So, how am I doing on all those goals?

In my last post, I commented on how I was trying to double my efforts over at Yahoo Contributor Network (formerly Associated Content). How is that working for me at the end of the first month of 2011?

Well, I haven't submitted nearly as many articles as I had planned. Instead, I found that I have been nearly doubling my efforts elsewhere. It is the story of my life: I can always find plenty of energy and ideas for anything that I don't have to get done, and slack off on those things that require more effort. I spent the first half of the month writing a bunch of articles for Bright Hub, instead. I usually only get about 2-5 articles posted per month over there. In January, I will have 9 articles published there. I should have had 11, but got too busy. I am also not counting the Managed Guides that I do.

As for YCN, I have 9 new articles that have published as of today, and three more submitted. I have 8 more FC pieces to try to write before Tuesday at midnight. I also published 7 slideshows. That encompasses 16 of the 400 that I want to put up. My page views continue to average between 450-650 a day. As of this morning, I am at just over 432,000 page views, not counting Yahoo!, which leaves me 368,000 more to gain in the next 11 months. As of this morning, only about 15,000 of those past 400,000 are actually from 2011. It is a relatively slow, yet average month for me.

So, how am I going to boost things? I don't want to write a bunch of fluff and crap, because that isn't going to help me out at all. One of my ideas is coming up with as many lesson plans and activities as I can, to use throughout the year. I have already missed January, and am running out of time to get much for February. I need to just buckle down and do them all.

My common complaint is that if it weren't for my full-time job as a teacher, I would have time to write all of these ideas. But, if I didn't have the full-time job, I couldn't easily get the photographs, nor some of my inspiration. I also need that crazy little thing called health insurance.

Another issue I have had this month is random social life overload. I tend to enjoy being a hermit in the winter months. It's too damn cold to go out, and I get tired of driving in snow. But so many fabulous activities have kept popping up, and new people are around with whom I can hang out, so things have changed. The problem then becomes I am too tired. I also enter into a new conundrum of needing the spending money for outings, and not having the time to earn said spending money.

Ah well. It will all come together in time, I think.

Stay tuned for some random thoughts as well as monthly updates on my goals.