Buttontapper Challenge: Day 31

31. Lessons Learned – Tell us what you learned this month, from examining your goals, dreams and behavior. What will you do differently next month?

First lesson: The only way I got as many posts done as I did was that I started ahead of time and scheduled posts into the future.

The reason: I received a gift from a writer in my read-and-critique group–the opportunity to edit her novel. And it needed to be done quickly. The two-hour blocks I scheduled on my calendar each day for writing blog posts or working on my work-in-progress were filled instead by the editing process. I considered it a gift because her faith that I could take on such a large editing project boosted to my self-confidence. It was a gift also because I knew enough of the story to know I would love it without having seen too much of it to review it critically as I edited. I look forward to being able to add my review to all the places reviews need to go to help getting the word out about her wonderful novel. Expect more on that later.

Second lesson: Being challenged to write down some of the answers changed how I decided to schedule, work, and finalize my projects. I know I wouldn’t have discovered the goal and reminder features of my Google calendar if I hadn’t been challenged to decide whether I would use digital or analog tools, for example.

Third lesson: Some of the topics posed required more time than I felt I could give. Instead of doing a poor job of tackling them, I skipped them. So the topics on the days I didn’t post may be the ones I need to think about most deeply.

Fourth lesson: Skipping a day–or more–doesn’t mean I’ve failed. Every day I wrote and posted something was a success. And when I didn’t write or post something, I spent my time productively editing, reading, or thinking. Or spending with family. The fact that I skipped a post only made me more aware of whether I spent my time well.

Fifth lesson: Though it doesn’t really have to do with this month’s challenge, another lesson from January came my way. Don’t try to fight the flu. When it hits, take it easy, stay indoors and away from others. I did. Thankfully it didn’t last too long.