2023 – Author Dahlia Donovan

I don’t remember when I started having a word of the year. Though, I do know I was inspired by a good friend, Lisa DiDio. But I often have two ‘words’ of the year.

One for my personal life and one for my writing.

This year I wanted to approach things a little differently. Well, maybe not differently, but more to expand on the theme. So instead of a word, more of an action or perhaps both? I’m not sure that makes sense but I shall attempt to muddle through my thoughts.

First? My words/phrase for the year…

Personal: be kind to myself

Writing: find joy in words

In all honesty, I’m not always as kind to myself as I should be. So that more than anything else is the focus of my personal goal for the year. To learn how to be kinder and more patient with myself. I imagine it’s going to be a bit of a challenge.

For writing, there are times when deadlines absolutely kill my joy. There are necessary evils but they often zap my energy and leave me floundering. I get so wrapped up in trying to rush through that I’m no longer having fun.

And enjoying my writing is incredibly important to my process.

I’m planning to do a little journaling this year to see how I progress with my intentions.

Do you have any words for the year?

As we start the new year, I thought it might be fun to share my planner set up for 2023. It might be a little intense. I have a few different ones that I use for different things.

I’ve used planners for a while now. It’s taken me a while to find a set-up that works for me. I went through a bunch of different planners/bullet journal ideas before I found the ones that work for me.

I have a weekly planner that I use for my writing and personal stuff. I took a photo back in December before I’d done more than put some stickers from Sweet Kawaii Design into it.

This is the planner I use for figuring out my week in advance. I also track my writing goals and personal goals in it.

The second planner I use is more of a notebook that has a to-do list in it. I use this for a monthly brainstorm and to-do for author stuff that isn’t necessarily writing but admin/promo/etc.

The third planner that I use is a simple Campus (by Kuyoko) Monthly one. It’s literally just a month-at-a-glance spread. I use it to keep track of promos, book releases, and deadlines. I find it really handy to be able to flip through each month and figure out what I’m doing (or what I’ve already set up in advance.)

The last thing I use isn’t a planner but a simple long notebook. It’s for a daily to-do list where I take what’s on my other planners and jot down by order of importance what I’d like to get done. Executive Dysfunction means that I don’t always complete my to-do list, but I find it helps me feel less stressed if I can see what needs to get done.