Happy new year! I enjoyed a restorative, relaxing, and reflective holiday season. I hope you all did also.
To my writer pals and community, check out this article. Loved being asked to contribute 3 goals every writer should make in the new year. Sweta Vikram is always so collaborative, and I was delighted to be interviewed by her.
To give you a sneak peek, see the three tips that I contributed below. To read the tips from all of the contributors, click here to read the full article.
  1. Honor Appointments with Yourself to Write: I’m a certified organizing and productivity consultant, so my biggest piece of advice is to carve out time for your writing on your calendar by scheduling it in as an appointment. And then honor those appointments with yourself just like you would an appointment with someone else. We tend to honor appointments for official meetings, with other people, or for events. Do the same with your writing sessions!
  2. Move Your Body Each Day: Writing is often done sitting down for long stretches of time. Make it a point to move your body each day. Whether that consists of light stretching, yoga poses, a walk outside, calisthenics, or more strenuous exercise like a bike ride or hike—it doesn’t matter as long as it’s movement. I love the app Down Dog and the free Namaste Yoga classes on Amazon Prime. But my favorite activity is cycling. I bring my iPhone and brainstorm ideas for my WIP and dictate them when I pull over to drink water. Dictating ideas for your writing is another great way to keep the writing going when you’re not sitting with your Butt in Chair!
  3. Get a Writing Partner: My writing partner and I have been together for almost three years now. I don’t know where I would be without her! We use Facebook messenger to communicate almost daily, do video chats periodically, brainstorm ideas for our WIPs together, and swap pages. We hold each other accountable, offer a shoulder to cry on, and cheer each other on. I would not want to be on this writing journey without her! I highly recommend finding another writer that you can partner up with. Of course, you have to make sure that you’re a good fit. But once you find a great match, it’s worth it’s weight in gold.

Be it for two hours or ten minutes, include exercising your writing muscles as part of your routine. Be it daily or once a week, schedule time in your calendar for writing. It’s self-care, it’s your dedicated me-time, and much more. As Pattabhi Jois says, Practice and all is coming.

Bring on 2021!