It’s funny; every time I set some realistic goals to be productive, the universe says, “Not today!” This week, school started and took the majority of my time, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And if I remember right, the first week of the last semester was haphazard as well.

Once the dust settles, I should be able to get back to my writing and video-making routines. I don’t want to say it too loudly, though. The universe might just melt down my computer, or I’ll slip on the ice and break a hip.

I don’t mind sacrificing my writing time for education. In fact, I love being in person at CU on campus, and the online anthropology class is shaping up to be quite informative and enjoyable.

This Week as a Creator

While the lack of writing and working on my other projects doesn’t bode well for my goals in 2026, education is always a great use of time. The more I know, the easier success becomes.

This is the mentality I used when I began writing as a ghostwriter for Textbroker. If I wasn’t writing content for a client, I was researching and learning everything I could about writing better, AP Style English, and Search Engine Optimization. The end result was quite a successful career as a freelance writer.

Not a Single Word Written in Fury

I didn’t get a chance to work on my book at all this week. No writing sprints, no hour-blocks of time scheduled, no midnight hammering at the keyboard…there were just too many things going on this week to really get a chance to sit down with the book.

I’m almost sure that I’ll be able to do some writing next week. Now that the first week of college is out of the way, time should be a bit easier to manage.

So, you’ve probably guessed that I am postponing the deadline to finish the first draft of Fury once again. I hate postponements. Unfortunately, I can’t manipulate the space/time continuum yet, which means certain things take priority over writing books.

This is especially true since I don’t make a lot of money from the books anyway. The projects that pay need to take precedence to keep the bills paid. And college takes precedence, considering I’m paying more than $1600 each semester for each class.

Started Blog Posts, But Never Published

I can say that I got a few decent ideas for blog posts this week. I have them started, but didn’t have the time to finish. The plan is to dump as much time as I can into the content today (Friday), Saturday, and Sunday. But we’ll have to see what fresh hell the universe brings.

After all, I still need to go to American Furniture Warehouse and pick a new desk and chair because they screwed up my delivery so badly. But that should only take an hour or so.

Not to mention that I still need to take the Christmas decorations, lights, and tree down.

I’m not too upset about not finishing the blog posts. Historically speaking, the ones that take me a week to publish are usually the ones that perform so well. That’s mostly because of the topics and the research involved in the piece.

I just hope Google doesn’t penalize the site for not having a consistent publishing schedule this week. The search engine has been incredibly fickle since AI hit the scene for content creation.

Live Streams Only (No Writing Sprints)

As my time was spent mostly focusing on school and a few other home-based elements of chaos, I wasn’t able to work on videos or publish writing sprints. And I still have to go through a ton of emails to start scheduling authors for live interviews.

The only thing I was consistent with on YouTube this week was the live streams. All three of my channels have a set day for live videos: Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. At least the channels didn’t get completely neglected.

I was toying with the idea of using something like Gling AI to edit the recordings, as that would save me hours every day. The only thing I want the AI to do is cut out the bad takes. I’ll do everything else myself, such as adding images and sounds. I just want the bad spaces removed from the video.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get more video content uploaded soon. I still have to make a video about starting the second semester at college!

Getting the First Week Squared Away at School

As I mentioned, the first week of school was a bit hectic. And it looks like these two classes are going to take a bit more of my time than the two I had last semester. It’s all good, though. As I said, education has a higher priority than a lot of the things I do today.

If I could afford to take time away, I’d double down on my degree and try to finish in three years. But alas, I’m a part-time everything, and there are just not enough hours in the day to manage everything I have my fingers in.

I keep hoping to hit the Powerball numbers, but it’s out of my control.

In any case, I am really starting to enjoy the Creative Writing Workshop and my anthropology class. Although I’ve bought the eBooks for both classes, I’m going to buy the hard copies. I prefer actual books to digital versions, regardless of whether it’s school-related or for entertainment.

Goals for Next Week

OK, I’m a little leery about putting my goals out there for the universe to target. But I’m always going to try to meet the challenges I put onto myself. Besides, the goals help me keep focused on the things I want to accomplish each week, whether I’m successful or not.

