I don’t make official, out loud New Years Resolutions, but I do make quiet little ones to myself. In terms of last year, I am proud of myself for:

• Keep all the weight I lost off
• Getting such a large chunk of my book done
• Making more money in my company than the last year
• Reading 50 books in one year

I was also a little disappointed in myself for:

• Not totally finishing my book
• Not doubling the amount I made the previous year as I had planned
• The amount of time I worked vs spent with friends and family

So what are the goals for this year (2008)? These are all things I want to do for myself as a little present to me.

• Read. While, I am not going to officially do the 50 Book Challenge this year, I am still going to try to read as much as possible. The reason for this is that 50 books is a lot of darn books and I just don’t physically have the time. But I am promising myself to keep reading in my life (which is what that exercise taught me) and that making time to read is easier than you might think if you leave books all over the house. Reading a few words while you wait for the microwave or toaster oven, brush your teeth or wait for something to download actually helps you turn some wasted time into reading time. Reading also keeps me on track with writing more than anything else so its important in that aspect.
• Finish my book. This has actually been on the list for a long time now but this time it is solemn and important. My goal is to have the whole book finished by the end of the month (March) and edited before NaNoWriMo starts again next year (so I can use NaNo to write the sequel). I have learned that deadlines are only meaningful if you make them so which is why there are unmovable.
• Finish something else (fiction) while book is being edited. I am not picky about this. Be it a play, short story or something else fiction-wise, I want to get something else done so I have two completed things by the end of this year. (Three if I do NaNo right this time out and actually finish something).
• Make writing (fiction and non) a more regular thing. I hope to start churning out monthly guides, ebooks and other short works instead of long dry spells with no writing at all.
• Work smarter, not harder. I still want to make as much money as I made last year or more and I have a lot of things that I want to get done at work. However, I don’t want to be as stressed out and overworked as I have been in the past so my goal is to re-evaluate how I work and figure out how to get more done in less time and with less stress. 
• More us time (for my husband and I). My husband and I both work well over a 40 hour week. Even if one of us isn’t working on the weekend (which is often) and we don’t have other commitments, we are both too tired to do much of anything other than sleep and food shop. Not to mention when work calls in the middle of meals and other things. We promised each other that, this year, we were more important than work.

In case you were curious, so far I have been doing pretty terrible on these resolutions.

I did manage to read 3 books already but that is mostly thanks to all the time I spent waiting in doctor’s offices because of my surgery.

I also did add two chapters to my book, which is good but not really enough to meet the goal on time (but still hopeful on this).

So far, I have written nothing other than the above too chapters.

I am still working way too much. I am, however, in the middle of the most important project possibly in the history of my company and my future so it’s pretty important. I think I will be able to stick to this better once this project is done.

The more "us" time is the thing that has suffered the most. My husband is rarely home before 8 PM (he gets into work at 6:30 AM) and his job is very stressful right now. I am no better, if anything, I am worse.

When I first started working for myself, my only rules were that I stopped work when my husband got home and that, with a few exceptions for hair on fire type things, weekends were a no-work zone. Not only have I consistently been working on weekends, I work most nights as well now. Now, again, I have this huge and important project but all the same, its not good.

A few days ago, I ran into some tech difficulties and couldn’t work on a Saturday so I just hung out with my husband. Aside from a few calls from his work and my answering a few emails, we basically did nothing and it was amazing! We went food shopping, out to eat, played a video game and sat by the fire and talked about life. I imagine this is what it is like all the time when you are normal people!

When Sunday night came along and we both had to go back to work (him fielding calls, me just straight up working), it was like when they put that heavy blanket on you before an X-ray. It made me realize how much pressure we are both under and how important it is that we find time for each other. I’m not sure I know the solution, but we have to find it.

You may also enjoy these related posts. . .

• Where have you been?
• My 12 Step Guide for Succeeding at National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
• What I learned about writing from NaNoWriMo . . .