Showing posts with label 2018 Challenges Update. Show all posts

Blogtober Wrap Up

As you may know, I took part in the Blogtober challenge in October. The goal was to post a blog post everyday of the month. 31 posts in 31 days.

I failed, and I'm OK with that.

I posted a total of 28 blog posts in October, and had my second highest traffic month ever to my website since I created it.

Why I failed

This basically comes done to the fact that I didn't plan ahead, and life got in the way.

Sports season is now fully underway and that means that my kids are training everyday, and have competitions most weekends.

As I mentioned in my BYOBthon update for week 3, my youngest won gold in the Italian Jiu Jitsu Championships (GI) on 21st October. He also won all his matches at the Italian Jiu Jitsu Championships (NO GI) on 4th November, and brought home yet another gold medal. Yes I am very proud of him 😍

My eldest made his debut with the Italian Swimming Federation (FIN) last weekend competing in the 100m breaststroke race for Trofeo Lanzi. He didn't qualify for the finals but he did an amazing job and is looking forward to the next opportunity to put himself to the test.

When I decided to do the challenge I didn't plan ahead. This was largely due to the fact that I decided to take part just a few days before it started.

Lesson learnt 1: Consistent posting needs an organised schedule. Things come up and you might not be able to get on your computer. This is why it's a good idea to set up at least some of your blog posts in advance.

Whilst I did get a nice increase in traffic to my website during the challenge, I know I could have done better.

I didn't fully leverage the opportunity to connect with others during the challenge, and I didn't make good use of the hashtag #Blogtober.

Lesson Learnt 2: Be more active with the community. A huge part of what makes events like Blogtober such a powerful way to grow your website/blog is the opportunity it provides to reach out to others. This is why you should connect using the hashtag during these challenges. It also lets others know you're participating so they can reach out to you too.

So what now?

BlogMas

BlogMas that's what!

BlogMas is a challenge, much like Blogtober, where the goal is to post a blog post everyday in December.

Given that November has been a slow month for me content wise here, and taking into account my results from doing Blogtober, BlogMas sounds like a great idea.

I want to finish this year on a high, and prove to myself that I can do better by taking into consideration the things I learnt from "failing" Blogtober.

Time to Prep

I'll be taking a more organised approach to BlogMas and scheduling as many posts in advance as possible (see lesson 1 above).

I'll also be setting up some social media posts in advance using the challenge hashtag #BlogMas (see lesson 2) to make sure I do a better job of promoting my participation.

Did you do Blogtober? Did you succeed or fail in your goal?

Planning on taking part in BlogMas this year?

You might also like: 60 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers

We're now into the second week of the new year, and life is anything but boring. This past week had it's highs and lows. I didn't reach all of my goals for week. Life threw me a curve ball and I've been concentrating on dealing with that.

My curve ball

I have a lump on my breast. Turns out the lump is a cyst. This is what side tracked me this week. To all the females reading this please, please, make sure you check yourself regularly. It's only takes a minute and is so very important. Anyway, I've been to doctors appointments and to the hospital for tests over the past few days (should get results back next week). I'm not too worried so please don't freak out. It's probably nothing serious. It just needs to be taken care of.

On the up

I do have some good news though. I've done better with my challenges this week.

Challenge 1: To write 500 words a day.

I finally coloured in some squares for writing on my habit tracker. Don't get too excited. I only did 2 days, but I did write over 500 words on both so technically I'm not actually that far off my goal when you consider the average over the week. Unfortunately my goal isn't to average 500 words per day over the course of the week, it's to write over 500 words per day period. Still I'm all about searching for the positive side of things this week and at least I improved on last week.

Challenge 2: Read for the 2018 A to Z Challenge.

I read every day except one this week. I made progress on both Moranifesto, and the Online Writers Companion AND I finished my first book for the A to Z Challenge! I read The Art of Fear by Pamela Crane (for the letter A). I'll be doing a review for it soon.

Challenge 3: Read for Beat The Backlist.

This was a fail again this week as The Art of Fear was a book I got from Amazon and not on my review backlist.

Challenge 4: Editing

I finished editing 365 Days of Quotes for Writers and got it set up as a pre-order on Amazon ready for release on 17th January. Read my post about it here or hop over to Amazon and pre-order now ;)

Challenge 5: Exercise everyday

This is the one challenge that I've actually managed to do everyday so far. Already feeling better for it too. Been doing mainly variations of squats and crunches. No equipment. All done at home.

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” —Stephen Hawking #Quote #QOTD

How did your second week of 2018 go? Are you on track with your goals for this year? Let me know in the comments below.

2018 Challenges Update: Week 1

We're just a few days into 2018 and I'm already slacking with my New Year resolutions. I've been busy... very busy... just not with my challenge goals. I'm trying to look at this from a positive point of view. There's always a positive side to everything right? So, what is the positive side of being a complete failure?

Things can only get better.

Challenge 1: To write 500 words a day.

Technically I have done this. I've actually written much more than 500 words each day, just not in the context of which I set the goal i.e. books. I've written blog posts, emails, and a bunch of other stuff, but I've not managed to colour in even one little box on my habit tracker for "writing 500 words a day" [hangs head in shame].

Challenge 2: Read for the 2018 A to Z Challenge.

Again, a big fat zero. I have been reading. In fact I've read every day (at least I've managed to colour in something on my habit tracker). I've been reading Moranifesto and The Online Writers Companion, both of which I started at the end of last year... wait that sounds like so long ago... anyway, I'm still working on finishing those and so haven't picked up any new reads from my list yet.

On a more positive note, I have picked out which books I'll be reading for nearly all the letters now. I'm just missing X, Y, and Z. If you have any suggestions for those letters please let me know. I'm stuck.

Challenge 3: Read for Beat The Backlist.

This is pretty much the same as for challenge 2 as the two over cross... or can I give myself half points for this one as both books have been on my backlist for a while, and I have at least made some progress this week?

Challenge 4: Editing

Finally one I can tick off as successful! I've been editing and putting the final touches to my, soon to be released, 365 Days of Quotes for Writers. So close to being finished now. I've managed to work on this everyday so far.

So, there you have it. In a nut shell? It could have gone better. I'm optimistic that things will improve from now on though. I might not have gotten off to the most brilliant of starts with my challenges but I have managed to organise a lot of work related things over the past few days that will help loads in the coming months. Next week the kids will be back at school too which should have a notable effect on my daily progress [Fingers crossed].