Author Blog

Goal setting September

Back to the grind after time away from my novel.

Diliny M. De Alwis

06 Sep 2024 — 2 min read

Mindset

Goal setting September

I’ve forgotten everything! My routine, the plot, my characters. Will I be able to get it all back?

I pause in my freak out, knowing I will get it all back. This is my life now; this is what I have committed myself to.

I look at the mess that is in my office. A kid’s iPad lies on my desk charging. Discarded notebooks that may or may not have notes in them. I can’t find the manuscript returned in rejection, with comments, for a children’s book I had sent off to a publisher.

My bookshelves are a mess. If my mind is anything like this room, it’s no wonder I can’t see straight. ADHD, is this you? Hyperfocus is my strength. Here I am in the throws of overwhelm.

I need to make a plan.

Open my writing application.
Read through my previous edits.
Find where I left off.
Write.

But, D.M., what about the five people who offered to read and review my most recent edits from July?

Revised plan, begin here instead.

Reach out to my beta fish.
Send them docx and gdoc access to my sample chapters.
Make a list of feedback I am looking to receive.
Let it go.

But, D.M., what about the mess that is my office?

No. I can not work miracles. Today is a day to get my head back into the game. I have decided. I can do nothing but read my most recent copy.

But, what about the research material that I have piled up that needs reading?

What about the most recent episodes of Only Murders in the Building?

What about…

ADHD Hack

List my goals. Prioritize the list based on deadlines.

Focus on #1.

Read my recent copy to kickstart my writing. (Today)
Make a lamb stew for Friday night dinner. (Today)
Increase fibre and water intake. (Today)
Clean my house following my recent houseguests to regain my grounding, sanity/focus. (This weekend)
Continue watching Julia and Only Murders in the Building (This weekend)
Start reading the material collected for novel 2. (Monday)
Clean up my office — 15 minutes a day. (Weekdays)
Donate clothing and clutter as it collects. (Assess next Friday)
Donate all the toddler toys my visiting niece left all over my house. (Assess next Friday)
Plan the downstairs bathroom renovation. (Sometime next week)
Groom the cat. (Sometime next week)
Plan my son’s 10th birthday — a murder mystery — and how to include my older son’s friends as well. (Sometime in the coming weeks)