Dreams & Goals

Start the New Year Off “Write”

Princess Jai

It’s finally here — my favorite day of the year: New Year’s Eve.

If you caught me on WBHM 90.3 FM last week then you know that I’m not much of a fan of Christmas. But New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are my favorites! On these days I am full of excitement about the future.

I hope you’re feeling that way today, too.

Last week a lovely local lady emailed me after ordering her ticket to next month’s event with Carrie Rollwagen and said she was eager to attend the event because she wanted to “start the year off write.”

I love that!

If you want to start the year off “write” too, here are a few things you can do to help you do just that:

1) Buy your tickets for From Blog to Book. At this event, set for January 20, Carrie Rollwagen, author of the book The Localist, will give tips on how to transform your blog idea into a book idea, how to rock your Kickstarter campaign, and how to self-publish the right way. Carrie will also give tips on how to better support local businesses. Order your tickets here.

2) Twenty lucky official See Jane Write members will have the chance to attend a free goal-setting workshop with me in early January.

3) If you don’t want to miss out on events like this in the future become an official member today. Basic membership will increase to $50 starting tomorrow and premium membership will no longer be available. Learn more here.

4) If you have a host of dreams for 2015 but you think you don’t have the time to go after them, think again! My new e-course How to Write and Have a Life will help you find the time to pursue your passion. The course opens tomorrow! More details coming soon!

What should a writer do on her day off?

day off

Last week, I wrote about the importance of taking a day off even if you’re juggling a day job with building a blog or business or writing a book. I believe in the importance of rest even if I don’t get very much of it myself.

And I believe days off are especially important for writers because they are part of the creative process. A writer friend of mine named TJ Beitelman, author of the book John the Revelator, once told me that he believes most of the creative writing process happens away from the keyboard. What I think he meant by this is that the things that inspire great work happen when you’re out living life, not simply staring at a blinking cursor on a blank screen.

So on my day off I’m not only doing things that revitalize me, but things that can re-energize my writing and blogging too.

Here’s what I like to do on my day off:

Go for a long walk or run. Most of my best ideas come to me when I’m out on my favorite trail.

Have coffee or brunch with my girlfriends. My passion for empowering women drives nearly everything I do, so for me nothing is as inspiring as spending time around other women.

Paint my nails. As my mani dries I usually browse my favorite websites and blogs.

Catch up on my favorite TV shows. How can one not find Olivia Pope inspiring?

How do you spend your day off?

 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

 

Why did you start See Jane Write?

SJW Founder copy

Thanks to my work with See Jane Write I’m often asked to speak at local conferences and professional development events. During these speaking engagements one of the things people often ask me is why I started See Jane Write in the first place.

I wish my answer were a noble one — that I wanted to launch an organization to close the byline gender gap. But in all honesty the answer is a bit selfish — I wanted more femal writer friends. I kept looking for an organization for creative and ambitious women who write or blog but I couldn’t find it. So I started one of my own.

My reason for continuing See Jane Write for the past three and a half years is a bit more saintly — I want to empower women to tell their stories. I want to empower women to write and to live a life worth writing about.

Since I started See Jane Write on March 24, 2011 the group has grown and changed quite a bit. What was intended to be a simple writing group and what started with 14 women gathered for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant has become a thriving city-wide network. Now my goal is to make it a thriving business, too — not because I want to get rich (although that would be nice) but simply because I want to make See Jane Write sustainable. I believe See Jane Write can really help women create their best work and live their best lives, but only if I have the time and resources necessary to make See Jane Write the best network that it can be.

This means that over the next year or so things will be changing. I know change is scary, but I hope you will come on this journey with me. I promise it will be a blast!

 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

Should entrepreneurs take a day off?

relax
Image by Juliana Dacoregiovia Flickr/Creative Commons

I used to pride myself on being a workaholic. Javacia “No Days Off” Bowser I called myself.

My work ethic is necessary if I’m going to do all the things I want to do: teach, write, and build a business.

But all work and no play makes Javacia a dull and crabby girl. So earlier this year I made the decision to take one day off each week. I decided that Saturday would be a day for having fun  with family and friends or just relaxing. Some weeks this isn’t possible. Today, for example, I have spent the past 10 hours grading papers. Seriously.

But I think it’s important for everyone, even folks who are trying to build their own business while still working a full-time job, to take one day off a week.

Firstly, it helps you avoid getting burned out. Whenever I don’t take a day off I pay for it. I usually feel stressed and overwhelmed the next week. I feel discouraged and start loosing sight of why I’m doing what I do in the first place.

Secondly, taking a day off is also good for your health. Before I started taking Saturdays off I would often get severe headaches — some even approaching migraine territory as I would feel nauseous and dizzy and have trouble seeing.

Lastly, your day off can be great motivation. You can’t take your day off unless you get a certain amount of work done the rest of week (hence the reason I’ve been grading papers all day). So use that day of fun and relaxation as motivation to tackle your to-do list without procrastination. Your day off can also motivate you to learn to say “No.” This month I have taken on entirely too much, which put me behind in grading papers, which led to this craptastic day. Let’s hope I learned my lesson.

And remember not to feel guilty for taking a break. Your day off is your reward for all the hard work you did the rest of the week. You deserve it!

 

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.

How can I get more done?

pizza
Pizza and Pomodoro — how I get things done

Even though I’m not a parent I get the question of “How do you do it all?” quite often, despite the fact that this question is usually reserved for mothers who work outside the home. But considering I work a full time teaching job, run See Jane Write, freelance for several publications and try to have a social life while doing all this, people are always asking me for my secret. In fact, I get this question so often that I’ll soon be launching an e-course on time management. (Stay tuned!)

But I’m going to give you one tip right now for free. If you want to be more productive, stop multitasking. I know this sounds counterintuitive. I know we women feel that the ability to multi-task is in our DNA. But it is not the key to success.

You will actually get more things done and in a shorter period of time if you have laser focus on individual tasks instead of dividing your attention and energy among several different tasks at once.

Allow me to give you two examples. On Halloween I was home alone because hubs was hosting a lock-in for his church youth group. Whenever I am home alone I order a pizza and watch movies. But I also needed to clean my apartment because it looked like a pigsty. Typically, it takes me about an hour and half for me to thoroughly clean my home. But that’s because while cleaning I’m usually also writing a blog post, grading papers or checking email. On Friday I challenged myself to finish cleaning before my pizza arrived. I called and placed my order. The person who took my call said my pie would arrive in about 40 minutes. As soon as I hung up the phone I got to work — dusting, sweeping, washing dishes, etc. When the pizza delivery guy knocked on my door I was all done with my cleaning. Actually, I finished five minutes before my dinner arrived. Why was I able to finish cleaning in half the time it normally take me? Focus.

Here’s another example: Yesterday evening I had a stack of papers that I needed to grade before I left home for my church small group meeting. I needed to finish the pile by 6 p.m. which I didn’t think would actually happen. But I finished at 5:25 p.m. Why? Focus!

I used the Pomodoro Technique to plow through those papers. The Pomodoro Technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo is simple, yet brilliant. You break down your work in 25-minute intervals, taking five-minute breaks after each one. After four work periods you take a longer 20-minute break. The technique is based on the idea that the frequent breaks will keep you sharp and focused work will keep you productive. I’ve been using the Pomodoro Technique for over a year now and it has worked wonders in my life.

So if you want to get more done, stop multitasking!

Each day in November for #bloglikecrazy I’ll be publishing a blog post that answers your questions about blogging, social media, writing, wellness or women’s empowerment. Send your questions to javacia@seejanewritebham.com.