Are you getting enough done?

I never feel like I’m getting enough done. And I am hauling butt ALL damn day. (Except when I’m reading, which is frequently, but even then I read like it’s a competitive sport.) Rationally, I know I’m getting a lot done in a day, but emotionally, I feel like I’m getting nowhere because the book I’m currently writing only gets 20-40 minutes of attention a day, and I work full-time in a bakery. The work in a bakery is literally NEVER done. Like, ever. So what can a self-critical, driven, goal-oriented, energy and time-challenged person do to feel like s/he/they are getting somewhere?

PowerSheets®. Anybody out there use them? Two years ago, Katee Robert, an author I’ve followed for years, posted pictures of her Powersheets® planning on Instagram so many times, I got over my “I hate planners” attitude and checked it out. Then I bought a Powersheets® Planner and tried it for a year. Important: it’s not a daily planner. It’s a GOAL planner. And there are MANY pages of “who are you (and how and why) and what do you want (REALLY want) before you map out some goals. But then the magic begins. (Also important: the one I bought, the dated one, is sold out for the year. But you can still get the undated one. The 2020 launch happens in October, I think. I’ll let you know.)

I’m REALLY not good at dedicated, daily, progress-bar, checklist planning. There were more blank pages on that planner than filled pages in 2018. But I love the ideas behind Lara Casey’s goal-planning system. “Progress not Perfection.” “The best things in life are cultivated little by little.” And her most inspiring, “You know those things you’ve always wanted to do? You should go do them.” So I bought another one this year. And this year’s goals are pretty much the same, or at least, they fall into the same categories: write words, exercise, call my mother. Daily. This year’s bigger picture goals are: create a budget, write the book, college hunt, bar mitzvah plan, become a better bakery coordinator, book marketer, self-carer…all the things. Which basically fall into two-and-a-half categories: Nurture my family (short-term and long-term) and nurture myself. Oh! And nurture my friends.

On paper, I didn’t get very far in 2018, but OH, I did. I discovered what I’m afraid of, the obstacle I put between me and my goals, but that’s another post. I’m not feeling that deep today.