Rolling with the wave of inspiration, I worked on clearing out my paper calendars from the last 6 years. I write quotes, names of books and authors, ideas about marketing, page numbers of manuscripts I’m editing, phone numbers, promotions, royalties, and so many other tidbits of information. I write them down for the moment in order to capture their importance. I used time this week to compile the bits I wanted to keep. Some I handwrote onto new sheets of paper. Other notes from webinars or blogs or articles, I typed and then printed them out. (Remember, I’m an analog girl!)
Each year, I choose content, marketing, and administrative tasks to aim for completion during the next 12 months. In some years, I surpass what I plan. In other years, I’m very far off the mark. I belief life is filled with our attempts at constant course correction. If we never make plans, never take action, never reflect on how those plans turned out, then we roll around like a silver ball in a pinball machine, forever at the whims of the universe. Of course, we can make the best of plans, control all our emotional, physical, and mental energy to take what we believe is the right action, and still end up very far off the mark. I think that if we believe we have a mark at all is one of the great cosmic jokes. But that’s a post for another time. The course correction I’m mentioning is the one regarding my writing and all the bits that adhere to it.
In reviewing and rewriting items from those 6 calendars, I focused on marketing and administrative tasks. In reflection, I see that there are very few new marketing ideas. And the ones that I’ve added to the queue for 2023 are what I didn’t get to, or dive deep enough into, in 2022. My admin list is very short. A majority of my marketing list includes ongoing tasks. So, does this mean that I’ve tried nearly everything “out there” to connect with readers? Or have I reached my capacity to take on more tasks, learn more technology, and still create content? I wonder about this. In some instances, even the content has been carried over from the last few years. Always, I aim to manage all levels of my energy in order to be more productive, learn more of what I need to know, apply what I understand intellectually. Maybe, like a few instances in my life, it just takes a while for things to percolate, for me (or the universe) to line up just right.
I’ve reviewed the pages of notes more than once. I have another idea on how to organize/use/simplify my pages/tidbits. But not a lot of “new” will be written on the planning pages for 2023. It might take all of this next year for me to decide if I’ve exhausted everything or if I’m at capacity. What I notice at the moment, is that I’m okay with either reason.
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