this year and I want to complete my entire (huge) series (The Hexon Code) by summer *next* year.

That’s some laser-sharp focus. And huge progress.

So, that’s my plan and I’m hitting the floor running!

Jody Calkins
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