The Power Of Seven

I took a writing course recently -- well, it was more of a business course -- taught by Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn) and Orna Ross (Creative Writing, Creative Publishing, Creative Living). I learned a lot from it about the different economic models for making a living as a self-published author, which was brilliant, as that was the point of the course.

But there was a hidden gem I discovered.

For a while I've been trying to get rid of my to-do list. I have always been an obsessive list-maker and recently realized that it was some sort of elaborate ritualized procrastination. All those lists I was making ended up weighing me down and stopping me from actually doing anything.

At one point Orna talked about how she didn't like to-do lists either and that she would instead "draw" her lists, putting the words into cloud shapes, and always focused on seven things. She found that was the number of things she could accomplish in a day, week, month or a year. (I hope I'm not misquoting her here. This is what I remember her saying. It was at the beginning of the day-long class and I'm not sure the caffeine had started working yet.)

Anyway, what I remember her saying was brilliant. I have latched onto this magic seven idea ever since and have been "drawing" my to-do lists every day and week with different shapes around the words. I'm not really on board with the clouds. I like more variety anyway.

I dig the way shapes take up more space than words, just like doing things actually take up space in our lives. It seems like you can write just about anything down on a never-ending to-do list without acknowledging the time that these things take up in our lives. It's more concrete somehow and weighty to create shapes. (Dad, the fractal image is for you.)

(And for those interested in the detail, I use a new square sticky note each day. With a separate one for the week. I separate work and home for the week, but not for the day.)

I feel like this post has digressed a bit from what I was intending, which was to advise using this gem of a trick in your goal planning for 2017. Last week I posted about my New Year's Resolution, but promised I would write about goals this week.

This year I am using the Power of Seven (with shapes of course) to think about what I'd like to do in 2017. I won't list them all here, but I did think long and hard about what those seven would be as it's a much more limiting number than 10 when you try to do it.

My advice is to include the things that you might not think about as goals, but are very time-consuming. Any project or thing happening in your life that will take up time over the year. Like if you're planning a major holiday that needs a lot of planning, not to mention the time to actually take the trip. Or my example is that we are extending our kitchen. In the past I wouldn't have thought of this as a goal, but it will be massively time consuming. To not include it on the 2017 list would be bonkers.

If you're curious, my two writing goals are to finish the first draft of my novel (I'm half-way through) and to re-write my memoir to turn it into Mind, Body & Scroll, the book (working title, obvs). I'm trying to be a little more realistic in my list of things to accomplish this year. Let's not revisit whether or not I got my 2016 goals done.

Coming up next week: I answer a reader question on my book and podcast recommendations for mindfulness/meditation. (Which reminds me to say: you can email me with questions anytime at mindbodyandscroll[at]yahoo[dot]com. Or send me a message on facebook or twitter.)

Are you setting any goals for 2017?

Photo credit: Abby Lanes Cloud Texture via photopin (license)

Photo credit: fractal dream vit trop via photopin (license)

0

A Resolution Is Not A Goal (In My Book)

I used to do that thing that that's so attractive at this time of year. Come up with all sorts of resolutions to change my life for the better. This year is going to so shiny and wonderful, I would think. But then, life would get in the way and it wasn't long before things went back to normal.

These days things are different for me anyway. I make lots of changes to my habits all the time to make my life a little easier or get things done in a better way. But I spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff. More than most people -- and I certainly would not suggest becoming like me.  

But if you're interested in my technique for New Year's resolutions, it is this: choose one that is actionable in a very short amount of time. I pick something I can work on in January and February, but hopefully by March it's "done". Last year I decided to form a weekly exercise habit, which I'm happy to say has stuck. I do a weights class at my gym on Sunday afternoons and I go most weeks unless there's a very good reason I can't make it.

This year I've decided to tackle my ongoing struggle with my daily meditation habit. The problem is this: I can't seem to do it everyday. No matter what I try.

Then I realized that I hate doing anything everyday. Obviously I brush my teeth and shower everyday (I mean, I have my standards), but other than that, I need a variation in routine throughout my week. I came to grips with this even with my personal writing. I had read over and over again that I needed to be writing every single day -- but this doesn't work for me. I am far more productive when I have certain days set aside for certain activities. It's just the way I am.

