dreams

Create a Schedule for Your Ideal Week: A Guide for Busy Writers

Creating a schedule for the ideal week is one of the first things I ask my coaching clients to do.

I don’t have the time to write! I hear this A LOT from women who have an idea for a book, blog, or newsletter but just can’t seem to put pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard. I get it. You’re busy. But here’s some tough love – we’re all busy! Unless you’re amid a major life change, your busy schedule doesn’t make you special. Sorry (not sorry).

Now I’m not denying that you are juggling a lot between work, family, and community commitments. But there is a way to make time for ALL OF THIS and make time for writing. Yes, it is possible to write and have a life! The key is to be intentional and having a model or ideal week schedule can help you do exactly that.

A model week helps you intentionally block out time for what matters most while leaving space for self-care and fun. Ready to create your ideal week? Let’s dive in!

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Your Next 90 Days

Yesterday was April 1st but it felt like New Year’s Day. When I woke up with fresh start fever, I felt my inner critic – or my inner mean girl as I call her – saying “April Fools! You don’t get to start over, silly girl!”

But the joke’s on you Jolene (I decided to rename my inner critic in honor of Cowboy Carter).

I know how to give myself a fresh start without starting over. I know how to hit the reset button whenever and as often as I need to.

And everything around me seemed to be in agreement. Spring has sprung and many of us just celebrated Easter. What better way to kick off a fresh start than with a spirit of resurrection? With this spirit that all things can be made new, that we can boldly do a new thing, that deferred dreams can be raised from the dead.

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My Birthday Journaling Ritual

Today is my birthday, my own personal New Year. And tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, so it’s a day of new beginnings indeed.

But turning 43 is weird. It’s not a milestone age like 30, 40, or 50.

I can’t all it my Jackie Robinson year like last year or my Obama year like next year.

Turning 43 doesn’t feel special. It just feels old.

But then I remind myself that as a cancer survivor, each birthday is a milestone. And aging is a gift.

My birthday journaling rituals always help shift my perspective.

Here are the 3 things I journal about each birthday…

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