Time Management 101 and Nyquil
Well, I'm back again. Slept a LOT this weekend. Thanks to Nyquil. Shots and shots of Nyquil since the immune system is really gonzo and I am fighting off a cold. I had strange assorted psychodelic dreams from said Nyquil. Forget hallucinogenic drugs. Not necessary. Just give me Nyquil.
But I digress.
Today I sort of cleaned my desk. Then I filled in my Daytimer. To all of you with fancy Palm Pilots, yes, I am the last of those dinosaurs who still fills out my to-do list and calendar on old-fashioned PAPER. Since my to-do list each week is far, far, FAR longer and more panic-inducing than the week in which to accomplish it, I end up rewriting the list each Monday and trying to fathom just HOW on God's green earth I am going to accomplish even a tenth of the things on my list.
About 80% of my list is family stuff. Four kids. One an aspiring concert violinist in one professional quartet and two orchestras, plus she works three nights a week to save for college. Plus she is a senior, meaning we are filling out college applications and writing a LOT of checks. One child into Ninjitsu twice a week and playing the horn. One a rock and roll drummer (at age 9). One age 2 and just Demolition Man. If you read this blog regularly, no need to say anymore about him. Add confirmation classes for one son, church services each Sunday at which I prepare coffee and get donuts for everyone. Laundry for a family of six. Housework. Dogs (three). Birds (two). Python (thank GOD, only one of those). Beta fish (one, and hey, she needs clean water and fish food). Meals. Homework. Mine is the story of nearly every American mom. Well, maybe except for the python. I don't allow my kids to do too many activities. But even ONE activity per kid times four kids . . . and one of ME. Do the math. I have NO idea how my mother did it. At all.
About 20% of my list is work-related. I take freelance editing this year because I have to pay for college next year (the last three years, I hadn't taken any). I write articles freelance for a glossy. I write three books a year and a couple of proposals. Now, my list, professionally, should be closer to 50-50 in my life when I look at my Daytimer, just in terms of how much work I do, but that's just as hallucinogenic as Nyquil. The family stuff trumps.
NOW . . . . . add to this the fact that TWO people this weekend asked me if I started CHRISTMAS SHOPPING?!?!?!?! And you have full-blown, all-out panic. My GOD, but Christmas is less than . . . well, calculate the shopping days. I have 7 nieces and nephews, four kids of my own, two parents, two sisters, a significant other, a best friend, and assorted other shopping to do.
Okay, let me take a shot of Nyquil and make it all go away. LOL!
So tell me, writers and mothers and fathers and friends . . . . fitting in writing in all of your lives . . . what do you do?
I've shared before my number-one secret to time management is eliminating things that don't matter to me. If I make plans, I REALLY want to do it (VERY much looking forward to dinner tomorrow with my friend G.L.). If I volunteer, it is something PERSONALLY meaningful to me. I don't watch a lot of TV unless it's something that brings me enjoyment--not a lot of mindless TV watching just because. I try to maximize my time by doing that which matters most today. With the exception of chauffeuring duties (my least favorite thing), I generally accomplish that goal. Even laundry I try to do mindfully, thinking, "I do this for my family so they feel cared for." Silly, but it works to keep me from feeling resentful about housework. Fresh-smelling clothes means Mom loves you. Even you, adolescent boy with WAY too many T-shirts, and YOU, nine-year-old fashion-minded girl who changes her clothes twice a day.
So, writers, friends, share your best time-saving secret.
Meanwhile, I need some more Nyquil.
Labels: time management
posted by Erica Orloff at 2:46 PM
16 Comments:
My end of the year goal, besides my deadline, is time management related. Michelle Rowen recommended a book on how to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time that is veritably saving my life.
The book?
Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy
It's only 128 pages long, but is packed with helpful advice. I love this book.
I also use a day planner that I purchased from the Franklin Covey store. I need lists, and I need them ON PAPER.
Time saving? Is there really such an animal?
I just try to multi-task. If I'm writing in the evening (week nights), I write for a while, and when I need to get up and stretch, I put in/switch/fold a load of laundry, change the cat litter, dishes, clean up toys, go through the mail, etc. Gives me somethign to think about other than what I am writing, which usually lets me find my way past any obstacle that I am dealing with (that causes a need for a break).
