It’s almost funny how things in my life shift so rapidly. A scheduling plan that looks amazing in Asana can quickly become haphazard and obsolete. I’ll need to come up with something that works if I want to challenge myself in 2026, though. It’s going to be a bit rough.
What’s my challenge for 2026, you ask? I am heavily leaning on the idea of writing 800,000 words just in novels alone. I know that sounds like an awful lot, but in reality, it’s nothing I can’t handle. I used to write more than that during my peak as a ghostwriter.
You see, 800,000 words is only 2,192 words per day throughout an entire year. My daily average as a freelance ghostwriter often bounced between 6,000 and 8,000. I was once called a “machine” by a highly respected peer because of the sheer volume I could produce.
Also, keep in mind that this was WAY before generative AI became a staple for lazy writers and greedy corporations. Yeah, don’t get me started on infusing AI in the creative space.
Anyway, I am currently working on a new scheduling layout that will let me do all of the things I would love to accomplish in 2026. That’s because I often start working on goals and plans before the end of the year.
Why 800,000 Words in 2026?
On average, I can write roughly 2,200 words during one of my writing sprints on YouTube. The idea was that if I could dedicate at least two hours per day throughout the entire year, I would write well over 800,000 words in total. And if there are days that I simply cannot write, I can easily make them up by scheduling a 4-hour block of time somewhere.
That’s because I love writing and would be happy doing so all day long. So, it’s not like I feel as though it is “work” in the traditional sense.
Another aspect of this particular challenge is that I plan on including Wattpad, Inkitt, and similar platforms, as well as any writing contests I enter. Essentially, the words I am counting are any that are used in a creative manner outside of client work. So, this blog post, for example, wouldn’t count.
Lastly, I am focusing on first drafts. I know I don’t have the time or money to publish a book every other month, but while we work on publishing one, I’ll start another. It’ll be a constant flow of stories, both free and retail.
The hard part is guaranteeing the time to write. Although I average about 1,100 words per hour, life has a way of tapping entire swaths of time. That’s why I’m working on a logical schedule now before I try to challenge myself in 2026.
Part of this is because I was quite disappointed in myself that I’ve only published two books since 2021, and I have a lot of stories rollin’ around in my head. I want to keep working on writing, but that will mostly come down to me. While my life is quite chaotic, I wind up chewing up a lot of available time myself.
Getting the Brands to Bring In Some Revenue
I still have all of my brands’ blogs and YouTube channels that I would love to monetize. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time available to make them all as polished as I would like. Still, I am trying to figure out if I can dedicate at least a block of time each week to them.
Even without college, I would still struggle to build them up. I was able to handle it in 2018, back when all three were merely blogs. But I can’t juggle it as well once I added YouTube into the mix.
Luckily, my oldest son wants to help as an “intern” of sorts to learn the tools of the trade. If I could get him to a point where he can create some video content or even help with editing, that would be a saving grace.
Overall, the blogs and YouTube channels average maybe $100 per month, if I’m lucky. That means I can’t afford to do much in the way of hiring help. Perhaps with his assistance, we can start generating more revenue, and I can start building a team of my own.
The rest of 2025 is probably going to be spent figuring out the logistics of keeping the other brands going while still publishing books and going to college. I have a lot of folks who want to help me out, and maybe I should start letting them.
I’ve recently come to the sad realization that I just want to do too much, and there isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish it all.
Balancing the College Work
College isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, midterms are coming up, and they will tap a bit more of my time than normal, the rest of the weeks are quite easy to manage. That is, as long as I don’t procrastinate my workload…which happened a couple of times recently.
Right now, I have a 98% in my online course and 100% in person. I’m taking Storytelling and English Comp I, respectively. These are quite easy classes, as a lot of what I’ve gone over in both thus far are things I do in the real world anyway. The classes are acting more like a refresher and a deep dive into what I do for a living.
It’s been quite interesting and educational, thus far.
In any case, I won’t be able to go to school full-time until I can retire from freelancing. I have credit cards to cover and a mortgage payment to make. That’s one of the reasons why I want to see if I can get these brands I own to start generating some revenue.
I think I have a good plan of action for managing the school work. I just need to implement the second half of it. The plan works like this:
- Schedule a two-hour block of time every day, Monday through Friday, for college work.
- Set aside five two-hour blocks of time for blog or video content on Saturday.
- Once the college work is done for the week, and I have extra blocks of time, I fill them with the Saturday projects.
- Whatever I don’t get done throughout the week, I’ll wrap up on Saturday.
What often winds up happening is that I piss away the extra time I made for myself. I really need to stop doing that.
Using Mindomo for Some Mind Mapping
For the next few days, I am diving into mind mapping with Mindomo. I often use Mindomo for everything from blog ideas to developing content strategies for clients. It’s a great tool that lets you visualize a workflow while exploring methods that will help you achieve your goals.
It’s brainstorming with a visual appeal.
Currently, I’m breaking down all of the goals I’d like for each brand, including self-publishing my books, and considering all possible options for making them happen. I am a dork when it comes to charts and graphs, so this is quite fun for me.
The thing to keep in mind is that even the best mind mapping or brainstorming tools in the world won’t mean much without putting in the action to make things happen. It’s one thing to write out your goals; it’s another thing to put in the effort.
At least I’ll have a visual plan of what I’d like to achieve and what it will take to accomplish those goals. In this case, I’m planning out blogs, YouTube channels, self-publishing, Fourthwall merch, and exploring investments.
Once the mind mapping is done, I’ll create a checklist of what needs to be completed for each section.
October is Going to Be a Busy One
This month is going to be hectic no matter how I slice it up. Between midterms, my vacation, Halloween, book signings, and other events, time will be at a premium. That’s OK, though. All of the things I am spending time on work toward improvement for both my personal and professional life.
It’s not like I’m sitting on my ass, picking my nose.
No, it’s all for the greater good. I just need to make sure I’m not burning too much time on silly diversions, such as social media. I may not be able to do everything on my list as a creator, but the things I am doing are things I want. So, it’s a win-win no matter what.