I’m a wife, stay-at-home mom, writer, and editor, so I balance quite a few hats and don’t have a lot of free time. When my son was born, I knew I wanted to be a mom first and foremost, so I decided only to work during his naps and whenever I had babysitting help. This meant I typically had thirty minutes to an hour a day to work on all of my marketing, editing, and writing goals. Crazy? Maybe.
But I’ve still managed to grow my business and keep writing. How? Monthly goal-setting. When I first started my business, I set daily goals and weekly goals. Because every day with a little one is different, achieving these goals was often impossible and caused me a lot of frustration. So, instead of spending every day wishing I could cross off my goals, I switched to a monthly goal-setting system. At the start of every month, I make a list of everything I want to accomplish in the whole month—realistically speaking, of course. Then, I have a whole 30/31 days to work toward those goals.
This past March, I set a goal of finishing a client’s developmental edit, writing 15k words on my WIP (work in progress), and posting consistently on Instagram. Even with the busyness of everyday life, I completed every single goal and felt very little frustration on a daily basis regarding these goals. On April 1, I sat down again and made new goals for a new month.
My challenge to you is to develop a list of monthly goals for yourself! Whether you’re in college, a mother, or working a full-time job, we are all living with limited time. See if this process works for you and helps you get more done with less frustration.
Share in the comments below! What is your monthly goal list for April?
Megan Gerig has been known as the hermit in Spare Oom to her family. She prefers reading to socializing, and by middle school, even the librarian had difficulty recommending a book she hadn’t read. Besides reading and writing, Megan enjoys baking muffins (and licking the bowl), gardening, and evening walks. She lives in a cottage in the midst of a busy city with her librarian husband and book-devouring son and is a freelance writer and editor at https://mgliteraryservices.com. Connect with her on her website or on Instagram @librarianswife.
