#Acwrimo: Goals

Setting goals for this November's #Acwrimo - the academic's version of the better known #NaNoWriMo is a tricky one for me this year.

The premise of #Acwrimo is to set ambitious writing targets to encourage productivity throughout the month, then to make a plan for success and commit to that plan publicly on twitter.



I hesitate to overschedule myself as I expect to be 'holding the fort' and looking after my three little people for the majority of November since my 'long suffering' husband is rather 'over committed' (how he ended up with a 4500km cycle ride to do just when I'm trying to finish my thesis, well, that's another story altogether).

So, my 'SMART' targets will not seem particularly ambitious.

Goal:

• Revise my three thematic analysis chapter for submission to supervisors on 2nd December

Plan:

• Realistically I can manage 1 hour per day every day in November from 8pm to 9pm. In addition to that I have childcare 2 days per week so I will aim for 5 hours or 10x20min pomodoros on those days.
• I have three chapters to work on so I will spend one week on each chapter and then go back to the weakest chapter for the final week. That's up to 17 hours of work on each chapter.

Making it happen:

• On the 30th/31st of October I will carry out a writing audit to analyse where each chapter currently stands, this will allow me to ask for any imput from my supervisors early in the month.
• I will clear my desk/inbox etc. during the day each day so I have no distractions.
• I will make sure to have dinner ready early and to keep the children's bedtime routine nice and tight.
• If working at home is too distracting on daycare days I will stay on campus.
• I will turn off the modem if I find the internet to be a distraction between 8pm and 9pm each night.
• I will not use the time for reading, blogging or anything other than writing and editing my chapters.
• I will update on twitter with my progress each day for motivation.
• I will update the spreadsheet with my progress each day.
• I will update my blog with my progress each week.

One hour of serious editing every day in November will get me to the stage where I have three revised chapters to send to my supervisors at the beginning of December and will put me back on track for submission early next year.

No excuses!