One of the challenges writers face after attending a conference is maintaining the excitement gained from the event, and implementing some of the lessons learnt.

Generally, you arrive home and real life catches up with you: there is work to be done and family and friends spend time with.

Before long, the conference is a fond memory, and you’re running your writing business the same way as you did before.

Here are some tips to help you to implement lessons learnt from attending a conference:

1. Identify issues you want to incorporate into your writing life

It's unrealistic to expect that you will implement everything you learnt from a conference. So choose the 5 most important lessons that you believe will help you the most.

2. Set deadlines for implementing your plan

Your plan should be short and sweet. Of the five lessons you’ve chosen to implement, three should be short-term, so you can see the gains from your new activities as soon as possible.

Your long-term lessons should be based on issues that will bring a drastic improvement on your career. These goals are likely to be made up of smaller activities. Be clear about what these smaller activities are, so you can focus on the actual work and not be overwhelmed by the final goal.

3. The time to do it is NOW Please indulge me while I quote South African minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, who said at a conference I recently attended: “A warrior should not sharpen his sword until there is no blade left. Plan, prepare, and then do it. You can improve as you go along.”

4. Be accountable

Identify someone to whom you will be accountable for implementing the lessons. Your accountability partner can be an existing writer-buddy or someone you met at the conference.

I vote for someone met at the conference, because this is someone who had a similar experience as you did, and may have set similar conference-related goals.

Integrate your new activities into your work planner and calendar from the outset, so they become part of your work routine. The calendar will also remind you of upcoming deadlines.

5. Revisit the issue

Once you’re done implementation of the first five lessons, go back to your presentation pack and read it again.

Give particular attention to presentations you enjoyed the most at the event. What else did you learn that you couldn’t implement in the first phase? What didn’t grasp at the time that you are now beginning to understand?

Repeat the first four steps outlined in this article.