2025 Weekly Challenge, Week 15: Crunch Time

Last week was a whirlwind of work.  What had once felt like so much time to get ready for the show quickly became not enough.  And then the show was almost here, it was happening, and then it was over.

It's all a blur, but it was a lucrative blur, I guess.

I didn't get nearly as much done for the show as I had wanted, but even so, I did a lot of business and pulled in a good amount of money.  I can't remember how much I made at the show last year, but this year's was similar.  Next year I could probably bring in more if I'm better prepared.

Here's a quick rundown:

Writing

I was doing really well with writing every day, even if it wasn't very much, but of course that fell apart in the last few days: Friday and Saturday nights, when I was working hard to complete my projects, and last night, when I was exhausted from essentially a 12-hour work day on 2 hours of sleep.  Still, I set a streak record for the year so far of 11 days, which I'm pleased about.  A break for a few days around the show seems justifiable.

I also succeeded in getting my social media post up last week, although it was only the one.  And of course, I wrote my politics newsletter every single day except for Saturday and Sunday — Saturday because I was too busy prepping for the show, and Sunday because I was too exhausted.  I was asleep before 11pm last night, which almost never happens!

Decluttering and Organization

I decluttered in the kitchen and garage a little as part of preparing for the show.  That counts, right?

Dolls

Obviously, I worked on my dolls plenty, probably making up for the entire year in just a few days.  I am hoping to keep it up, too, just at a less hectic pace.

Taxes

With all of the preparations for the doll show, I didn't work on taxes at all last week, so I need to get back on it!  I am likely going to file an extension as there's no way I can finish everything I need to by tomorrow.  The key will be continuing to work on this daily after filing the extension, rather than waiting until the last minute before the extended deadline.

Lessons Learned

While I managed to pull off a pretty decent show, it would have been much better if I'd started preparing much earlier in the year, as I'd originally planned.  Even a month in advance would have made the whole thing much better, instead of trying to cram it all in during the week before the show.  I finish out the show every single year vowing to prepare more in advance the next year, and I never do.  However I think I would have this year if it hadn't been for the upsetting and chronically distracting political climate.

Now that the show is over, I am taking it easy for a couple of days, since I'm showing signs of burnout and overwhelm today — I'm easily distracted and taking a long time to do simple tasks.  But this week and next, I intend to establish a weekly rhythm where I'm balancing my time a little better between the things that matter.

2025 Weekly Challenge, Week 14: Deadline Looming

Last week was a relatively productive week, which doesn't surprise me because I know how my brain works.  I have a new project and I have a deadline looming, both of which are motivating factors for me.

Writing

I actually managed to work on my novel every single day last week.

Of course, many days I only wrote 100 or 200 words (one day I wrote 13!), but what I am pleased about is that every single day, I made myself at least open up my project and add to it.  Even if it was only 13 words.  I kept it fresh in my mind and kept moving forward every day, and that's a massive win for me.

I only posted to my blog and my author Instagram twice.

Decluttering and Organization

I cleaned my counter space in the kitchen where I tend to let stuff pile up again (it's already accumulating more — must do something about that) and started organizing show stuff and assessing what I already have and still need for Sunday.  I'm still behind on what I wanted to get done, but it's a major step forward.

Dolls

I started organizing dolls to work on for the show, but haven't worked on any yet.  YET.  Today I'm going to go through project dolls, see what I can get done before the show and what each needs, and get to work.  I expect the rest of the week to be a rehab frenzy.

Taxes

Somehow I managed not to get anything done on this (except for I think like a dozen emails I sorted one night but didn't record since I didn't work on it very long).  I definitely need to ramp up my efforts this week.

Lessons Learned

It was a busy week, but I've got an even busier one ahead!  I think we're solidly in the "hang on for dear life and it'll be over soon" stage.  I know I was talking about taking a break to recover after the show, but I'll have a lot of deferred things that aren't going to get done this week, so I don't know if I'll be able to.