All or nothing is not a good goal. It tends to derail the goal-setter. When perfection is not achieved, they give up.
This has been a week full of all-or-nothings. Some days I wrote over 2k (which defines “a very good day” for me.) Other days I wrote nothing. I don’t think I had an in-between day at all.
I’m teaching again, but it’s lighter than it was last year because 1) I can reuse a lot of the material I created last year and 2) I am teaching it “hybrid” style, meaning we only meet face-to-face every other week. The other weeks, there are things for students to accomplish on-line.
It remains difficult for me to stand up for myself (and sometimes TO myself) and carve out writing time. Even though I have my goals set, it still feels like I’m being selfish every time I say “I can’t do that right now… this is my writing time.” I love having a job where I get to set my own schedule. That’s a great boon as a mom. Both my teaching job and the writing career give me that flexibility. But although there’s no boss saying “AmyBeth needs to be sitting down and writing/grading papers/blogging from 9-10 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday” I still need to say it to myself. (Not those specific times necessarily but you know what I mean.)
I’ve just tucked my 5yo in for a nap. That’s supposed to be my trigger; she’s asleep and there is nothing else that absolutely must be done now, so this is the time I’m supposed to set everything else aside and add to my word count.
Well…
…the dog needs to go out. And come back in. I put the my hubby’s wet shirts in a laundry basket so I could hang them up after tucking in our daughter, so I really do need to take care of that, and it will only take about ten minutes. That shutterfly coupon expires today, but I can order stuff after dinner.
I can name a dozen other important things that need to be done soon, but the only things I really did before #AmWriting were to put away the shirts, let the dog out and in, and refill both my candy dish and my glass of ice tea.
…and I wrote this blog post.
AmyBeth Inverness 
LOL!! We are on the same wavelength today 😀 I feel ya! Keep at it, and the week will be an overall success.
You’re right – all or nothing is a difficult road to follow. How about your weekly goals? Does the wordcount average out more or less on target? I know there are some days I won’t write, unless I have a change to my usual schedule. Works for me. Keep at it!
Weekly, it’s working out to slightly less than “acceptable.” Not really in the realm of “despicable” but not really meeting my goals either. But at least I’m only falling short by a small amount, not falling flat on my face.