I am so impressed by the number of people who are sticking with us (or who are at least checking in with me via email). And congrats to Sukeina, the winner of yesterday’s drawing! I know this is not a “typical” week for many people, but lots of weeks are atypical. Tracking our time helps us see overall patterns, and where we can tune things up. Today I’m asking people to think about this statement:
“I spend way too much time on ______.” (fill in the blank)
For me, I think email is probably the answer to this question (with some Facebook/Twitter, et al thrown in). In 168 Hours, I talk about trying to make the distinction between things that are “work” and “not really work.” The problem is that many of my emails and Facebook posts are in fact work related. But let’s not kid ourselves, many of them aren’t. We all need some downtime, but I should try to be more deliberate with my downtime.
For instance, this is the first time I’ve kept a log for a full week since having Sam, and I’m seeing just how much time I’m feeding him. I often try to check email during this time, but maybe I should consciously try to read some fiction, or even just gaze at my baby instead of scrolling on the iPhone yet again.
Feel free to post here or join us over at Facebook. (or tweet, #168Hours). My log:
3:45 – 5:15 — up with baby. Ugh.
5:15-7:30 — sleep (at least J didn’t pop up at 6!)
7:30- 7:50 – puttering, restarting computer, trying to nap
7:50-8:30 – hang out with kids, get them dressed
8:30-9 – walk J to school (with S, nanny has day off). Discuss potty training with teacher.
9-10 – working inefficiently while dealing with S
10-10:40 – give up on working, play with S, read books, get him down for nap
10:40-12:20 – Nap! I buckle down and try to crank through as much work as possible – set up webinar for next month, etc.
12:20 – nap over. That went fast.
12:20- 12:45 – get Sam’s lunch together, change him, get ready to go
12:45-1:45 – errands with Sam. Nothing urgent. Mostly an excuse for a walk on a nice day.
1:45-2 – email/web catch-up
2-2:30 – play with Sam
2:30 – 2:50 – try to feed him, he gets distracted
2:50-3:30 – outside, briefly to park
3:30-4 – snacks for both of us, get S down
4 – 4:50 – another naptime work session.
4:50-5:15 – hang out with Sam until M comes home with J
5:15-5:45 – general family merriment. M takes kids to playground
5:45-6:30 – run/walk. More to decompress than anything
6:30-7:10 – family time at playground, slowly make our way home
7:10-8 – I feed kids and play with them while M runs
8:00-8:25 – dinner (sushi) with M
8:25-8:45 – feed Sam, trying to get him down, unsuccessfully…
Links to other days
I have not previously posted or registered, but I’ve been keeping a log & it has been very instructive. “Instructive” is a euphemism for “horrifying.” I haven’t even tallied the hours, but simply recording them has shown me just how much time I waste on the Internet–& how little I work at my paid job. (I work from home.) I also failed to realize how much I stop & start: 10 mins work, then check my email, then 30 mins work, then blogs, etc.
Part of this is working at a job I dislike. I have finally begun the process of trying to figure out an alternative, which is hard, since I really don’t have any ideas at the moment. But it is now clearer than ever that I spend too much time on the Internet. I do like my blogs & email, but I need to do much less of them, less often.
I spend way too much time on hesitation. I lurk around the edges of a project that I really care about rather than pouncing with passion like a wild animal. I’m noticing that my hesitation takes the form of doing smaller administrative tasks that are satisfying to finish, but don’t ultimately build towards the big goals and dreams I have.
This is a great exercise, and so fun to know that there are others out there doing the same this week! Thanks for the inspiration!
I spent hours and hours in the car today but had some great pool time with my kid. On a personal level it was a decent day, for work on a scale of 1 to 10 it was not better than a 6, not my best day b/c I had drop off and pickup at daycare and because I remembered for eample I have no contact lenses … I mean I was able to turn this into a meeting with an eye dr who is also a client of mine but still … rushing out for haircuts and contacts b/c i barely remember they are due is not the best situation. the eye drs assistant has a friend at rugters who might work as my assistant five or 10 hours a week so that could have been like anice positive of that meeting
I ran a not very good almost 2 miles… but took a 20 minute walk to the pool which was nice.
The biggest thing that could have made my 2 hour drive from one meeting to the daycare better would have been remembering to charge my cell phone last night so I could call the list of clients I keep and/or just call a friend etc.
FRIDAY
wake up, oriana up
oriana time
oriana
1/2 hour work, take a few calls about 10 min of work worth
drive o to daycare
meeting
drive to eye dr who is also client
meeting
meeting
meeting
meeting eye dr appt
pick out contacts/glass
email order biz cards
drive to daycare
get gas cont drive
drive, phone goes dea
drive
drive (horrible)
drive
arrive daycare pee
drive home get ice cream
home
home regroup pool
regroup pool
feed oriana talk to claud
pool
pool
pool w oriana
pool w o
leave pool with neigbh
oriana
oriana
o with walk with dad
2 mile run 1/2 hour
start o bath
oriana read play
oriana
oriana down
email work stuff bed
Email… and I got rid of blackberry, iphone and any mobile email device about 15 months ago to stop checking email in every moment of waiting. Even in the two seconds waiting for an elevator I would find that I had already automatically taken out my blackberry and checking email.
Hi, I had a great early start Friday morning, but by the end of the day, I was too exhausted to do anything really productive. Here’ my Friday schedlue.
4:00 alarm sets off
4:20 out of bed, pray, get dressed
5:00 downstairs–prep lunch
5:25 at computer–work on resume (determined to get this done for meeting later in the day)
6:41 head to work
7:05 at work, socialize a little (wasted time…)
7:30: buckle down to work
1:30-2:00 phone meeting with career advisor
2:50 leave work–head to pick up kids
3:30 pick up kids and drive to local Tims to meet my mom
3:45-4:10 Tims
4:10 -4:30 p/u pizza
4:35 drop mom off at home
4:50 back home set up for dinner
5:20 dinner with kids, dilly dally a little
6:00 upstairs to pray
6:20 builder arrives–review stuff around home
7:15 leave for beach nearby (p/u mom)
8:30 return home, have snack etc…. lots of dilly dallying, slow mode
9:45 pray
10:45 drop mom home
11:30 sleep
(hubby’s scheduled flight home is delayed by 6 hours)