✔ Done some more editing. I am on a roll this week. I have cranked out 13 chapters. This was a good week for getting stuff done, and I am happier that I am that much closer to publication, woohoo
✔ Lost some more weight. I lost another pound. It doesn’t feel like it, but I am sure I will notice one day, lol
✔ Enjoyed Mothers day with my wife. Spent time with my wife, and treated her to an all day breakfast at our local all-you-can-eat. It’s been strange not sending my Mum a card, or present this year, and they say that the first Mothers Day without her being here would be tough. Spending time with the misses has really helped cheer me up, whilst treating her in the process, and that’s a win in my book.
✔ Enjoyed 3 days off As part of my input session, I have decided to join my wife on her 3 days off, and we spent lots of time together, and just chilled, resting, relaxing, watching Supernatural, and going out and about 🙂
✔ Edited more chapters on Time Clones book 2 I managed to fill in another square this week. Another step towards completion, yay
✔ Spent time at Biddulph Grange Garden Had a great time at a National Trust place. The weather was gorgeous, and my wife and I met up with a friend, then had a look around the gardens. The Grange is the home of the UKs biggest Urn, and many beautifully sculpted gardens. The house was not open to the public, but the bookshop, and local shops were. Our friend managed to snag a bargain of a 1903 copy of Pride and Prejudice in almost mint condition for only £4.00 – result!
✔ Enjoyed 3 days off As part of my input session, I have decided to join my wife on her 3 days off, and we spent lots of time together, and just chilled, resting, relaxing, watching Supernatural, and going out and about 🙂
✔ Edited more chapters on Time Clones book 2 I managed to fill in another square this week. Another step towards completion, yay
✔ Spent time at Biddulph Grange Garden Had a great time at a National Trust place. The weather was gorgeous, and my wife and I met up with a friend, then had a look around the gardens. The Grange is the home of the UKs biggest Urn, and many beautifully sculpted gardens. The house was not open to the public, but the bookshop, and local shops were. Our friend managed to snag a bargain of a 1903 copy of Pride and Prejudice in almost mint condition for only £4.00 – result!
✔ More editing updates 10 chapters closer to Beta Reading, then final release. I am so excited, I decided to have a bash on Canva and create the book cover. Lots of good stuff coming, yay.
✔ Went to a craft show My wife took me and some fam to a craft show in NEC. As a creative, I am often using outward energy to make my characters come to life, and craft the stories I write. When an opportunity come along to get some inward energy, I seize the opportunity to see what’s happening. This act of being able to enjoy other peoples crafts is quite often inspirational, and fantastic for giving my brain a chance to just stop and gather some ideas. We saw all sorts of cardboard crafting supplies, demos, sewing, knitting and more. The displays were exquisite, and gave me lots of ideas for future book signings 🙂
✔ Spent some time in Rugby Decided to have a day away from the study and get some fresh air into my lungs. A change of scenery recharged my batteries and the day off was just what I needed. The town is quaint and has lots to offer, although I did notice some areas which offered more of a rugged look, which may take some people out of their comfort zones. When you compare the place ou live, with the places you visit, it can really make you feel thankful that you have what you have got, but also sad for others who have less.
✔ Ran an internet safety session for teenagers. My previous tech experience gave me the opportunity to help some teenagers understand just how dangerous Social Media and the internet can be. The session lasted approximately 30 minutes. At the start, the children I was teaching were a little uneasy, and probably put off by “some old guy” who was going to teach them about the internet… after all, I’m old, what do I know? During the session, the teenagers really listened to what I had to say, asking great questions, and by the end of the session, even the adults joined in. The group has asked me to go back in future, to do a talk about being an Author, and I can’t wait to introduce them to the worlds of writing 🙂
✔ More editing updates 10 chapters closer to Beta Reading, then final release. I am so excited, I decided to have a bash on Canva and create the book cover. Lots of good stuff coming, yay.
✔ Went to a craft show My wife took me and some fam to a craft show in NEC. As a creative, I am often using outward energy to make my characters come to life, and craft the stories I write. When an opportunity come along to get some inward energy, I seize the opportunity to see what’s happening. This act of being able to enjoy other peoples crafts is quite often inspirational, and fantastic for giving my brain a chance to just stop and gather some ideas. We saw all sorts of cardboard crafting supplies, demos, sewing, knitting and more. The displays were exquisite, and gave me lots of ideas for future book signings 🙂
✔ Spent some time in Rugby Decided to have a day away from the study and get some fresh air into my lungs. A change of scenery recharged my batteries and the day off was just what I needed. The town is quaint and has lots to offer, although I did notice some areas which offered more of a rugged look, which may take some people out of their comfort zones. When you compare the place ou live, with the places you visit, it can really make you feel thankful that you have what you have got, but also sad for others who have less.
