Best of November 2019 + Powersheets Update

Goodbye November, Hello December!

Who else feels like the holiday season snuck up on them? I can't be the only one! I swear 2019 has gone by in the blink of an eye and I'm not really sure how that happened.

November was a bit of an odd month for me because I was busy, but also not…if that makes sense? I finished up some pretty big projects in November and once they were done, I didn't have much going on in terms of work other than my usual monthly projects. Not that that's a bad thing—it was nice to catch my breath a bit!

I did a lot of traveling in November, too. I made two trips back home to visit my family and meet with my Fargo-based clients. In total, I think I spent about two weeks out of town, which is a lot for a homebody like me! Both trips were super successful though and I landed a new client and also had a semi-new client confirm a contract for 2020. So, if things keep trending in that direction 2020 will be off to a great start!

Last month I mentioned how excited I was to decorate for Christmas. I've always been a die-hard, wait-until-after-Thanksgiving kinda person but I didn't make it! I tried, I swear but in my defense, Thanksgiving was a week late this year so I was technically right on time.

What about you? Did you hold out until after Thanksgiving or were you all in as soon as Halloween was over? Let me know in the comments.

Anyways, let's get to it!

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November Goal Review

As usual, I set my goals for the month using my Powersheets planner from Cultivate What Matters. Here’s how I filled out November's Trending List and what I actually accomplished last month.

Top Priority

Update my Freelancer’s Guide to Setting Rates freebie ✅

I was on such a roll in November, that I actually updated my Freelancer's Guide to Choosing a Niche freebie too!

Monthly Action Items

1. Publish 4 new blog posts ✅

2. Send 2 emails to The Quiet Type subscribers ✅

3. Read a personal development/nonfiction book ✅

Weekly Action Items

1. Check + respond to blog comments ✅

2. Post 3 Facebook posts ❌ – I wasn't quite as consistent as I meant to be. I think I averaged about 2 posts/week instead of 3.

3. Publish 1 new blog post ✅

Daily Action Items

1. Gratitude ✅

2. Practice hand lettering ❌ – As much as I want to be as good at hand lettering as people on Instagram, I didn't devote any time to practicing. Oops!

3. Read from a personal development/nonfiction book ✅ – I read/listened to Get Scrappy by Nick Westergaard in November. I did a lot of traveling for work, so I listened to the audiobook while driving and then read when I had the time. Overall, I really liked this book. It had a lot of great insights into how to be smarter when it comes to digital marketing. I definitely would recommend checking it out!

Blog Posts I Published in November

All in all, I published 4 new posts and updated one existing blog posts:

Free Tools I've Been Loving

This is going to come as no surprise to those of you who have been following along, but my #1 tool of the month is Grammarly. It saves me so much time with editing and I really love the built-in thesaurus feature! I tested out a free 30-day trial of Grammarly premium in October and I loved it so much, I upgraded during Grammarly's Black Friday sale. I use Grammarly every day and the free chrome extension makes it super easy to do. Fun fact: since I started using the free version of Grammarly last December, I've written over five million words!

One of the coolest features of Grammarly premium is the plagiarism checker. As a freelance writer, I want my clients to have original content, so having the ability to compare work to billions (yes, billions!) of online works is so helpful. Grammarly will highlight content that matches another site and create a citation for it.

Another feature I love is that I can set “goals” for whatever I'm writing. Basically, you customize how Grammarly checks the document by selecting goals for your audience, domain, formality, tone, and intent. Then it gives you suggestions to help your writing fit those goals. So cool! If you haven’t checked it out yet, you definitely should!

My Favorite Blogs Posts from November

How to Set Up Trello for Freelance Writing Success (Contenta)
15 Types of Content Marketing You Can Use to Stand Out Online (My Client Strategy)
9 Boundaries to Set With Your Clients (Erin Flynn)
9 Habits of a Highly Confident Women (Everything Abode)

Books I Loved in November

While I read a whopping 14 books in November. I'm not quite sure how I managed it but I'm not complaining! Here are some of my favorites from the month:

The Family Upstairs* by Lisa Jewel
Ninth House* by Leigh Bardugo
Never Tell by Lisa Gardner
Josh & Hazels Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

*These were my Book of the Month choices for November. Interested in getting a FREE book? Use my link to sign up for a Book of the Month membership and you’ll receive a free new release hardcover book of your choice! I always look forward to the first of the month when the new selections are released for Book of the Month. Check it out here!

Magic Moment of November

Something really cool happened in November! One of my long-term clients got in touch to see if I would be interested in a possible referral he had for me. He had met a woman who was starting a high-end lifestyle magazine in my hometown and she was looking for a writer to join her team. After hearing more about the project, I was to him I was interested and he put me in touch with her. We chatted for a bit and she ended up hiring me as her writer/editorial coordinator, which I am so excited about! We're currently working on the launch issue and I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

December Goals

I can’t believe I’m just about done with Powersheets planner! I’ll be doing a review on my experience using the Powersheets planner in the new year, so if you’re on the fence about purchasing one, check back then. If you’d like to get your own Powersheets planner, the 2020 version is now available and there are some super cute designs. Get your own here!