I’m guest posting at Savvy Authors today sharing my desperate spreadsheet attempt to struggle through daily word counts. I am the slow tortoise of writers and my shell is made up of Excel formula cells. Come download the spreadsheet and join me in my trundling race toward The End.
I have an Excel spreadsheet for my writing goals. It is mildly OCD. I’ve posted screenshots of it and links to it before but I won’t bore you with the specifics again. I’m more interested in the general today.
How do you manage your goals?
See, I have a dropdeadline coming up. To meet that deadline, I gave myself a rough-draft deadline somewhat before so I can rest a day or two, get some feedback, and then revise before sending.
I know how to manage my hard deadlines: I meet them.
But soft deadlines, like the ones I set for myself, are… well, by definition, softer. And squishier.
Here’s my question: If you set shorter-term, softer goals for yourself, when you exceed those goals, do you reset your next-session soft goal to reflect the forward motion? Or do you allow yourself that overachievement as breathing room relaxation?
Here’s my worry: Some people say “Oh, I easily achieve my goals and then I’m so inspired I just keep going! Would you like to see the needlepoint wall hanging I completed of my plot notes with the romance arc depicted in gold thread?” I am not one of those people. When I meet my goal, I take a break and eat brownies. I’m afraid that if I constantly push my goalline, I’ll flame out.
But maybe I’m being too easy on myself. Maybe I could do more if I just pushed a little harder. Or a lot harder.
So I’m curious, how do you manage your goals? How much do you ask of yourself? How much is too much?
Jessa Slade 