WHAT’S GETTING IN YOUR WAY?
How do you accomplish everything you need or want to do in a given day? Do you prioritize? Are you a list maker? Do you procrastinate? Have you ever thrown your hands up in the air? Once a week I’m going to post about life management. I hope you will join me and see if we can become more productive writers.
First: Make a master schedule…
(I’ll share mine with you.)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
6:30-8:00 wake up, make lunch, feed and water pets, take dog out, have breakfast, dressed for
the gym, deliver daughter to school and myself to the gym (1.5 hours family)
8:00-11:00 workout (3 exercise) (T/TH 8-10 which gives me one extra hour)
11:00-12:30 run errands volunteer or take nap, lunch (1.5 chores)
12:30-2:45 write (2.25 hours)
2:45-3:15 pick up daughter from school (.5 family)
3:15-5:30 help with homework, do household chores, (write, if time) (2.25 family)
5:30-6:30 cook and eat dinner (1 family)
6:30-10:00 family and blog time (3.5 family)
10:00-10:30 read in bed (.5 writing, it’s always research)
10:30-6:30 Sleep (8 hours)
There are 24 hours in a day…
Current schedule:
• Sleep 8 hours (intended amount often read)
• Write 2.75 hours(intended amount, often doing chores instead)
• Family time 6.5 hours
• Chores & errands 3.75 hours (often more)
• Exercise 3 hours
My Daily Goals :
• sleep 8 hours
• write 4 hours
• family time 7
• chores & errands 2
• exercise 3 hours
How can I be more productive? It appears I’m spending too much time on errands, chores, volunteering and/or napping.
WHAT’S GETTING IN YOUR WAY? WHAT CAN YOU DO TO UTILIZE YOUR TIME BETTER?
My schedule looks remarkably like yours! What gets in my way of being more productive? The new puppy. Seriously, why did no one tell me before we adopted him that my writing time was going to be cut to nearly nothing, and he was going to make his main ambition to chew apart my power cord??
ReplyDeleteThat, I don't know how to deal with.
Wow, thanks for the invitation! I am going to analyze every minute I spend for the next week and then I'll make a chart for myself. I'm a little scared.
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm standing in awe of your 3 hours a day of exercise. I'm chasing a toddler around, so I call it a good 30 minutes of jogging on a good day. :)
ReplyDeleteI want your schedule! Actually mine is pretty similar with 6:30-8 getting everyone off to school, checking emails, exercise 1 hour, chores, getting son to preschool, volunteering, more chores, and at night I am running the kids to places. I usually write one afternoon a week and a couple nights a week. I need to get organized in my house so I can write more! I definitely could be more efficient. I should make myself a schedule and stick to it!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I would be too frightened to make out a schedule like this. I would actually hate to see how little of it includes writing! :-/ But that makes me think I should do a better job of fitting it in there. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI get in my way. I'm my own worst enemy with time management, because I am truly forgetful and disorganized. Someday, I'll find a strategy that works for me. :)
ReplyDeleteOh man, Here goes:
ReplyDeleteMon-Fri
4-5
Coffee,surfing writing related websites & work emails
5-6:30
Gym
6:30-7:45
Clown around with kids & wife, get ready for work
7:45-8:30
Commute
8:30-5:00
Work (more work of I have a project)
5-6
Commute
6-9
Kids homework, sports practices, clown around with kids, put them to bed
9-11
Writing, reading, web surfing, or sometimes work, maybe a little lovin ;)
Sat-Sun
Enjoy family, gym, sports practices, play lacrosse Sunday night, writing, reading, Sometimes work.
As busy as it seems, every day is a gift and I love every G.D minute of it!
Great schedule! Wow ... 3 hours at the gym! That's impressive. I do about 1.5 hours after morning drop-offs and before starting work.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion - wake up earlier and get that writing time in. Or am I the only insomniac crazy enough to do that? I like how much time you've devoted to your family - I need to set a block of time aside specifically for that, I always seem to be trying to do a million things at once when the family's around, and none of them very well. I'd probably do better to just know that time's specifically for my family and not try to do other things besides. I also spend a lot of writing time dealing with the dog. She seems to think whenever I'm up and about that my purpose in life is to be her playmate.
