Before writing this post, I took a look back at last year’s “Hello” post which was titled “Don’t Get In My Way” and to be fair, the year didn’t.  But I sure as hell did.  I got very much in my own way, then tripped head-first into a mental health breakdown.  However,  I was smart enough to do something about it.

If you read my “Goodbye” post to 2022, you will know my partner and I were busy so much of the year sorting out our house renovations.  These never seemed to end, instead, they kept bringing up new and frustrating issues.  Well, they are all mostly done so 2023 is the time to step back and breathe.

Home & Personal Life

House

Other than basic maintenance, cleaning and some decluttering.  The house has no real needs.  Everything looks great (except the kitchen but that will have to wait a few years), everything is working, and it’s become a calm restful place to work/live.

So our focus this year will mostly be on the garden.  We are lucky enough to have a front and back garden and want to make it more bird and wildlife friendly.  This is a fun, enjoyable project to undertake that doesn’t have to be rushed and we can work throughout the year. 🙂

Physical Stuff

Most of the purging has been completed.  There is one IKEA Kallax unit full of “stuff”.  I shoved it here while other rooms were being completed.  However, each cube needs to be cleared through – papers filed/scanned, items relocated, donated or discarded etc.  Especially because this Kallax unit is for my stock overflow for my office.

In order to a) get it done and b) not overwhelm myself as can happen, I will be tackling one to two cubes a week.

Connections

Last year, my partner and I started “Date Days” where every week we went out to a local cafe to enjoy a quick coffee/tea, brunch or lunch.  We ended up visiting all the cafes in the area and then found our favourite one.  This was just to make sure we were prioritising spending time together, away from our phones and other distractions.

This year, these Date Days will include going to other locations and events throughout the months.  Taking time to enjoy our relationship and be together is super important.  It is too easy for couples to fall into routines where they pass each other by.

I will also be reaching out to my friends more and doing more zoom chats.  I let some of my friendships fall by the wayside over the last 2 years and I want to rectify that.

Bucket List

We are planning to complete at least 2-3 items off our Bucket List this year.  Not sure what yet, as it can depend on what days my partner can take off and what our finances are like.  But I’m looking forward to finding out what we can do!

A Growing Pod

Last year, The Merry Writer Podcast once again hit above our goal of 5000 downloads from Podbean and we ended the year with 6,400+ downloads on Podbean.  Not to mention, on many of our other platforms our viewership went up! As of this moment, I’m not thinking about goals for the podcast.

The Writing Desk

If things go to plan (laughs) then I should have a lot more time on my hands.  And I plan to use that time to smash through The Blessed.  This book is becoming a pain in my ass, and I want to get back to enjoying the writing.  I know my biggest issue is getting stuck in the minutiae.

My brain, even when given clear instructions like “just write the draft, don’t worry about the details,” may agree and then wholeheartedly proceeds to obsess over details like there’s no tomorrow.  I am training my stupid brain to not do this.

I have a 12-month writing plan drafted out so I know what stage I should be at by the end of each month.  To see if I can stay on track.  I will also be sharing my progress, once a month, on this blog in a series called The Write Life.

BloggerLife

I had hoped to go back and clean up some of my older posts last year, but I just never got the chance.  However, this year I have a nice workable schedule and with fewer “house tasks” to eat all my time, I am hoping to get several of my more popular older posts fixed up.

I also want to get ahead with more content and hope to be able to write and schedule more posts going forward.  Overall, the look of my blog is finally pleasing to me.  (I have a nasty habit of changing something only to decide I don’t like it about a year later). 

As mentioned above, I will also be doing a monthly series where I share my writing progress.  The only other changes I may want to do is on the Pages.  Some of these may go or be condensed down with others.  I am still umming and ahhing about whether my tutorial link lists are useful enough to keep.

Secret Project

My partner and I started a secret project last year and while we managed to work on it, somewhat, we didn’t get nearly as much done.  Not surprising with everything else, but we are hoping to get it more off the ground this year as we should both have larger chunks of time together.

The TBR Pile

Last year sucked for reading.  Hell, the last few years have sucked for reading!  I really struggled to enjoy the pastime, not because of the books or anything but just because of my broken brain.  Seriously, depression is a haunting grey fog that eats your pleasure and leaves you hollowed out.

However, I have some great books by both author friends and author strangers that I really want to get finished.  It’s actually embarrassing how many books I started but never finished.  So I am prioritising my TBR list.

The Biz

Last year was not bad for the business, though during my hiatus I took a 3 months break from it, so my accounts were not as great as they could have been.

However, I will be working on streamlining new processes, clearing out and organising all inventory and setting up a schedule for social media posts.

I also have a long list of new products I want to create and lines I want to expand on.  So while my business may take up a lot more time, I still believe I’ll be able to have more free time for writing.

Finally, I will also attempt to get my Taxes done by August at the latest!

What do you have planned for 2023?

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