So this year's New Year's Resolution is to meditate four days a week. I feel like this goes against everything I've ever heard a meditation teacher say, but hey, meditating four days a week is better than none, which is what sometimes happens when I get frustrated with my lack of progress on the daily meditation habit.      

If you feel like making one New Year's resolution isn't nearly enough, that there are lots of things in your life you'd like to fix, well, then maybe you can address these other things with your 2017 goals, which we'll talk about next week.

In the meantime, think of one thing you'd like to change right now. And make that your resolution. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better in March when you actually remember what your resolution was. And you may just accomplish it.

Photo credit: anieto2k Kirkjufell in the middle via photopin (license)
 
Photo credit: Howard Clifton Butterflies on flowers at LBJ Wildflower Center via photopin (license)

5

Mid-Year Review!

Can you believe we've hit the halfway mark in 2016? It was the Wimbledon final yesterday, everyone is talking about their summer holidays and I finally, finally didn't wear tights to the office on Friday.

So what's the next obvious thing to think about? Goals, of course! Has the first half of this year felt like an uphill slog for everyone or is it just me? Back in April, I wrote a post talking about my goals for the year. I thought I'd update you on how it's going as I find that discussing these things publicly keeps me motivated. So thanks for keeping tabs on me -- much appreciated.

1. Decide what to do with the book I wrote last year. To jog your memory, this was a non-fiction memoir I wrote about moving to the U.K. and establishing my life here. It doesn't work in its current form. I've decided to write an extensive book proposal to try to focus it and plan to send it out to agents. Instead of trying to re-write (which frankly I've already tried to do and failed), I think it's a good idea to take a step back and re-frame it.

2. Write my first full fiction novel by the summer. Hmmmm... well, this hasn't happened. But I have written 20,000 words. I'm now at the stage where I can't remember what I've written, so think it's time for a chapter plan. I broke out Excel last week to keep a synopsis of each chapter and the characters that appear. Will finish this before continuing to write.

3. Write at least one more novel in the series in the second half of the year. As I said back in April, this is really a stretch. However, I have a plan. If I can finish the first novel before November, as well as do a chapter plan for the second one, I could -- potentially -- do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to kick start the second. (If you don't know what this is, read this, where I talk about the start of my adventures in trying to write a novel in a month back in 2013.)

4. Get my U.K. driving license. Done, done and done.

5. Become more active on social media. This is so hard. I don't know how anyone has the time. I've heard advice recently to decide on your one platform and stick with it. Whether it's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest or a blog (do blogs even count anymore?). And let's not even get started with LinkedIn. I feel like I just can't keep up -- there are too many feeds and too much noise. I definitely need a better strategy on this. Any and all advice welcome.

6. Finish decorating my study. I have now gone back to the upholstery store to order a blind. But it has been so long since they measured that I appear lost in the system. I'm working on it. Also, where do you keep your printer? Mine is sitting on the floor, which looks odd. At least all of the things I've had framed are on the wall.

7. Expand our kitchen. People, this is really happening. The Hub wanted to put plans on hold due to Brexit, but I insisted we need to support the economy. We have the plans back and I am meeting with the architects this week to work on them. Will be doing some drafting myself beforehand (missed career move: architect/builder/designer -- this is so fun!).

8. Add pictures to all my old blog posts without them. Forget it. This seems like a waste of time. Does anyone disagree?

9. Make at least one photo album from my digital photos. I haven't done this yet, but I have decided on the album it will be. This is the most important step, the rest is easy.

10. Figure out a way to be writing -- and meditating -- every single day. As Toni Morrison said, you've got to "write at the edges of the day". But man, it's hard. I keep switching between trying to write before work and before bed, but both have their unique challenges. And although the weekend writing works really well as when it comes to social invites, I guard that time with my life, I still haven't worked out how to avoid working on the weekends when work gets really busy. After all, I do get paid for this work (which is important when you want a new kitchen). Good thing I still have half a year to sort this out.

The meditation is actually going O.K. I am being sensible and sticking to only 5 minutes a day until the habit is really ingrained. Once I can do it every single day, then I'll up the time.

So that's it folks. Thanks for listening and keeping me motivated and I'll give you another update at year end.

Photo credit: Illustration Friday: Path. via photopin All rights reserved by the author

4