✔ Ran an internet safety session for teenagers. My previous tech experience gave me the opportunity to help some teenagers understand just how dangerous Social Media and the internet can be. The session lasted approximately 30 minutes. At the start, the children I was teaching were a little uneasy, and probably put off by “some old guy” who was going to teach them about the internet… after all, I’m old, what do I know? During the session, the teenagers really listened to what I had to say, asking great questions, and by the end of the session, even the adults joined in. The group has asked me to go back in future, to do a talk about being an Author, and I can’t wait to introduce them to the worlds of writing 🙂
✔ Edited more chapters of Time Clones book 2 Another chunk of editing done which takes me up to twenty chapters in the last edits in Time Clones book 2.
✔ Increased my project management, by merging two popular tools together. I had a great idea recently, and decided to make mind maps, and todo lists work together. Find out more in the Featured Article section.
✔ Calculated the results of my dopamine habit tracker scores. A little while ago, I watched a video which showed me how to gamify my habits, and tasks. Over the last couple of weeks, this hack has made it more fun to complete my habits, even the ones I don’t enjoy doing, but I know will be good for my health in the long run, such as sleeping before 11pm. Last week out of a possible score of 54 (8 habits over 7 days), I achieved a score of 15 🙁 This week, I achieved 25 🙂
✔ Edited x chapters using MS Word I’ve scribbled in more squares in my paper tracker, and am now more than 15 chapters into the final edits for Time Clones Book 2.
✔ Really boosted my productivity with my pocket bullet journal and a dumb phone Afer buying a Nokia 110 phone this week, I have noticed that I don’t really notice my smart phone as much as I thought I would. Also, the pocket bullet journals are great. I have one 2025 calendar, and one for adding my tasks, notes and for logging my days. Less distractions mean more chance for my brain to relax because it’s not as distracted, and time to deal with my task / action list, because I am not falling down distraction rabbit holes. yay 🙂
✔ Started reading “Audio for Authors, etc by Joanna Penn. After backing up all my books on kindle, I tried something new with it. I wiped it completely, then when it restarted, I didn’t log into the amazon account. Instead, I used Calbre to upload all my books to my kindle. The result is, an ad-free, distraction-free experience, and all my books are now all in one place. The best bit about this is, I have tried the highlights feature, and it works (even without the cloud). Collections don’t work, but the battery lasts so much better now, and I couldn’t be happier.
This week I have been reading a book by Joanna Penn called Audio for Authors, and it’s all about how Authors can use the power of Audio in Audiobooks, podcasts and more to reach more readers.
✔ Recorded my new weight, and the result is… I’ve lost another pound in weight, yay 🙂 I haven’t personally noticed much difference yet, but I do seem to have a little more energy, so that’s a plus for the moment. Hopefully as I shed more weight, and reach my BMI target, my health will be even better 🙂
✔ Finally finished the grammarly edits, and am now on the Final Word Edits. Yes, I have finally completed the Grammarly edits (a whopping 26 chapters this week) and have now started the MS Word Read editing. This is the part of editing I absolutely love, where I put the chapters of my book into MS Word and have it read to me. This means I can listen to the book, and make any repetition changes, and make final tweaks to the manuscript before it goes off to the Beta Readers. I’m so excited that it’s this close to completion.
✔ Started to gamify my tasks Following a lack of motivation for the mundane tasks in my life, I have discovered two key things that have really changed things, and turned them around.
1 – I have decided to rename the tasks in my bullet journal to Actions and this has really changed my mindset (it’s crazy how little things like this work).
2 – I have a task list that I now score. Yes, that’s right, I score my action list. How does this work I hear you ask? Simple. Every day I make entries in my action list (I write down tasks) and at the end of the day, I total how many I have done. At the end of the week I total all my daily score, and jot down my weekly score. Each week I reset my total, so I have a fresh start each week. Each month, I total the weekly scores and at the end of the year, I write down the annual total. This way I can see the progress, and even plot them on a graph if I wish to.
Bonus – I got some more a6 journals to organise my life. These pocket journals are proving to be way more useful, and less cumbersome than the Filofax I used to use, and a great way to keep track of life using the Bullet Journal method.
✔ Lost some weight, yay Okay, so I only lost half a pound, but it’s a loss, and that’s important. I will keep going, and look forward to the day when I can reward myself for hitting the goal weight that I want to hit.
