How to Make Attainable Writing Goals Daily and Kill Your Writer’s Guilt

Realistic and Attainable Goals Will Carry You to the Finish Line

Not much is more important than the daily writing goals you set yourself. For, if you don’t set yourself writing tasks to get done, you will never get anywhere.

But how much writing should you be doing a day? What is sufficient, and what is not enough? 

This is a highly subjective question, because the answer depends on the state of a writer’s life and responsibilities. So, how do you find the right answer for yourself and forgo all the guilt trips of believing you’re not doing enough, or the frustration of trying to get unrealistic amounts of writing done? 

Well, that is our discussion for this article. We will be going in depth on the hinderance of overambitious work targets, the guilt trips of not accomplishing enough, how we can make smart attainable targets, and at the end a challenge for you to start channeling your productivity and maintain your physical and mental health. 

Is it You?

When you plan out what you will do for the day, and you end up not finishing all you had planned, how do you know if the problem was overambitious targets or lack of work on your part? 

If you spent your whole day procrastinating—watching shows,  scrolling through social media, etc.—than the lack of checks on your to-do list is on you. 

But if you were occupied with things all day—writing or other—than this is evidence that your planning was overambitious. 

Over-ambition begins with good intentions. You have so many projects you need done that to achieve any progress you feel you must complete mega-amounts of work a day.  

It has been a personal struggle of mine to realize just how unrealistic my expectations of my daily workload can be. 

We are human beings with limits, and for the well-being of ourselves we must respect those limitations. It does no good to be overworked, or kindle feelings of guilt for the unchecked boxes on your checklist. 

You will finish all you have planned, but being realistic with your schedule will carry you to the finish with more clarity and less overwhelm. 

Creating Smart Goals

The first step to creating daily, attainable goals, is being honest with yourself: how much can you get done in a day, realistically? 

How long does your writing projects normally take? 

How much time do you have to work on writing that day? 

Most likely, there will be less you can feasibly do than you wish. But that’s okay, good even, because it means you are eager and motivated to do your work. 

Realistic expectations will be the savior to your soul-crushing guilt from overambitious goals, and when you complete your attainable checklist you will be given an incredible feeling of empowerment—momentum you can build upon each day. 

I am still in the early stage of this lesson myself, but I believe it’s likely the more we get used to knowing our extents, the more we will accomplish in our lives. 

The long-run starts with the first step. Single days upon single days adding up to a great progress report. 

Writer’s Challenge

My challenge for you today is to task yourself the minimum of what you know you can complete. You may need to fight your overambitious impulses on this. 

On your checklist, write down only what you know is possible for today. 

Be honest, and be okay with what you list. 

If this is exceedingly against your nature, remember: you can always add more tasks if you finish what you had planned. 

Give this challenge a go. See how it makes you feel at the end of the day (and let me know!). 

A Note of Encouragement

If you still have trouble finishing every task on your shortened list, don’t be discouraged. All that means is you’re still learning how to make smart, realistic, and attainable goals. 

You’ve got this. You are productive and hard-working. 

Congratulate yourself each day for what you accomplish. Schedule day after day smartly, and you will make better progress on your projects than a life of overwhelm could produce. 

Good luck!

Featured Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash