It’s been one week since I returned home from the Write to Publish Conference at Wheaton College. As much as I love the experience, it is three and a half solid days of learning, crafting and networking, which can be a lot to take in. 

At the end of a conference, you have literally received enough information to keep you busy for at least a few months, but where do you start and how do you make the most of your time? 

Here are three quick steps to get the ball rolling, so you can start taking action. 

1. Nothing. At least not related to writing. Now this may seem counter-intuitive, but you just put your best self out there for the last few days and it is time to pull back and let it all sink in. Use this time to be with your people. Spend time with your kids and love on your spouse. Re-acclimate yourself to the home routine and be thankful for the time away to do something that you love. Pray, play and be present—this won’t last forever, but try to get at least a day or two to unpack and unwind. 
2. Find your Friends. You just met a ton of new people during this conference, right? Chances are, you even swapped business cards with a few of them. This is the time to find them on your favorite social media outlets. Send them a friend request, give them a follow and drop them a message to let them know how much you enjoyed meeting them. Ta-da! That took less than ten minutes and you now have a network of colleagues who are on the same journey as you. These are your new writer friends, so treat them well! Comment on their posts and share their work. They will be happy to do the same for you. 
3. Get to Work. This is going to mean different things to different people, but it’s work just the same. Did an editor ask for a proposal? Get it done and send it out. Did you receive feedback on your manuscript? If you agree with the critique, re-work it until it shines. Did you learn amazing social media tips to grow your platform? Then set some goals, get out there and start socializing. 

Now, obviously step 3, can be broken down into 100 more steps. Don’t let that stop you! 

As any productive writer will tell you, just keep moving forward. It is impossible to eat a whole elephant in one day. But, by taking small bites, you will have that elephant down in no time. (Okay, that’s actually really gross. Who compares goal-setting with eating cute elephants)?