✔ Started Bullet journaling again These a6 pocket notebooks are fantastic, and the change from Filofax to pocket journal, and pocket diary make life so much more focussed, which is definitely a plus for me. I have tried several ways of keeping organised the last few years, and so many digital planners and apps, and honestly I can say that these small books are the best thing to come along. The pocket planner is so much easier than using the Bullet Journal future log, and the bujo itself is now packed full of notes, ideas, and journal entries. Last night I had a fantastic idea for a new book series, and I also know how I can tie it into the Time Clones trilogy.
Bonus: Recently I told you how I had fallen in love with the Kuru Toga technical pencil which stays constantly sharp by revolving the lead, so you never get a dull edge. Sadly this week, my Kuru Toga broke. It was in my pocket, and I sat on it. The plastic splintered, so I did the best thing I could think of.
I ordered the metal version, and I can’t believe I didn’t do this earlier. I love the look, the feel, and the lightness of this metal pencil. I am confident this one won’t break as easily, and although it was a little more expensive, I would definitely buy another 🙂 Bigger bonus, the Kuru Toga metal comes with 5 erasers, and a pack of leads.
✔ Come back from a week off, raring to go and full of energy. Last week we had the week off, and spent a lot of time just relaxing, visiting places and spending time with Family and Friends. This week I have bounced back to work on the book with some much-needed energy, and managed to edit 23 chapters! This new-found energy has much to do with some changes I have recently made.
✔ Edited another 23 chapters. I am back in the swing of things, and Grammarly is my editor of choice. With not-too-many errors, I am whizzing through the book’s final edits, and can’t wait to start sending it out to my beta readers.
✔ Converted my filofax to a small moleskine diary. As you may know, I have been trying to make an all-in-one organisational system. I have tried Bullet Journals, and Index Card Planners, and Leuchtturm 1917s, and Zettelkasten and more. This week I decided that I no longer wanted to carry around my big bulky filofax, so I have bought myself a moleskine week-per-page planner (with note pages) and am using it in conjunction with a similar style notebook, and my now-trusted-I-don’t-go-anywhere-with-it Kuru Toga. After transferring all my appointments and notes from my Filofax to the Moleskine planner, I can honestly say that it’s a great weight off my mind, and out of my pocket. There is no pen loop but the KT pencil clip fastens nicely to the cover, and the elastic bands hold the planner and the notebook together in a great little bundle. I have made a small packet out of an old envelope, and carefully placed some spare 0.5mm leads for my Kuru Toga, and placed them in the notebook pocket. This is more environmentally friendly, and much easier to carry than fountain pen ink, so it’s a win all round 🙂
What sort of methods do you use to keep organised?
✔ Edited 5 more chapters Even though I had a week off, I made sure I edited at least one chapter every day throughout the week.
✔ Had some much needed time off Outputting is good, but I need to input too (to prevent creative block), so we had a week off, and spent some time resting, watching the Supernatural series, and enjoying some downtime together.
✔ Went out with the fam We went to a place we have never visited before, with lots of interesting stories, architecture, and I took some photos. More details and photos in this weeks featured article.
✔ and more… Minecraft Update: I created a realm a little while back, and this week I have spent some time really getting stuck into creating a railway. I even managed to create an auto-storage box for my mine carts when I get to the end of the track.
Health Update: All seems to be going well so far. No more seizures, just the usual aches and pains that life throws at you, all part of becoming older, lol. Changing our diet to get rid of processed food, and enjoying more home made food has made such a massive difference. I really noticed the difference last week when we ordered in fish and chips, and spotted just how greasy it was, and how sluggish it made us feel afterwards. Home made food is definitely the way to go 🙂 I have more energy now, and am enjoying food much more 🙂 I have decided to quit the dieting group I go to, but still intend to lose 1 stone before Summer. Wish me luck 🙂
Productivity Update As you may know, I use a filofax, and a while ago I bought myself a day per page diary insert to plan my days. This has been pretty useful, but I’ve also noticed that I am not chewing up as much space as I was expecting ting with the appointments and scheduled events I have. This is mainly because I time block my appointments, and try to be realistic about how long the tasks I add will take me. Because I am not completely filling my diary with writing, (instead time blocking) I have decided to change the day per page diary / planner for a week per page planner.
This has several advantages.
I can now see what’s in my work week at a glance.
I have no wasted space in my pages.
I can now add notes using separate pages, so I can log my days, or add notes, without overfilling the filofax binder. This means that I can now turn the pages without them getting stuck, and insert pages without having to smush everything in the binder.
This week per page, combined with the Kuru Toga pencils I purchased last week are proving to be a great way to schedule my week, without the overwhelm, and no panicking if I am going to forget something. I have even added an apple airtag to my planner, so if I walk off without it, my phone while remind me, yay 🙂
