While working on the parenting book, we've been able to have more effective conversations from the start. After reflecting on the process of writing, editing, and publishing Easy Entertaining, the team has been able to put processes into place to make our work more efficient. I know what my team needs from me, as far as expressing my expectations of what the book will look like. I have been clear about how I want the book to look in the reader’s hand and what size it should be. I have expressed what color scheme I want featured on the cover, along with many other design and copy expectations. Knowing all of that upfront has made it a lot easier for us to work on this project. I feel like we're off to a really good start with this book.

We also set up a timeline by pacing ourselves and putting a goal in sight. Our long-term goal is to have the book completed by March 31st with the possible extension of April 30th. With this goal, we decided to have some shorter goals in between. Maddie and I decided that we were going to do nightly edits of the chapters to keep us on pace. It's a goal! We haven’t kept a perfect nightly pace, but we have stuck pretty darn close to it. As a team, we also added in weekly touch-base meetings, so that we have the opportunity to share and keep everyone in the loop. Additionally, we kept our monthly meetings, where we have larger discussions and greater planning sessions. I have found that incorporating these smaller, incremental meetings and deadlines have really kept me and my team on pace and focused on this project.

So how does this relate to your life? Well, whether you own a small business or are a stay-at-home parent, it's good to set large and short timelines. Reflecting on past actions and habits in order to change the future is a great place to start. It's a reminder that bringing up challenges helps keep you on top of them. For example, if you decided that laundry was too overwhelming for you on Sunday, maybe you pick one night during the week to do two loads of laundry. Maybe that makes the laundry more manageable on Sundays.

Here’s what I have learned: Small, incremental tasks make large tasks feel doable! Learn from the past to make the future better for yourself.