Last night was my husband’s night on toddler duty. I worked from 8-8:45 p.m., then stuck my head outside my office and heard that my husband and toddler were still hanging out together upstairs. So I went up and took over and got the little guy down (to the usual shrieks — and today he managed to open the childproof handle on his other door. Sigh). Then we watched the taped final minutes of the Alabama-Clemson game with the big kids. They went up to bed, and I decided I was hungry. Some nachos and ice cream may have been consumed. Fortunately, I did not make any New Year’s resolutions about healthy eating. I went upstairs to read, wound up chatting with my 9-year-old for a bit, hung out with my husband for a while, then went to sleep at 11. Here’s what happened after that:
11 pm – 6:30 a.m – sleep! Oh, it feels good to write that. I did not even wake up to go to the bathroom.
6:30-6:50 – lie in bed. Husband gets up with toddler, who stayed in his room until the light turned green on his clock.
6:50-7:15 – shower, dress, etc.
7:15-8 – family breakfast. We did French toast this morning.
8-8:30 – first call of day canceled. Wound up doing email/blog comments/Bullish Society comments (I’m the current expert-in-residence over there, and they are tracking time too).
8:30-8:40 – boys ready and to bus stop. My 9-year-old has been watching You Tube tutorials on tying his shoes, and did OK, but still needed some help. The driveway was quite slippery with the melting ice. My husband came out too.
8:40 a.m. -3:10 p.m. — pretty much straight through of work, with a 5-minute gap to heat up a microwave lunch and clean the kitchen as it was cooking. I did 3 interviews for my book, including one with Amelia Boone, the Tough Mudder champ (and Runner’s World cover girl). I am exploring the topic of how people get through difficult or unpleasant things, and I was drawn to her quote I’d read elsewhere that “I’m really good at suffering.” If you’d like to read the account of a race she placed in (written by another participant who didn’t finish) check this out. I also confirmed a speech and did a FB Live chat.
3:10-3:50 – get ready and run outside. It was 48 degrees, which is downright balmy for January in this part of the world!
3:50-4:15 – quick change, daughter into karate uniform, and drive her to the studio. In van, ask her what she wants to get her friends for two weekend birthday parties.
4:15-4:45 – read during karate (still on Bad Religion)
4:45-5:10 – we eat snacks in car together, then I drive home.
5:10-5:30 – get settled, buy presents for weekend birthday parties on Amazon. Yay for Amazon Prime.
5:30-6 – work. email and planning tomorrow.
6-6:40 – dinner with G and kids, then play with little kids while she cleans up.
6:40-6:45- wait for piano teacher to show up to give big boys their lessons.
6:45-7:30 – try on clothes in Nordstrom Trunk. I might keep a DVF dress (shown) and some shoes (not shown).
7:30- 8 – read with some kid interaction (e.g. pulling the roller skates off my daughter’s Samantha doll)
8 – now I am posting this. Still have some email to wade through, then I’ll get the big kids to bed, read some more and aim for 10:30/11 for bed.
Some observations: While I was pretty productive during my work hours, I didn’t feel like I maximized my time between calls. I was trying to stay focused on work, but I probably could have used some of those 5-10 minute segments to read more, instead of checking email. Still, an hour of reading during the day is not bad.
Also, I felt a bit wimpy running for just half an hour after talking to Amelia Boone about her ultra-running career. I now know that to train for a 100k race (62 miles) you do a 30 mile training run on Saturday and a 20 mile training run on Sunday to get used to running on tired legs. Do with that information what you will!
What are you observing as you track your time?
Hi Laura!
I heard from your work by listening to a podcast called “The break” by Fr. Roderick. I then watched your ted talk and I am now starting to keep a time log. Although it is pretty soon to tell, it really feels good to write down what happens during the day.
I have never been a person who keeps a journal, so the idea of logging what I do was a little scary for me. However, using a timestamp really helps me to not get into thinking to deep into stuff and just write what happens and a little bit of how I feel.
Time tracking is letting me see not only how much time I use for myself doing things like reading, praying, listening to podcasts, but also trying to understand that I am actually quite good using the time I have. I am a father of 2 boys, one is 2 and a half and the other 6 months, so I can really see in my time log how their life rhythm affects my day to day choices, both in a positive and sometimes a less positive way (sleeping, right?)
Anyway, I just wanted to share a little bit, and thank you for posting your time tracking since I can use it as an example of how detailed things can be logged.
@Pedro- welcome, glad you found me! And glad to hear the time-tracking is enlightening.
Hi Laura
Your blog is great, and some of your comments are making me laugh. Especially the last paragraph about your interview with Amelia Boone and your feeling during your run right after that. Having been an Ironman Pro athlete for several years I see what Amelia is saying. However, now that I have kids and now that I am trying to combine family and job I know what you are talking about when you write about squeezing in a 30 mins run. But I absolutely share your opinion that there is (almost) always time for a quick run.
Have a great day!
Monika
@Monika – there’s always time for a quick one! A 20 mile one would require some work. Though I did train for and run a marathon in 2010, so I know I can do it. I also know I don’t want to.