2023 Is My Year Of Professional Experiment.
Measuring The Quantity and Quality Of My Professional Life.
Author Note:
Rubina's Bojra will be on a break from 17th to 29th April 2023.
Regular posting will be back on 30th April 2023, Sunday.
Last year, I learnt a few things about my professional life as a writer.
I write 2-3 days per week.
I write for about 2-3 hours per day.
These hours need to be in one continuous chunk.
I can write about 800 words per hour.
I cannot switch/multitask between different projects on the same day, week or month.
And it's high time I start earning some money.
With these conclusions, I set about to plan my 2023. As I did that, I realised 2023 would be a year of conscious experimenting.
Here are the experiments I am conducting -
4-Month Chunks
Instead of creating year goals, I divided my year into 4-month chunks and made quarter goals. Each quarter has a theme, and goals are set accordingly.
For example, Jan to April 2023 is about creating a year's worth of online content. Yup, year's worth. How am I doing that? By writing into the future. Taking the example further, this essay you are reading was written on 25th February.
Results of the experiment so far?
Towards mid-February, I noticed I wasn't feeling creatively fulfilled from writing 800-word essays day in and day out. So I took a break from content creation, and throughout March, I worked on my non-fiction book for writers.
This shows me that my creative juices for one project can run up to 2 months max. before I need creative refuelling and a change of creative scenery.
Writing Seasons
As mentioned above, each 4-month chunk has a theme. This helps me focus on one project at a time instead of multitasking, conserving my energy.
For example -
Jan to April is Content.
May to Aug is Novel.
Sep to Dec is Short Stories and Personal Essays.
Other smaller projects are also running throughout the year.
Results of the experiment so far?
Again, as I shared above, I wasn't feeling creatively fulfilled creating back-to-back content for such a long period and had to take a break. But I am not worried about not strictly sticking to the plan. As long as I am getting things done AND enjoying the process, I am happy with myself.
100-Day Challenge
This is an idea I borrowed from
. My goal is to write 100 days in each 4-month chunk.As I mentioned earlier, I write about 15 days per month. I have tried but haven't been able to increase that number. So I hope this challenge will act as a kick in my bum-bum.
Results of the experiment so far?
... is not good.
In my first 4-month chunk, I have written 25 days so far. I have 75 more to go, but only 61 days left in the chunk.
But the good news is, crossing out the days one by one is so satisfying. So I am hoping that will motivate me to make the following two chunks have better results.
Afternoon Writing Session
I need 2-3 hours per day to write. I can't do more because I lose my writing mojo after that. Initially, I tried waking up early and writing. But that didn't work because, in the back of my head, I was constantly being reminded of what I had to do that day.
The solution? - Writing in the afternoon.
I get done with my duties at the daughter of the house and then sit down to fulfil my duties as a writer.
Results of the experiment so far?
Perfect! Adding Pomodoro and some music into the mix, and I have a winning chance.
Creating Publishable Products
Now let's talk about money.
I didn't make a penny for the year and eight months that I have been writing online. And that was okay because I was looking for where to set up my shop. Now I know my niche - I know how I want to serve others and earn a living.
The first step to opening the channel for money to flow in was setting up my paid newsletter on Substack. This, in a way, is my Patreon page. I am letting interested readers help me create more content for them. Therefore, a win-win for both.
Other products I am planning are books and e-magazines.
Books will be in two categories.
One - non-fiction for writers, helping them connect with the writer within.
Two - crime-fiction novels.
E-magazines will be a collection of all the essays (free and paid) I wrote in one of the 4-month chunks. Not everyone gets to read posts the moment they are published. This will solve that problem. With my e-magazines, my readers can access my essays in PDF format to read whenever they want.
Results of the experiment so far?
Books -
A non-fiction book for writers around one of my most engaged essays - Which Kind Of Writer Are You? - A Soul Writer Or A Social Writer? - is currently in production.
Crime fiction novel - codenamed OS - is next in line.
E-magazine - Once I am done writing all the posts up until April, I'll start the production of the e-magazine. I am hoping to publish the first e-magazine by April-end. (Stay tuned!)
Caveats In The Experiment
All this experimenting is fair and reasonable, but I need to keep a few things in mind.
I am a human being, not doing. Which means no hustling 24x7.
There will be times when family comes first. In that case, it's okay to fall short in these experiments.
Sometimes, my uterus is not my best friend. So if the effects of my periods want to act out, I'll let them. It's a natural process I can't and shouldn't do anything about. I should just let it do its thing and then move on.
It is 100% okay to take breaks guilt-free when I feel physically/mentally/emotionally/spiritually depleted.
Since I work from home, I HAVE to go out and do something fun at least once a week. Movie, bookstore, catching up with a friend - all count.
Let's not forget I also have personal goals to take care of. So some days they will be the priority.
This one is the most important - I CANNOT TAKE THIS EXPERIMENT PERSONALLY. That means a failure shouldn't be turned into a personal attack on self-worth. It's just an experiment - we are trying something, gathering data, making some tweaks and trying again until we find our sweet spot.
What Do I Want To Get Out Of This Year Of Professional Experimenting?
It would be fun to achieve my professional goals for 2023, but what is more important for me is knowing who I am and how I function.
Once I get the manual instruction to myself, working towards achieving goals will be as easy as snapping my fingers.
