Welcome to my September 2018 Project Report. My goal with these monthly reports is to help other authors, entrepreneurs, leaders, or anyone else who wants to make an impact through their work. Each month It share how I spent my time as an author and creative entrepreneur and the successes, failures, and lessons I learned along the way.
How I Spent My Time in September 2018
I track every minute of time I spend working on projects using an app called Toggl (here is why). Here is a list of the projects I spent the most time on last month:
- 18:53 – The Religion Teacher Email & Customer Service
- 16:47 – Shipping Books Christ in the Classroom to Members
- 12:57 – Speaking (Dioceses of Boise & Grand Rapids)
- 9:36 – Launch: Christ in the Classroom (follow along here)
- 8:24 – Launch: The Religion Teacher September Kick-Off
- 4:32 – The “Make It” Project (Formerly “Prolific” Project)
- 3:40 – Weekly Review
- 3:08 – Morning Preview
- 3:05 – Daily Review
- 2:15 – The Religion Teacher’s Saints Worksheets
Total Time Spent: 95:56
Here is what I produced last month:
- Worksheets: 5
- Articles/Blog Posts: 4
- Newsletter Emails: 22
- Videos: 9
- Books: 7,636 words (6, 614 words of nonfiction / 1,022 words of fiction)
- Workshops & Webinars: 3
2018 Goal Update
In the past I tried to focus only on mission and vision and not specific performance goals. I’m trying something different this year and setting some big goals for myself as a entrepreneurial author. You can find my goals here. This is the progress I have made so far:
72% / double the number of members TRTm members (audacious goal)
~2,000/5,000 copies sold of Christ in the Classroom (good/great)
0/1 published work of fiction (good)
5/7 paid speaking gigs (expected)
48/50 Read 50 books (good goal)
53% Paid Off / Pay off mortgage in 2020 (good goal)
24:39 PR / Run a 5K under 23:00 (good goal)
Incomplete / Start a support ministry for startup founders. (expected goal)
You can read about the process I used to set these goals along a scale of success here: A Simple Process for Setting Bigger Goals.
September 2018 Highlights and Lessons Learned
Christ in the Classroom & The Religion Teacher Fall Launch
Wow, what a whirlwind month!
It all started with the launch of my newest book, Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind. I spent most of my energy this month promoting the book to the people who follow or subscribe to my website. This launch really coincided with the Fall launch of my membership website since I am giving a copy to every member of the site.
I spent a lot of hours signing and shipping books to current and new members. I also spent a lot of time on email managing customer service for the new and current members.
The feedback on the book so far has been tremendous. People are reading it and applying it already and it is so great to hear that as an author!
Workshops & Webinars
I gave two workshops this month. One was in Boise, Idaho, where I got to visit with my aunt for a day before my talk. I’ve never been out there and we got to spend a day hiking in beautiful mountains there. The workshop was actually the first time I gave a full presentation on the new book and it went very well. Up to that point I had been pulling from the book in various talks, but this one was really organized based on the entire book.
I followed up that event the following Tuesday with a webinar with Ave Maria Press. You can watch the recording here:
Finally, I drove up to Grand Rapids, MI for an all-day workshop with about 150 catechists and teachers. The day was long, but the response was great. People told me on their way out that they had completely changed their approach. I had emails afterwards that said the same thing. Plus, they already invited me back again for the same conference next year.
The biggest lesson I gained from these speaking events was an affirmation that my strength is in making things as practical as possible. I want participants to walk away with an actionable plan for change. That’s why I really like to focus on specific situations and specific people that my audience will serve.
It was a great first month for the book and for the year. There is a lot in store for 2018-2019 and I’m really excited about what’s next.
