Well, 2026 hasn’t unfolded like I would have liked. While I have accomplished a few things on my “to-do” list, I have fallen behind on a lot of goals. Between looking for a job, a place to live, school, and a myriad of other things, I doubt I’ll hit one million words written. But that doesn’t mean I’ll give up.
After all, I still want 2026 to be a banner year for WriterSanctuary and me.
So, I’ll have to revisit my goals and see what I want to work on that is realistic for how life is going at the moment. I don’t want to set myself up for failure, and this is not the time for delusions of grandeur.
What Realistic Goals Can I Achieve in June?
Since I have no idea how things are going to unfold this month, I can’t really guarantee that I’ll have a certain number of words written. I was going to see if I could break my record of 95,393 words that was set back in December of 2022, but my life is just too chaotic.
However, I’ll keep trying when I have the time.
Instead, most of my goals are going to be focused more on time usage. Yet, this, too, might be a failing, considering I have no idea where I’m going to live from one week to another, nor do I know if I’ll land a job soon.
There are simply too many unknown variables to really focus on much other than surviving.
Time Management
I’m still working on time management as a primary goal. This means cutting out doom-scrolling, getting sucked into random YouTube rabbit holes, and procrastinating my progress. If I can manage a good flow of time usage, then everything else falls into place.
So far, I’m doing better this year than I did in 2025. But I’m still a bit short of breaking my time records on my spreadsheet, which were set back in 2021. I don’t know if I can break the annual record for time spent working on my various projects, but I should be able to break the monthly time set in October of 2023.
This one might be a bit difficult to manage, considering that I’m still looking for a job and a stable home at the moment. However, I plan on continuing to work on how much time I actually waste on things like social media.
More Time in the Books
Along with time management comes the progress I want to make on my books. The goal this month is to finish the first draft of Fury so I can get started on the second book after Shadows of Atlantic City.
Regardless of the project, I want to spend more time working on writing, publishing, and marketing my books this year. No one is going to read them unless they know they exist. Well, that and as long as they’re written.
Throughout the entire year in 2025, I worked on the books for an average of 36 minutes per day. I’m sure I can still break that writing record before the end of the year, but it will also depend on how things go for the next few months.
Keeping WriterSanctuary Moving
I am currently working on keeping the blog regular while developing a free course on YouTube for using Reedsy Studio. I’d like to keep the momentum going and continue to build the blog and channel. While they’re currently not bringing in enough to replace my freelancing income, I still make a little bit of money each week.
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to do the writing challenge in June like I wanted. Initially, I was going to buy a pre-made cover and then write a book in 30 days based purely on the inspiration from the image. Well, things fell apart quite rapidly over the last few weeks, and it’s just not feasible at the moment.
Despite the damage AI and AI Overviews have done to blogging in general, I’m a writer. And I’ll keep developing this site into a resource for blogging and self-publishing regardless.
Start the Anthropology Blog
Speaking of writing more often, I’d like to start the anthropology blog this month. The idea is to use it much in the same way I built WriterSanctuary: writing about what I’ve learned and my experiences. In this case, I’m working toward archaeological anthropology.
I started taking the anthropology course as I felt it was a good idea for getting story ideas for future books. Well, I found that my interest went well beyond story ideas, as it rekindled a fascination I had in my teens.
I already have a huge hosting plan. Starting a new blog is just the cost of the domain name, as I self-host WordPress at GreenGeeks.
Focus On School
Lastly, I start summer classes this month before moving to full-time during the fall. This summer, I’m taking Biological Anthropology and a Fiction Workshop. Out of all the goals I have listed here today, this is perhaps the most important.
Currently, I am a 4.0 student, and I’d like to keep it that way. Besides, I am having a great time going back to school, and it has done a positive number on my mental health.
I am also thinking about participating in more of the school activities or perhaps joining some groups. Of course, that also depends greatly on whether I have a job and a stable place to live. So, for now, we’re just going to focus on doing well in my classes for June.
The Year Is Almost Half Over
The year is officially half over on July 2nd at noon. Although I doubt I’ll be able to achieve a lot of my goals for the year, I have accomplished a few things that give me hope that the rest of 2026 will move along nicely.
For example, I am still a straight-A student in college and won a $4,000 scholarship for the fall and spring semesters. For me, that’s a hell of an accomplishment, given that I haven’t been in school in over 20 years.
Sure, the first half of the year has been a bit north of butchered, there are several bright spots that I can enjoy. It hasn’t all been a clustered mess of chaos.
It’s not always how you start the game that denotes success. In my experience, it’s always come down to how I finished and the things I learn along the way.
In fact, I always play better on the back nine.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with the rest of the year. There are a lot of things that are up in the air at the moment, and I have no clue where anything is going to land. But I’m not going to stand still and let something clobber me into the ground.
Never give, never surrender, right?
So, let’s see if we can finish the year strong throughout June and set the tempo for the last half of 2026. Who knows? Maybe one of my little YouTube channels will explode, or I could get the content job in Maine. No matter what, I’m going to keep hope alive and continue to move forward as best I can.
Gotta Dial Up the Effort
On the upside, I’m having a better year than I did last time around. A large portion of that has to do with the effort I’m putting in for college. And since I’m attending summer classes and going full time in September, I should rack up quite a few hours.
Outside of college, though, I would love to get more done on all of my side quests. Books, blogs, and YouTube videos make me happy, but they don’t pay the bills…yet. In the mean time, I’m looking at jobs at the school and trying to find a way to stabilize everything.
As long as I avoid melting time on social media or taking excessively long breaks in the backyard, I should be able to meet a few personal goals before the end of the year. But that’s going to depend on the amount of effort I put into the process.
Let’s make June worthwhile.
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