I don’t really make resolutions.
When I was younger, I’d set goals for the new year and feel disappointed in myself when I’d fail. I’d say, “This year I’m going to write a poem every day” and by the 4th of January I’d realize I didn’t have time that day and the whole plan was dashed or “I’ll go to the gym 3 times a week” and find myself a month into the year with multiple rehearsals and shows taking up my gym time slots. These things made me feel bad about myself no matter how much I knew I shouldn’t let them.
So what do you care if it’s a new year when you don’t make resolutions?
I don’t, except that I like the structure it can add to my life. I have time blindness so I rely on multiple calendars and clocks to get things accomplished. I can’t tell how long things take or how much time has passed without outside references.
So how can a person like you write to deadlines or go on months long trips or pet sit?
I set small goals and reminders! Constantly!
I send myself emails and texts and use iPhone notes and reminders. I attach dates and times to everything (even if it it’s a personal project without a concrete timeline). I take time out of my week to write and check my planner (which is a very simplified version of a bullet journal). When I have a task made up of other tasks, I make time to sit down and order the necessary tasks and add specific times to them if necessary.
My petsitting experience and months of traveling in 2022 has helped me to develop even better habits for timeliness.
I’ve found that having a physical note for pet specifics (feeding amounts, preferred walk times, etc.) works better for me that just having the digital versions. I actually find I have more peace of mind if I have both. Luckily, the two petsitting sites I use each include a place for pet owners to put these details down and have apps that I can access easily. I just gently request that they also include a physical version for me with any last minute notes they think of (and they can text me with anything that pops into mind after they’ve gone). Then I use this info to populate my own notes and reminders and put the physical one in a visible but safe place (plus I take a photo of it – just in case).
Sometimes the times are vague and sometimes they are very specific. This screenshot from my notes app is actually my template for travel days. That’s why it includes both Lyft and the Gatwick Express train when those don’t operate in the same countries.
It’s probably a lot of steps for other people, but it’s how I operate best. And after months of developing these practices for petsitting and traveling, I began using them for my personal projects.
I get writing projects done by placing due dates on them. I make a note and attach times to do things like showering and eating so that I don’t spend time thinking about them when I could or should be writing. I take the struggle of tracking time from inside my head to out. Then when a question about time pops up, I can look at a clock or calendar and compare it to the times in my note and act on whatever thing I decided on before I was stressed or lost track of time.
Back to the new year.
I have big plans for my writing this year. I have 3 main projects I hope to accomplish along with finding freelance and/or full-time work. This week I’ll begin setting down my timelines for each project and the emails of ideas that I’ve scheduled to be sent from me to me will begin arriving. My calendar will fill up and I’ll have to find days to sift through the notes and reminders and various browser tabs to stay organized. But it’s ok if I don’t get it all done. Not being perfect is ok. Setting goals high enough that they take time and special effort to reach is ok. Missing one day is ok. We can rewrite the timelines. We can take the dog out early if it helps. We can appreciate the break if it’s time for the cat’s dinner but we’re not finished.
We can reassess and edit our goals.
We don’t have to stick to the exact plan we had when we set out on the journey.
We can start again any time.
Life is our adventure. Sometimes it’s going to go way off track and not look at all like we expected. My adventure for 2023 is writing. I’ve set the goals, but I’m ready for changes.
Follow along if you like and remember — Even tiny adventures matter.
In case anyone is curious, when I was traveling in the UK and EU summer 2022, I used TrustedHousesitters to find house sits and I highly recommend it. There is a cost but I found the service to be totally worth it.