Other than that I just give up that the chaos is wrong or that the kids neediness is anything but love and it all works out. Sure I can''t pump out 3 books a year, and all the rest, but the day job is doing a great job of paying the bills and letting me save for retirement and two college educations.
I try desperately to keep track of everything in my calendar, but I usually end up with lists on post-its around the office and the house. I'm a list person and generally cannot function at all well without a list to work from.
Hope you are feeling well soon Erica. I'm sending you some CA sunshine and happiness from here in the OC. I hope it brightens your day a bit :)
DH is my secret. He keeps everything working. He remembers stuff and does those piddly little silly things one must do. All the errands, too.
I have a palm pilot, but I use it to write in emergencies, read ebooks, and listen to conference tapes.
I have seven scattered to-do lists pasted on my computer, amidst the paper on my desk, and if something is really important, I ask DH to remember, too.
My problem with writing things down is that I forget to look.
So, um, you probably don't want to be asking me for my secret, LOL. Although, forgetting does save quite a bit of time. :-)
Hi Heather:
I will DEFINITELY check that out. Love the title, too.
E
ewoh:
I do the EXACT SAME THING when I need a break from writing. Clean a bathroom, run some laundry. Same idea. :-)
E
Hi Spy:
Unfortunately, my other half is a THOUSAND times worse than even me.
LOL!
E
I have a time saving secret, but I wouldn't necessarily label it 'best' by any means. My secret is that I can easily ignore an unswept floor or unwashed stack of laundry. :-) It doesn't need to be done immediately for me. (Hey, I said it wasn't best.) But I'll get to it. Eventually. ANd no one in this house has ever starved, gotten ill from germs growing on bathroom counters, or even run out of clothes (well, okay, maybe underwear).
I'm with Michele. Sloppy houses work for me. I do clean the bathrooms at least every two weeks, but everything else can wait until I get around to it. I also cut out a lot of TV. And (wince) books. When I read a book now, it's because I love it.
Hi Michele:
I have a housekeeper come once a week. It is the ONLY way this house even is halfway respectable.
E
Hi Edie:
We're more "cluttered" than sloppy, per se. I.e., we're usually CLEAN but MESSY. LOL!
Does that make sense?
E
Heather, I'm checking out the Eat That Frog book as well.
Erica, I don't seem to manage time, it tends to manage me...guess that's something I definitely need to work on. ;-)
I ignore the messiness, to a point, then it starts weighing on me and nagging at me.
Sadly, it's never ending. AND can morph into a monster in no time.
Kathy:
I know that morph stage well. :-)
E
Ok going to check out Eat that Frog. And like Michele my house is never ever what my mom would call clean and never will be. Especially after being sick for the last two months, but I'm working on turning things around.
My secret, the kids do a lot of the work. Keeping in mind they're boys, I don't use their bathroom and I'm not cleaning it. I don't use their bedrooms, so I'm not cleaning those either (though I did have to break down and help #2 son this weekend. We got rid of a bag of trash and a bag of clothes for charity). Same goes for the living room. We all do the dishes and clean the kitchen (hey it's quality time) and lots of times my youngest helps cook-it's nice to have that extra pair of hands and it's a way for US to get QT and talk about our day :)
amie:
I just gave two of my kids chore charts and it made a BIG different last week. My son is quite enterprising (some chores he can earn extra money for doing).
E
Erica --
Although I have more time to write (now that both kids are in school all day), I'm finding that family pressures from the mother-in-law are stressful. We have a "lived" in house, while my husband's family keep their houses pefect -- free of clutter, you can eat off the floor perfect.
When I started writing again after the move, I let the house go a bit and my mother-in-law visited. Ughhh. Plus, now that I live close to my in-laws, they don't understand what I do all day, if I'm not cleaning. Writing? That's not real work. Apparently, I should be cleaning the house all day!
Tina:
My mother-in-law disowned my husband 10 years ago because of me . . . and she has ZERO interest in meeting any of her grandchildren--her ONLY grandchildren. Zip. No interest. I used to feel really, really badly about it. But the more I hear people's stories, the more I think I am "lucky" in a way to not have to listen to constant criticism. And I told my son he could bring home a stripper and I would STILL find things to like about her. I think I will make a GREAT mother-in-law because of all I've been through. You have my sympathies.
E
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