Deborah Cooke: Author

Do you make resolutions at the beginning of each year? Do you stick to them?

I tend to do a review in December of the year that has just passed, making mental lists of what worked and what didn’t work. From that, I try to work out ways to improve my life or my work habits or whatever. It’s looser than resolutions, and there tends to be a lot of squish in my new rules – it’s more like identifying good tendencies – so this works for me.

For example, the past year has been characterized by a high level of stress for me. A lot of this has come from things beyond my control (family illness, for example, or stress in Mr. Math’s work life) but some of it is under my control. My own work-life balance is out of whack. I’ve worked pretty much every day this past year and have still felt that I’m always running behind. I dislike being late, so this has added to my stress level.

The thing is that if I’d been writing every day of the year, I’d be so happy and unstressed that I wouldn’t even notice. It’s the other stuff that’s been making demands on my time – in fact, my stress level can be directly attributed to my having less writing time. I’m a writer, so writing restores my balance. (Kind of like knitting but more so.)

So, my goals for 2012 are intended to restore my happy balance.

• Write more.
This is first and foremost. It’s what keeps my life in order and balance. I tell writers all the time that they need to protect their writing time – a lot of mine has been poached in 2011. I’m going to take it back. 🙂

• Promote less.
One of the big time sinks for me this past year was blog tours. I did two blog tours in 2011 and while they were fun, they astonished me with their time consumption. (Think of a little PacMan gobbling, gobbling, gobbling.) Worse, I’m not sure they made much difference to sales or visibility in the end. This blog will continue, my websites will continue to be updated, and I’ll pop in to Facebook with news. I’ll still have guests visit my blog and swap with them, but the blog tours are over. Just typing that makes me feel serene.

• Cull commitments and reconsider relationships.
This is more of the same, in a way, and is one of my annual rituals. It’s inevitable over time that we get drawn into more than we can handle. We also can get into relationships that don’t give as much to us as they take. Sometimes balances can be re-adjusted; sometimes the relationship is simply unhealthy.

One example of this for me is writing groups. I belong to a lot of listserves and writers’ groups. Some of these are really useful and energizing, while others are draining. Most cost an annual membership fee so there’s a drain on the chequing account, too, and many have an expectation that each member will volunteer or contribute time to the good of the organization. This is all good, but there is a question of balance to be maintained. Which ones sustain me? Which ones drain me? As membership dues come up, I’ll make some choices and cull the herd.

• Play more.
Writing time can also be compromised by a lack of downtime and I’ve felt this keenly in the past year. It’s Julia Cameron’s metaphor that artist dates “fill the well” of ideas for writers and that play is key to creativity. My well is getting a bit low. So, I’ve given myself some new marching orders about spending time online, and I’m determined to dig into my TBR pile to do some reading for pleasure. As always, I’ll be knitting, but I’m going to try (as I do every year) to finish more projects than I start. Playing with string is one of the ways I fill my well, though, which is why I cut myself slack in this department. I’m also going to make an effort to get out of my office and do other non-work-related things. One of the most exciting things we accomplished this year was finally getting the dining room painted. It looks so good and was such a satisfying project that I’m eyeballing the house, choosing the next victim/room. I love painting walls and trim – I think it’s the application of colour and the way the light in the room changes that excites me – so I will do more of that, too.

• Practice better self-care.
This is an ongoing resolution, because there’s always room for improvement in terms of nutrition and exercise. I just remind myself every year to keep at it. 🙂

So, that’s my big plan for 2012. I’m quite excited about all the writing projects I have lined up on my work chart for the year (because that’s another thing I update each December) and really looking forward to the year ahead.

How about you? Do you have any big plans for 2012?