Good morning. This week was fairly successful in the sense that I did manage to get quite a few things done, but, I also let some things slide. Need to get better about that. I cut waaay back on reading for pleasure, so that I could get more work done. I read a non-fiction book for a review that will be going up on the blog on Monday (which brings the number of books read this year to 17!).

What will I improve on next week? Remaining focused on doing the work that I have laid out for myself. Second, selling.

What was my biggest accomplishment this week? I was able to sit down on two occasions and work on my novel. Not only have I put together a new content plan for it, but I got myself out of the fix I was in.

What did I learn? That novels take more planning! And that you just can’t rely on some people.

What opportunities did I create? I really didn’t.

What questions came up or were answered? ummm.

Am I closer to my Life Goals? Yes.

What was hard for me this week, and why? I tried to put together a couple of meetings, but the other people couldn’t get it together.

What was the biggest waste of time? Waiting for people to show up to a meeting. Although I did capitalize on the alone time to work on the book review.

What brought the best return on time invested? Getting out of the house and working on my novel.

Back in November I started writing a science fiction novel for NaNoWriMo, which quickly veered off into the realm of cyberpunk and then ran into a massive plot-busting problem. I thought about how to fix it for all of one afternoon.

Then I stopped. Mainly because I was afraid of doing the work to fix it. Re-writing a huge chunk of what I had done. Ugh. It had been flowing so quickly and easily that I was not even really sure that I was the one writing it. To have it come crashing to a halt like that was almost physically painful.

Of course, then November was gone, the impetus was gone, and I got busy with paying the bills and doing the Christmas thing and then it was New Years and then, well there was always something else. Then yesterday I was so restless. I was pacing around the house, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I felt like I needed to make something with my hands, build a clock out of popsicle sticks or draw a map of Alaska.

The Lovely Bride recommended that I could work on my novel, or maybe make a drawing – since I have all of that drawing stuff upstairs…hmmmmmm. Something clicked in the back of my head, like when you drop a vitamin on the kitchen floor, it makes that one sound then – gone. But it wasn’t gone, just out of my line of sight. Percolating and brewing and lettingthe flavors get intermingled.

The click turned into an alarm clock this morning while I was writing my Morning Pages. Now I have some serious inspiration, and by adding other media to the project it makes it much more interesting for me – and potentially more interesting for the readers.

“Stay Tuned”. For an idea of what I am thinking, see what Neal Stephenson has done with Anathem.

Tags: Anathem, first world problems, ideas, Morning Pages, Neal Stephenson, novel, writer's block, writing

This week has been better than the past two, combined. First of all I did take Saturday and Sunday “off” again, but I was determined to get back to business with my Morning Pages and writing activities, reserving the reading for my breaks and “after hours”. Keeping a good schedule and regular office hours was a big help.

What will I improve on next week? Selling remains a powerful need, and I sold in spades this week. Two new consulting client meetings, and some planning/marketing time. Nice. I set a modest goal of $2000 in revenue for February, I am projecting that I am 75% of the way there as of this writing.

What was my biggest accomplishment this week? I managed to complete reading the 13th volume of The Wheel of Time and still get some good client time in.

What did I learn? That getting up early and starting my day is the best way to maintain prolific production.

What opportunities did I create? I have three consulting clients that will be regular meetings and leading to word-of-mouth marketing.

What questions came up or were answered? Where is my best revenue stream?

Am I closer to my Life Goals? Yes.

What was hard for me this week, and why? I still spent too much time reading fiction.

What was the biggest waste of time? I didn’t really “waste” any time, but some if it could have been invested better.

What brought the best return on time invested? C0-creation with some of my consulting clients.

I had a call with Michael Schechter last week and turned it into my weekly podcast on the blog.

But at the beginning of the call we started going on about work and jobs and I got into a little rant about my last job.

Listen if you want, it’s about 20 minutes long.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tags: jobs, michael schecter, podcast