I'm trying to come up with better, more creative ways of managing my time so I don't end up all stressed out and covered with hives. (The hives, by the way, are slowly going away--veeeery slowly--but still aren't gone. Sigh...)
My current method of time management, a very demanding weekly calendar printed out on an Excel spreadsheet and then filled in, seems to be having the opposite effect that I intended it to have. That is, I still can't finish everything I put on the calendar, and I still end up feeling stressed and exhausted. Having a three-day-a-week day job has only complicated matters.
I'm sort of considering ditching the calendar worksheet, and instead making a checklist of general to-do categories (e.g., writing, organizing, CM, research, housework); putting down a goal of how many hours I want to spend on each one in a given week; and then having a grid. Each box in the grid would equal a half hour, and I would check off the time increments as I complete them. This would have the added advantage of giving me an idea of how much time I actually spend on things in a week as compared with how much I think I should be doing.
Wow. I just read that last paragraph over, and came to the realization that I really have an anal-retentive side. Maybe I shouldn't do all that. Maybe I need a vacation.
3 comments:
I have tried organizing my life like that. It fails miserably because you don't schedule transition time. Remember how in high school they only gave you five minutes between classes? Even though that clearly wasn't enough time to go to your locker, go potty, and get to class. The same thing happens with schedules, but to a greater and more frustrating degree. I have no answer as of yet, apart from "quit your job," which is what I'm doing in 2 months.
A wee bit anal, perhaps!
Yes, you need a vacation... I'm still so amazed you got anything written this week, and I'm proud of you. Let me know if you want any help with CM... I could serve drinks or something... not in Welsh, but...
It's definitely the transition time that gets me. I don't know why it takes so long to change activities, but it does.
Thanks for the help offer, T! Beware because I may take you up on it at some point. It's really just organizational difficulties, though - settling all the logistics. It's mostly down to details, but there are seemingly zillions of those...
Post a Comment