What am I going to work on accomplishing?

The Books

The idea is to get back to regular Monday and Wednesday writing sprints. I’m going to try to work on the book this weekend and then set yet another realistic deadline for finishing the first draft of Fury.

I’m hoping my classes don’t interfere too much, as I would really love to finish writing this book. I already know it’s going to need a lot of tweaking afterward, so I’m not expecting to publish it anytime in the near future. Just getting it wrapped up would be amazing, though.

I have a lot of story ideas that are just sitting around, waiting to be started. And I made a deal with myself to stop leaving projects half-written. That’s because I know that if I don’t finish something, the chances of me doing so later are slim to none.

The Blogs

As I said earlier, I’m going to try to squeeze time over the next few days to wrap up the blog posts I started. But it looks like I might wind up doing most of my writing on Saturdays and Sundays for the next 15 weeks. Of course, that depends on how much time I’ll need for classwork.

At least I am getting some great ideas for future content for WriterSanctuary.

Although the blogs don’t pay a lot of money each week, it’s still nice to get that occasional $100 payout every couple of months from AdSense. I really need to do more affiliate work, but alas, I don’t have the time at the moment to test a lot of products.

The YouTube Channels

If I can get at least one video uploaded each week, that would go a long way to keeping the channels growing. That is as long as I’m uploading something people want to see.

YouTube generates more income per 1000 views than the blog. For writing, it’s a x5 difference! It would be prudent to do more video content if I want to actually make more than $50 per month.

This week, I’m getting back to writing sprints and attempting to upload at least two other videos. I’m going to try a few things to see if I can streamline the day, so we’ll have to see how that works out.

The Catch-22

As a creator, I need to put time into the side projects if I want any of them to generate any kind of revenue. To do that, I need to free up some time from the things I already do. However, I need more income from the side projects to dump some of the others to make that time.

It goes a bit like this:

• Need time to build the YouTube channel.
• Need the YouTube channel to bring in enough money to quit freelancing.
• Quitting freelancing allows more time for the YouTube channel.
• Can’t quit freelancing until the YouTube channel pays enough to make it worthwhile.
• repeat

Of course, I’m doing more than just the YouTube channels, though. I’ve also got blogs and books to help lift some of the load, but I need time to market them better.

When you have as many things going on as I do, it’s easy to get stuck in a circular pattern. It could feel like you’re going nowhere. All you can really do is prioritize the things that are most important and hope you can keep generating enough income to pay the bills.

In this case, I’m prioritizing school to ensure that I maintain a good grade while getting an education that I am utilizing. A lot of students finish college but are unable to use their degrees. I’m using mine before I even finish associate-level classes.

For instance, I wrote Shadows of Atlantic City while attending the Reedsy masterclass for How to Write a Novel. The result was a far better book than anything I’ve written. Well, at least in my opinion, anyway.

The college courses thus far have prompted a slew of blog and video content, and I’m setting up a new story for the creative writing class. Even the anthropology course is fueling ideas for stories. I’m reflecting everything I am learning in the content I create.

So, how do I get out of this circular pattern and make some movement? For the most part, it’s about prioritizing and time management. But how do you manage something you don’t have a lot of in the first place?

By making every minute count.

It’s Still a Good Month for Writing

Despite all of the chaos, school work, and setbacks, January has still been a decent month for writing. While I don’t know if I’ll break any personal records this month, I’m still averaging more than I did last year. And in the grand scheme of things, that’s all that really matters.

Self-improvement doesn’t happen overnight. Depending on the aspect you’re trying to improve, it could take weeks, months, or even years. Life isn’t a race; it’s a journey.

Yes, you can bitch about things not going your way. Just remember to appreciate every victory, no matter how insignificant you might think it is. For instance, I’m not going to dwell on the fact that I didn’t get much done. Instead, I am going to relish in how much fun I’m having in college from an academic standpoint.

Enjoy those moments of Zen and accomplishment. They can help build confidence and self-worth.