Happy new year!

This past year certainly had its ups and downs here in the States. Still, I learned more about my subject matter specialty, shared information with fellow editing enthusiasts in a new format, and reconnected with language professionals here in Sacramento. Life and time marches on!
The coming year has quite a few exciting events in store already, including a book launch and more revision training options for you. Most importantly, I am finally setting aside some time to work on a personal translation – something that I picked up years ago, a project likely only a few friends and family members will read (but why not?). Just thinking about it makes me smile.

I hope you also have a moment to reflect back on all you accomplished this year and decide where you will steer yourself in 2018. What was your most memorable project this year? What project would you most love to complete in the coming months? Feel free to share your goals in the comments below.

Whatever you decide, best wishes to you for a healthy and prosperous new year!

Getting things done

Happy new year! Have you made any business resolutions yet?

This year, I’m going to focus on expansion in several directions: doing more education outreach, getting more involved with direct clients, and taking my language skills up another notch. I laid the foundations for reaching these goals last year by joining a few chambers of commerce and working closely with a colleague to develop a panel discussion at the local university. And this summer, I’m planning to spend 6 weeks working from Budapest.

Needless to say, there are days when everything feels incredibly overwhelming! I know I’m not the only entrepreneur out there who gets anxious. Here are my favorite resources for helping “tame the beast:”

• A calendar. I used to be a die-hard paper person (and I still have a paper calendar on my wall), but for all the daily and weekly to-dos, it got too crowded. The visual clutter was too much! This year, I switched to Google for my scheduling. So far, so good!

• A planner. Most of my planning goes into a simple, unruled notebook. It’s great for “brain dumps” and doodling the connections between different tasks. If you need a little more guidance than a blank page offers, I recommend the Passion Planner. (You can download a basic template for free!)

• An escape. A couple of times a week, I go to yoga. The classes I like are recurring events on my calendar so I’m not tempted to skip. And once every 6–8 weeks, I get a massage. (And no, I’m not a 6-figure earner yet.) I started doing this the last few months of 2014, and it is amazing how much longer I can go between the “freelancer blahs.” Not to mention the energy boost it gives me. What’s your escape?

Best wishes to you with all your goals this year. Feel free to share your own below, and resources you’re using to reach them. Happy 2015!