Weekly Goals

I set out with a pretty ambitious list of goals right after the holidays, and I honestly didn't think I would make half of them. I did, though. I only missed one small goal, so this ended up being an extremely productive week.

Core Goals

Write, edit, or outline every weekday: Check. Aside from doing a couple of writing exercises, I managed to get a good amount of editing done on a Danish SF story.

Get exercise: This goal was made significantly easier by me working from home so much this week due to the bad weather. That freed up some spare time. Still, I manage to use that extra time wisely and got a good deal of exercise done.

Eat healthier: I struggled a lot with the post-holiday sugar cravings, but I managed fairly well. I couldn't avoid snacking entirely, but close enough. Besides, I made it up by keeping up the good habit during the weekend as well.

Read with intention: This was a vague goal, but I feel like I definitely lived up to it's indented purpose. I thought much more about the novel I was reading, and I also paid more attention to the short stories I listened to. And I took notes on both the novel I read and the one movie I watched, focusing on what I could learn from them as a writer. This is something I have occasionally done before, but I want to make it a habit whenever I'm reading/listening/watching stories.

Focus while writing: Another vague goal which I really felt helped me along anyway. I got much better at blocking time for writing instead of shifting back and forth between writing and other tasks. And when trying to focus wasn't enough, I turned off the internet receiver on my PC. I could still improve in this aspect, but it was definitely a big first step.


Stretch Goals

Do a WYRM review: Got this one done during Friday.

Write, edit, or outline every day: I spent the weekdays focusing on edits and writing exercises, and during the weekend I manage to write and edit a flash fiction story for Codex competition.

Do writing exercises : I managed to get two character exercises done.

Read short stories: A regular goal from last year. I want to read/listen to at least 3 published short stories.
- I listened to an story over at Manawaker's Flash Fiction Podcast
- I also listened to a story over at Podcastle.
- And two stories in the New Yorker fiction podcast

Read “new” magazines: Once again, I want to force myself to read stories outside of my regular venues (Flash Fiction Online, Clarkesworld, and Podcastle).
The Manawaker and New Yorker stories qualify for this goal.

Read/listen to non-fiction:
I didn't diversify my non-fiction reading/listning as much as I needed, but I did achieve my goal, and that by the end of Monday. I listened to three different podcasts by military analysts/military economists on the War in Ukraine, the US changing military doctrins, and a recap on 2025 geopolitically in the middle east. And I listened to two episodes of a podcast (by one of the same military analysts) on Russia's use of foreign soldiers in Ukraine as a propaganda tool and the rising military issues in West Africa.
I also listened to an episode of the Myths and Legends podcast.

Do review blog post: Yes! I finally got around to finalizing that blog post and pressed "Publish".

Do year-end/start posts: I did a 2025 recap/2026 goals in my Codex author thread. Now I just need to get started on similar posts for my blog.

Submit short stories: I submitted three stories which had been lying around since rejected during the holidays.

Do Fantasticon work: I am a bit annoyed that I missed this one goal. Still, there was nothing urgent I needed to do, so I will catch up next week (I hope).