This is the start of a new chapter for me, so it is a good time to look at what I’ve done and review what I had in my strategies posts before this. I think I will find that this is a good time to reframe some of my strategies, but first a review.
My Strategies Posts
I want to review what I found in those earlier posts because I think that is how I’ll find a new way to look at this.
Planning and Staying to Plan. I am planning and, for the most part, staying to plan but leaving some flexibility in it because of life. I continue to struggle with getting it written down; I tend to make notes, but not be very organized. I recently admitted to being a mental slob. I think I need to roll with that because it is unlikely to change. This will always be my normal! Grade 3
Starting New Projects. I intentionally began new and really big projects this year: Online education, beginning to redo my pattern catalog, updating my website. These new project have lead to needing to reframe some of what I had been doing, and so some things had to be archived, and others put aside entirely. That book I’ve been working on has morphed into curriculum. It may someday be a text book, and it may never get printed. I have done really well on focusing on these three things. Grade 3.5
Deadlines. Setting realistic deadlines and meeting them is going well. I still have trouble keeping distant deadlines in perspective—it fails to register that they are getting nearer! But I’m using wall calendars and that really helps to see ahead. I need to get the second half of the year on the wall. I think I’ve surprised myself at how well I’ve done on this one. There is always room for improvement. Grade 4.0
Mapping out Plans. Of all the things, I am so bad at this. Revise that. I am so bad at documenting this! I actually think things through pretty well, but I let it rattle around in my head instead of writing it down. To acknowledge that I’ve made real progress, Grade 3.25
Reading. Apparently I’m not really interested in much of the reading I think I should be doing. I plan to read things that will make me a better person, better marketer, better business person and, the reality? I’m not going to do it. I have been reading things about color, knitting (and doing book reviews!), fashion, and fiber, all of which I love, so screw the rest. Reading broadly, material that pleases me, is the new goal. I always read a lot, so even if I wasn’t growing as a person, my Grade 3.75
Improving Photography. Without judgment about what more I could/need to do, I have really done this one. I have done so well that when I asked Mitch for a new iPhone 7 to get the better camera I didn’t feel guilty! What I need to do going forward is to add video. I think if I can get my desktop operating system to upgrade, that I might be able to do the editing more easily. I really don’t want to do it on my phone, but it is crazy easy to shoot a video there! If I don’t get the video solved, I can’t keep this Grade 4.0
Consistency. In some ways I totally nail this one, but there are also ways that I totally don’t. Let’s start with how I don’t:
- I don’t do things I don’t want to
- I haven’t been running consistently
- I allow internal deadlines to slip
- I don’t plan properly
- I fail to see the big calendar picture.
But there are the ways I do:
- If I commit, it gets done
- I have good follow through
- I meet external deadlines
- I stick to plans
I’m not certain I can do better on this. Grade 3.25
2016 Strategies Added
I had other things that I put on my list in 2016, so let’s look at those.
Drawing. Basically, I gave this up in order to do preparation for online workshops and courses. I’m sad because it gave me real pleasure, but I can only jam so much into my days. I either need to take this off the list, or figure out a way to integrate it. Grade 0
Knitting. I knit nearly every day, that isn’t the issue. I thought I should be knitting during my work day. I will only do that if I need something quickly for a blog post or video. I have no interest in doing more. I do let myself quit work early to get a little more evening knitting done. I’m going to take this off the list. It isn’t relevant right now. Grade 3.5
Doing Tasks I’m Not Thrilled About. I seem to have little desire to change my behavior, although I’d like better results. I’ve tried to shift my thinking, I put it on my calendar, but I just don’t do it. Mitch helps, and I want to be better, but I don’t see it really changing. I think I need to reframe this to get a different result. Grade 3 2.5
Following a Marketing Plan. As long as we can consider jotted notes and post its on the calendar a marketing plain, I have made strides. My wall calendar helps. I need to be better about actually documenting it, but I do seem to be following a plan. I want to make this more coherent, but for now, Grade 3.5
Good Intentions. I am making excellent progress on paving my way to hell. See, Doing Tasks above. I am trying to keep my Jill Wolcott Knits intentions to a low level, and only do what I can actually act on. I want to improve my timing: I do too much work at the last moment because I haven’t acknowledged how much time it will take, or how the deadline is approaching. I’m not going to grade this alone, but I’m lowering my grade on Doing Tasks.
Blog-Social Media. I am very consistent here. It is so public I am afraid to do otherwise! I have worked at finding what I can do with pleasure so I don’t fall into the dread Doing Tasks category! I have enjoyed doing the Color of the Day posts on Instagram. I do my two-a-week blog posts mostly with joy, and I like my newsletter and would do it more often if I had the time. I am okay at checking in on my Ravelry group, and I check on Facebook, but don’t really engage there as much as I could. I think I need a better picture of my goals. I am beginning a series of monthly posts for Anzula. Grade 4
I am going to check back next Friday with how I resolve this. I’ve done it, but this is way too long! Thanks for listening, this was really helpful.
What an interesting way of looking at things! I’m a great planner, a truly amazing planner. I’m not such a great implementer. Years ago, an out of town friend saw my schedule on the ‘fridge and said, “Is this how your day runs?” I just laughed!! But having the plan at least gives something to shoot for. Another year I did a “program” that had you write down every single thing you wanted to accomplish in a day, including meals and sleep, along with how much time you estimated it would take. It was eye-opening to see that my sense of failure was probably related to the fact that I had 38 hours of tasks to accomplish in 24. That’s when I really began to work on *reasonable* goals that could actually be accomplished, such as, “Get up, keep the children alive, go to bed.”
I like this idea of keeping track of what your goals are, and then reviewing them periodically to see if you’re making progress. I have done that some, but not in a structured manner. I’m going to put reviewing goals and plans on my list a couple of times a year. At least it will help to see if things are really happening, or if they need to be taken off the list to relieve the false guilt of not meeting goals that are no longer relevant.
Thanks for sharing.
Well Lisa R, as you know, I’m kind of scattered on a day-to-day basis, and I’m not a resolution-type person, but I see the value in making these assessments. Sometimes it is a way to break a pattern, or to reframe or reassess. I wrote pages and pages about this–and I’ll share more today (?!). I too tend to do that 38/24 thing, which left me feeling defeated. It isn’t like I’m going to change what I do because it takes longer, but it is nice to know that there is a reason I don’t finish everything as planned.
Now I try to make lists that are what do I need to get done now, not just a brain dump of what *I would like to get done* stuff. Sadly, I think this is what we do with our knitting–and why it becomes hard to get through bigger projects.