April 2015

As you know if you watched the Heart to Heart vlog I have been finding things tough recently but I am determined to pull myself out of the slump so lets see how I am doing…

1) Eat healthier – no going on a diet but to watch portion size, try to make sure I get my five a day and to make healthier choices where I can. I also bought a smoothie maker in an attempt to help with this one.

I am doing a little better but have also decided that the way forward for me at the minute at least is to do the full strict calorie counting during the week and then relax a little over the weekend, by that I do not mean go mad and eat what I like but not to worry so much about logging everything and take into account I still want to have a life.  The weekend is the time I am more likely to eat out or to have friends or family round and it makes sense to me to relax a little at these times but that does mean being very strict during the week and sticking to the next one…

2) Exercise more – I want to try to exercise at least 4 times a week, starting with 10-15mins and building up to at least one hour session and the others at 30mins. Before I have tried for too much to soon ended up in pain then quit.

I have been hit and miss with this but am determined not only to do more but to build it into my daily routine so I automatically get on with it.  I read you lose more weight and burn more fat exercising first thing in the morning on an empty stomach not sure if that will work every morning depends how stiff I wake up but I am going to give it my best shot.

3) Write everyday – I intend to spend at least 30mins of every day writing, be it on here or in my journal. Most days will of course involve a lot longer and working on my books or other pieces but even on the busiest of days I need to make that small amount of time count.

This one I have been doing and slowly I am starting to feel more positive again.  I have focus and a plan and can finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

4) Daily WIP Progress – although I mention above actually writing every day by this I mean that on days I do not have time to sit and actually write on one of my WIPs then I will still find a way to contribute to it either by having a read through, printing a page off to edit or to make extra notes relating to whatever project I am working on.  Writing is so much more than just getting a story on paper.

I was not managing this with my previous way of managing my time but I am confident with the new plans I have I will get there and the results will be seen very quickly.

5) Improve my skin care regime – more of a personal one but time is not on the side of my skin and it does react to weather conditions so especially if I want to feel more comfortable filming vlogs I have  to invest a few  minutes each morning and bedtime.

If you read my Glossybox review you will have heard me preaching about a new face cream now I just need to find a way to afford it!

6 ) Publish VATV – to be fair this would be done already had the computer not died but now it will be a case of hoping that my dropbox had updated properly but I know I do have 9 stories fully edited on hard copy that can be typed back up and the other stories will be saved in some form, I will set a new released date as soon as I have the new computer in my possession and set up.

Looking at the beginning of August for a launch date now actually beginning to feel good about the project again after the lethargy caused by the loss of so much of the work.

7) Publish Queen of Ages – another project which stalled, but as soon as Voices is out I intend to start another edit run on the first  part of my trilogy and get stuck into to writing the second part which I also intend to be out before the end of thd year.  Had technical issues not meant the delay to Voices I would have gone for all three within the year.

A rejection from the publishing firm I submitted to but have decided to rework a few sections and self publish around October/November time then use NanoWriMo as a kick off point for the second part which is already partly outlined.

8) Catch up on my emails – that should be catch up and keep up, as many of you have been aware I have made a good start on this one while tryinb to recover from flu but if you have not had a flood of extra likes on posts from last year it does not mean I have not read and enjoyed them but I did read some in my email inbox and others the like button just would not work on this silly touch screen tablet.

Done! I still have a back log of YouTube videos to watch but they are purely for relaxation so it does not matter so much also need to catch up listening to podcasts before I find anymore to add to my backlog.

9) Use scheduling better – I normally prepare blog posts and a number of Facebook posts in advance then schedule them to go live at certain times,  I want to work on being more consistent at this however I confess I am finding it hard to do on the tablet so that may have to wait for the computer as well.

I decided to cut back on Facebook posts and also to drop my photo blog for now.  With me posting more to instagram I do not want to spam friends and fill their walls I would rather have a couple of posts then share more things in real time either as I read them or as I experience them.

10) Put myself first more – I have discussed this in part previously but there is more to it which I will go into at a later date more. So often we are too worried to say no, too afraid of hurting others feelings but the fact is you can only be treated like a doormat if you lie down for people to walk over.

I am certainly managing this maybe not always in the right way… not sure growling at people really achieves what I want long term but certainly makes them back off lol

11) Get out and about more – finances dictate that I cannot go off on crazy adventures every weekend but I want to make sure I fit in 4 away day and see at least two shows at the theatre this year.

Things in planning and hopefully one or two to share over the next month.

12) Have faith in my writing – I am determined as well as the larger projects to create one extra short story a month and to submit it to market.

I renewed by Duotrope subscription so I am all set now to find the right markets to submit my work to as well as possibly getting paid for some of it so fingers crossed.