I’m not going to lie: 2023 was a rough year.
Though 2023 started off on an optimistic note, and the first half went really well, the second half took a major nosedive as my productivity, organization, and overall mood went WAY down.
So what happened? How did the year spiral downward, how did I handle it, and where does that leave me in 2024?
Let the 2023 reflections begin.
In 2023, I Made Clear, Simple Resolutions
I started off the year with two simple goals: to finish Carcrash Parker and the Haven of Larpers (my novel-in-progress) and clean up my long-term To-Do list, which consists mostly of tasks that will get me more organized in my creative work and editing work. Rather than spreading myself thin with different kinds of goals, I wanted to stay focused on these, devote more time to them, and keep my priorities clear.
My writing progress for the first half of 2023 was solid: I kept to a regular schedule (usually 3-4 mornings a week for stretches of 2-3 hours per session) and posted updates on my progress. In the spring, I finally reached a point where I felt comfortable pitching the novel to my publisher at Vine Leaves Press, where it sat in the queue for a few months until they offered me a publishing contract in September. That was huge news, and amazing to know that the novel will be out there for everyone to see in 2025.
Getting the novel contract alone was a REALLY big win that I don’t want to overlook (even though in my head, I often do).
My other goal of cleaning up my Long-Term To-Do list…didn’t go so well. Though I did accomplish a handful of these long-term tasks (and eliminated others as being no longer relevant), most of the tasks on the list just sat there, and I found myself not really thinking about them, or figuring out ways to work them into my schedule.
This was a major letdown, and indicative of a larger problem I want to talk about in the next section.
My Life, Workspace, and Living Space Have Become Disorganized, and It’s Really Holding Me Back
In general, I’m realizing that I’m not making time for my goals because, frankly, my life has become very, very disorganized.
This is in very large part because, back in the spring, I moved into a new apartment that’s really half of a house—a much older New England house. Though in many ways the space is an ideal living situation (it’s cheap, close to things I need, has plenty of space, has nice window views, etc.), it’s also in need of repairs (mostly little things) and requires a lot of cleaning and maintenance to make it feel like a real living space—which, unfortunately, takes up a lot of time.
Over the past few years, several of my friends have become homeowners, and after becoming homeowners, they would disappear for months (or occasionally years) while they worked on repairs and other homeowner tasks that my non-homeowner friends and I didn’t understand (and occasionally chided them for).
Now, though, I’m realizing that I should have taken a few weeks off in the spring to properly repair and organize my new place to make it feel like home. Rather foolishly, I omitted this step, and kept up my regular work schedule during the spring and summer while I tried to work home setup tasks (cleaning windows, organizing my office, setting up furniture, hanging pictures, painting, etc.) into my regular routine. This often led to SUPER busy weeks, but more often caused these tasks to get kicked down the road—leaving me in a space that still isn’t quite the way I want it.
When I lived in Japan, I realized that keeping my space clean caused me to feel more focused in my work, since when my space was cluttered or straight-up dirty, my mind would focus on things that needed to be sorted and cleaned, which in turn made me feel anxious, distracted, and pessimistic.
Moving forward, I’m realizing more than ever that I absolutely have to settle these larger organizational problems that have been holding me back. This involves not only organizing my workspace, but also my living space, my taskload, and how I spend my time.
And if that doesn’t happen, I’m not going to get anywhere.
The Second Half of 2023 Derailed Me
A lot of what kept me from accomplishing my organizational goals happened, quite simply, because:
- I took on too much in the second half of the year, and
- Some outside problems held me back
This first one was mostly my fault, and could have been avoided had I been a bit more cautious when saying Yes to some non-writing-related projects that came my way. I won’t talk about those projects here, and I don’t necessarily regret taking them on, but they did turn out to be bigger time commitments than I imagined, which created a major obstacle for my worktime.
Perhaps more importantly, though, is that these projects gobbled up a LOT of my mental energy in the second half of 2023, so that instead of thinking about writing, creative work, or even Day Job work, I found that my mind was on these other projects, which wasn’t where I really wanted it to be.
The outside problems that affected me mostly involved the situation with my grandfather, which I wrote about last month. Helping my family settle his living situation, finances, and property (at least beyond the point of catastrophe) has been a MAJOR undertaking, and the situation was quite overwhelming for most of the fall, making it impossible for me to work to the best of my ability.
More recently, in November and December I also dealt with a Major Problem That Shall Not Be Named, because it involves some people who were (and still are) actually causing trouble with a project I’m involved in. This Major Problem That Shall Not Be Named involved some personal attacks that were not only pretty devastating for my mental state, but required me to spend large amounts of time taking care of them.
Though this Major Problem That Shall Not Be Named is still lingering, the worst of it seems to be over, and it’s given me some perspective about how problems like these can really suck up my time.
So Where Does That Leave Me for 2024?
Keeping in mind that I absolutely HAVE to fix my organization problem, but I also want to keep moving forward with my writing, I’ve decided to focus on the following goals (not necessarily in this order):
- Organize my workspace, living space, and Long-Term To-Do list
- Prepare Carcrash Parker and the Haven of Larpers for publication in 2025
- Start Novel Project Number Three (finish a rough draft, and start edits)
- Continue building my writing and professional platform
These four areas cover what I want to work on in 2024 pretty well. As part of Item #1, I’ll be looking to lessen my involvement with the side projects I mentioned before, and also focus on the largest organizational issues that have been causing me the most difficulty.
Goals #2 and 3 are writing-related: as in, finish my current novel and start the next one. Moving forward, I’d like to be finishing book projects faster, with a shorter gap between releases, so working more consistently and productively is going to be a BIG step toward making this happen.
Finally, for #4, I’d like to keep doing what I’ve been doing: expanding my reach as a writer, editor, and professional in a way I can harness for future projects and income.
What Are Your Creative Goals for 2024?
I’ve been doing year-end and beginning of the year reflections for a few years now, and every year I find them helpful to assess where I’m at, what went well, what mistakes I made, and how I want to move forward.
Even though it’s been the new year for almost two weeks, it’s still worth reflecting on your own creative life and where you want to be going in 2024, because setting goals can really help you move forward.