Getting Started by Setting SMART Goals

To kick off the first #EpiWritingChallenge, let’s talk about setting SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound.

Hopefully over the last week you’ve thought about what your goal for the #EpiWritingChallenge will be. That goal is already time-bound by the challenge – but the next step is breaking it down into specific, measurable, and results-focused tasks.

Goals for writing challenges often fall in one of several types:

Writing daily (time goals, content goals)
Starting a project
Finishing a project
Working on a skill

Did you indicate on your sign-up form that you don't want to receive emails during the #EpiWritingChallenge?

No problem!

This first email is the only one you'll get.

To keep up on the challenge for the next 4 weeks, be sure to check the pinned tweet on @BaileyDeBarmore's Twitter and the #EpiWritingChallenge Twitter List.

Not sure where to start? Want some example goals?

The #RxWritingChallenge was to write for 30 minutes each day. There are plenty of articles out there that talk about how important it is to write something every single day – no matter what it is. It’s a key step in formulating an effective writing habit that helps productive.

Writing daily

Writing daily for 30 minutes - see this great post from Raul Pacheco-Vega
Writing for 30 minutes 3 times a week
Writing 500 words per day
Writing 1 page per day

Starting a project

Starting the literature review for your thesis / dissertation / next paper
Starting the manuscript for your thesis / dissertation / next paper

Finishing a project

Finishing the literature review or the manuscript!

Working on a skill

Work on your writing skills by editing previous papers, reading about writing, etc.

Tweet at us!

We'll include these "Tweet at us!" buttons throughout the #EpiWritingChallenge. When you click it, it'll have a pre-filled Tweet with our hashtag, as well as Bailey's, Ellie's, and Malcolm's handles for easy sharing on Twitter.

Tasks that contribute to productive writing count as writing! If you put off writing a draft until you’re in a “writing mood”, you may find that weeks have passed. Sit down and just type, no matter how bad you think it is. Starting is often the hardest part.

Organizing the author list counts. Updating your references counts. Checking the journal’s formatting guidelines and formatting your work counts. Reading background material for the introduction counts. It all counts!

John Steinbeck wrote in the Fall 1975 issue of the Paris Review to “abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the…pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.”

There are so many steps from an idea to a publication, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed or jaded when one step becomes more of a hole. Build on small goals and gain momentum.

Sloppy writing can be cleaned up, edited, deleted, re-written.
But a blank page cannot.

My goal for the #EpiWritingChallenge:

Click to tweet your #EpiWritingChallenge goal

Achieving SMART Goals

We’ll be talking about productivity and time management systems at the end of the #EpiWritingChallenge but to get you started, we wanted to point out the Pomodoro Technique. It involves bursts of work followed by short breaks, and repeated for several cycles.

If you have trouble paying attention, and find yourself distracted, this technique might be particularly helpful. Here’s a Lifehacker article to explain it more, and a video to watch if you’re more into that.

Quote of the Day

“You cannot wait for inspiration. You must go after it with a club.”
– Jack London

Tweet the Quote of the Day

Bonus Link: How to Become a Highly Productive Writer

Want to see the #EpiWritingChallenge schedule?
Click here to see the original tweet.

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