As a PhD student, an aspiring writer, and a young adult who likes to plan and set goals, January is a bit of a hectic month. As most of us do during the New Year, I set a few goals for 2025. I have also tried to bring goals from last year into the new year as I didn’t complete them. I have many plans and goals, but am I being realistic about getting them done?

Let’s break it down: I am a PhD student, so I have a lot of research and academic work to do throughout the year. I have my deadlines and milestones laid out well ahead of time, and the workload required of me is defined each month through meetings and email catch-ups if I am not already aware of it. My PhD work is a priority. It is the main focus all other work or goals will fit around.

Then we have my exercise and fitness goals. I play social tennis, but I have also joined a gym and go 3-4 times a week. This is for my mental and physical health, which directly links to my PhD workload. Since I sit at a desk writing and researching 30 hours a week (or I will be when I get back into the workflow), I need time away from the desk to move my body and give my mind a break. I also need the community aspect of it – being stuck in a room on my own may be good for focus, but it isn’t good for the soul. On the weekends, I plan to start my days off with a swim at the gym (I am very fortunate to have a gym with pool facilities).

Another break from research and academia is reading, and my loose goal for 2025 is to read 2-3 books a week. I find this to be the sweet spot for me as it is a fantastic way to give my brain a break while keeping my imagination active. Through bookish social media and annafromuni, I get to practice my writing and photography skills, and I experience the joy and satisfaction of reading the books I review and talk about.
But what about my writing? What about that fantasy manuscript I mentioned several months back? Have I done anything with it yet?

Here lies the problem. As you know, I have plans to do a full rewrite of my fantasy manuscript, but I have yet to work out the balance in my days and weeks to fit it in and still give the best quality work for my PhD. A rewrite is a big ask, especially a manuscript that sits at 117k. I plan to do my rewrite from memory and with loose chapter goals, meaning that I won’t be copying and pasting bits from the original that feel good. I’m changing from first-person perspectives to third-person perspectives, making the shift from YA Fantasy to Adult Fantasy, and I am putting more layers in my work to link in with future books.

So what’s the big deal?

The first thing to note is that I am well aware of the possibility of getting it done, not to mention the time I could’ve spent writing my draft late in 2024. The second thing is understanding my priorities. I know my PhD has to come first, followed by my health and wellbeing. If I want to add 3 hours of manuscript rewrites into my days for a month, I need to be realistic about the efficacy of that plan. Do I have an extra 3 hours for creative writing amid a 6-hour academic writing schedule and my evening gym sessions? 9 hours of writing on a laptop is not ideal, but it is possible. So how does that fit into my daily schedule? Well, that depends. Is my PhD workload tougher work than a rewrite? Would it be better to do my PhD work earlier when I have a higher mental capacity for the demanding work? These are things to consider for your own large goals and plans.
Setting goals and plans for 2025 is great, but are they realistic goals? Can you viably achieve these goals without burning yourself out or giving up? I have started the goal which will be the hardest to build into a habit, but the easiest to maintain once the habit is set first – exercising. It can be a struggle to stick to the discipline and goals set for new habits at the beginning, and you should give yourself some grace and patience when building the foundations of these habits for yourself. Not everyone likes exercising and forcing yourself to cram it into a busy schedule before it has become a habit or a bodily want can have the opposite effect on your goals. Once February rolls around, my gym sessions will be a built-in habit and want, allowing me to add something else to my day. That will be my rewrite.

The other reason for holding off on the rewrite, or whatever other big goal you have, is that our ideal plan and goals we wish to achieve in a year may not initially fit together as well as we would like. By giving myself January to organise my PhD workload, implement my fitness plans, and adjust things accordingly, I am setting myself up for success in February when I add my rewrite hours. I am also subconsciously aware of the things I do in my downtime that I can cut back on, such as social media scrolling and watching YouTube videos, as well as how I can split up smaller goals to fit around the larger ones on my plate, i.e. braking up book reads into parts rather than reading it all in one sitting to better use the smaller amounts of time between writing and gym instead for spending 3 hours reading a book.

I know I haven’t exactly outlined everything, but that’s because I feel it is something too unique to my situation to be relatable. I hope going over my dilemma and addressing this need to manage long-term goals logically and realistically to suit your everyday life has been helpful. Remember, there is no shame in not reaching the goals set at the beginning of the year. Life happens. Surprises can reprioritise your goals. I had my rewrite goals set since the second quarter of 2024. I didn’t even get to start the first chapter because my priorities lay elsewhere with my PhD application which dragged on through to mid-June and then coursework and exam invigilating. Acknowledge your workload, be gentle with yourself as you plan your endeavours, and give yourself the space to adjust and rearrange things when they start getting too cramped in your life. Long-term goals are only successful if you make it out on the other side feeling good about the journey and the destination.