For me, a lot of having a schedule really is getting into the habit of doing something. I don’t necessarily need to do something every day (Although that does seem to be the easiest way to build a habit) but I do need to have some sense of the time that such and such an activity should fit into my schedule.

I write early in the morning and over my lunch hour, and if either of these times is interrupted, I do feel as though I’ve missed something.

This year, I’m looking to keep track of everything. Part of that is that I know I work more if I can see progress, and part of it is that I do better believing that there is progress.

So, at the moment, I have a writing notebook, which is pretty much straight-up, keep everything together type organization and I also have a kind of journal-style notebook that’s a cross between the things I have one, and my plans for the next day, or whatever time frame. I have broken my revision down into chunks, and I have both a list and a graphic representation of the scenes, and I check off both as I go along. (There are also notes on what needs to be done.)

I’ve been waffling back and forth on what kind of calendar to get for 2018 that I don’t actually have one, yet.

But, in general… the calendar is separate from my day-job calendar. Separate mental work space. That’s important. And I write down what I’m working on–at least enough that I can look back and see where I was–and word counts. The word counts are the daily over the total for the month. (Which is much more impressive, when I’m working on a rough draft.) So I wind up with a total word count at the end of the year.

And having a deadline in mind helps a lot. I need to have have a practical sense that I can finish my draft/my revision/my other revision/and my other other revision by a certain time. That’s what keeps me moving toward that goal.