ReplyDeleteHeidi--You should have asked me! Our "puppy" is now three and is finally less time consuming. However, last night we were in a blizzard warning, so she needed to go out every hour. I suggest gates and using a crate for your sanity.
ReplyDeleteJonathon--It might surprise you how much time you spend on certain things once you really look at your whole week. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteKaren--I only do two hours on Tuesday and Thusday. I'm trying to lose a few pounds. In the winter we aren't outside a lot, so I have to hit the gym. I'm blessed to be in the position to go to the gym daily. :)
ReplyDeleteKelly--My next life management post is going to be about determining what is important and what is not important. I'm also going to talk about procrastinating. Hopefully, it will help someone other than me. :)
Melissa--That's exactly why I did it...I feel like I'm spending all of my time (when I'm not in the gym) cleaning and running errands. So I'm publicly reogranizing my life. :)
ReplyDeleteShannon--I'm sure you have it more toether than me. :) Maybe something in my reorganization journey will be beneficial to you.
Sean--Wow, you're very organized! You are only getting five hours sleep! YIKES, I'd be a zombie... I hope you get to catch up a bit on the weekends.
ReplyDeleteKelly--Are you one of those people who gets dressed for work at the gym? I am totally amazed by the number of women I see putting on makeup and doing their hair each day. When I taught, there was no way I could go to a gym.
ReplyDeleteSusan--You have three kids and I have one, so you have more to do than I do...and well, your pup is a bit more demanding than mine. LOL I do iron during family time(one night a week). It's usually when we are watching American Idol. I know I need more writing time...I think procrastinating (certain chores) causes me to be less productive. I'll leave the getting up in the middle of the night to write to you...
Wow, I love your schedule. I am a very, VERY scheduled person. When I'm not working in the summer, I suffer a little bit and have to set goals for the hours in my days. I find I can do more when I schedule my life.
ReplyDeleteUm ... a schedule? I used to be more scheduled than I am and I need to get back to it. I'm much more productive that way.
ReplyDeleteElana--Thanks, I have similar problems in the summer...I'm going to stick with this schedule and see if my productivity increases. Today, I've already checked a bunch of things off my list. :)
ReplyDeleteMG--You wouldn't believe all the things I've checked off so far today, I even added some things that I hadn't planned on doing. Here it is in my scheduled writing time and I'm checking my blog and doing some research. :) I just hope I don't forget to pick up my daughter.
Sharon~
ReplyDeleteMy schedule is very simple.
M -F, Up at 5:00 and sitting at my work desk by 6:00. In between doing my normal job, check e-mails and read some blogs. Back home by 5:00, except three days a week when I work out, and on those days I'm home by 6:30. Decompress and eat dinner until 7:00. Read and comment on blogs, then write until 8:30-9:00. Watch some DVR TV until 10:00 then its off to sleep.
Sa-Sun, write as much as I can possibly can when I'm not doing household chores or running around.
Basically, I fit in what I can when I can. I'm not in any hurry though.
DL--Wow, you're at work by 6! I'm amazed you find time to workout with your busy schedule. I only write when I'm alone. I rarely get any writing done on the weekends. When we go to Bull Shoals Lake I do manage to squeeze some time in. I like to sit on the deck in the morning and watch the hummingbirds feed while I write.
ReplyDeleteI especially like your last two sentences. You sound so calm and relaxed. :)
I'm obsessed with the way people spend their time. Read Elana Johnson's recent post on where her minutes go, as well.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that your intentions don't always match the result. The important thing is the intentions, right?!
Jennie--Today was a good day. I did almost everything on my list, with the exception of getting 8 hours of sleep. I woke up at 1:30, 3:30, and 4:30....The blizzard force winds made the dog think she had to go out every hour. At 4:30 I put her to bed in her crate, but by then I was wide awake...I was productive though. :)
ReplyDelete