July Intention: Focus On A Goal and Q3 Planning
June was a rough month for me, and even though I made sure to do one fun thing every day, the overall arc was challenging. When I look back at the month, there's a lot that I accomplished, much of which was due to checking items off a list, the rest from structured procrastination (link goes to an early blog post about the technique). The problem wasn't effort, but intention. My lists were full of meetings and routine tasks, not the things that would lead to reaching certain goals.
For example, I have multiple writing blocks on my calendar every week, labeled 'writing.' But when something came up, those blocks were the first thing I moved.
The beginning of a new quarter is a great time to reflect on the previous one, so before choosing a focus for July, I looked back at my Q2 plan. I had hoped to finish a draft of my book by the end of Q2, and you can probably guess that I made little progress on it. One of the joys of having a quarter-based yearly plan is clearly scheduled check-ins where I reflect on the past and update the plan for the future. I'm moving my writing goal to Q3 and adding a conference we're planning since it wasn’t on my radar in December. I’m also calling out continued healing since my de Quervain's tenosynovitis is still painful.
When thinking about July, I was excited to make my monthly intention about organization. When I'm overwhelmed, I like things to be clean and uncluttered. It's hard for me to get rid of things, which is common for people with ADHD. Because I spent time when I was younger not knowing where things were and losing things, there's a tax in my brain about getting rid of things that I might need later. I also really like fun things and have a lot of Post-it notes on my desk, so there's plenty to do that could be highly rewarding.
I’m glad I reviewed my plan because when I saw “book draft” in Q2, I realized that I needed to make a decision about whether it was still important. If I hadn't reflected on my quarterly goals, I wouldn't have had to face that decision.
So July's intention is the book draft. The plan is to do one small task each day to move me toward a draft. I'm going to start by evaluating what I have and what I need to do. Then each day I'm going to add a small next step based on the progress I've already made and the time I have that day. The key this month is to add the task to my checklist each day, not just to block time and hope I get something done.
My brain appreciates having a yearly plan broken down by quarters because it’s easier for me to remember to check in every three months and reflect on whether I’m moving in a direction towards goals that matter to me in the long run. I now look forward to setting new intentions at the beginning of the month (it’s taken almost two years of setting intentions for it to feel more fun).
If I hadn't looked at my goals from last quarter, I wouldn't be focusing on a draft for my book this month. And I'm happy to report that today, July 1st, I made a draft outline. I definitely wouldn't have done it if I hadn't made it my intention for the month, so I'm very proud of myself.
