Category Archives: Schedules

The real vs the ideal

February 21, 2015 6:57 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Something that I thought might be fun to compare would be how I want to spend my week versus how I actually spend it.  This won’t be a minutely detailed exposition of my entire week but to give some generalized idea of how it goes and how it’s supposed to go.

Part of it is to give some insight into my daily activities but also for me to review how I tend to spend my time and to see where I might refocus or reinterpret the way that I spend my time.

Monday through Thursday

Ideally – Waking up at 3:45 and getting suited up to run my 7 daily miles and finishing up just in time to catch a quick shower and begin the workday at 5.  Getting on the phone and on Skype to chat to clients in the middle east and Asia as their workday comes to a close. Lunch at 11 and finishing up by 2 so I can hit the gym for an hour’s worth of swimming or free weights.  Come home for a couple extra hours of office work till 6.  Spend some time writing this blog or working on some fiction.  Wind down the day with a book and get to sleep round 9:30

In reality – Waking round 2:30 or 3 or 3:30 and trying to convince myself or negotiate with myself into going out to run.  Running somewhat panicked to get back home before 5 to start work.  Dealing with a half-dozen “emergencies” that have cropped up overnight while I was asleep and not getting any actual work that I’m supposed to be doing till about 9 or 10.  Lunch at 11 or 11:30 or 12 or when work allows. Aiming to finish at 2 but in actuality closer to 3 or sometimes 4.  Taking care of relatives or household chores that need to be done.  Hitting the gym if and when possible and then coming back to do more office work till 7 or 8.  Writing bits and pieces here and there.  Feeling too wound up to read anything substantial and instead trying to finish the day with some silly YouTube videos or some light magazine articles to fall asleep round 10 or 11

Friday

Ideally – Similar to the regular work week but at the end of the day letting things rest over the weekend and preparing to go out.  Everything in its time and place, right?  Going out but not too late so as to work out Saturday morning.

In reality – This is the day when everyone wants everything done and done right away.  It most definitely cannot wait till Monday and no we don’t care what plans you made already.  It will get done no matter how late it gets.

Saturday

Ideally – a good workout to begin the day and then relaxing.  Noontime nap and then using the afternoon to write or create or plan.  Hopefully with friends at some coffee-house.  Enjoying Saturday evening at some event.

In reality – Trying to find any least excuse to stay in bed.  Working out and trying to make up for lost time during the week.  Grocery shopping to do, things to be repaired, things to be mended.  Running late as usual and the afternoon blurs into the evening.  Trying to find something to do since you haven’t had time to plan ahead

Sunday

Ideally – Sleeping in a little longer.  Stretching and taking a calming run.  Looking over the paper and some bills and having  leisurely breakfast or even a brunch.  Starting up the computer to read over some work emails, and then napping in the afternoon.  Making an early night of it to start fresh on Monday.

In reality – Getting called at 2AM on a Sunday morning by a grad student from India who tracked down your home phone number and demands free data for his dissertation due in 2 months time.Staying awake for the rest of the night and feeling slightly worse than death for the rest of the day.  Being shocked by all the bills due for payment.  Doing office work and seeing 5 emails from the same grad student in your inbox. Staying up late and wondering if it’s all worth it.

Posted in: activities, habits, life in general, schedules

Trying too many things at once

January 20, 2015 6:25 AM , Leave a Comment ,

The year began with a flurry of activity on all fronts.  I wanted to make 2015 a better year than 2014 was.  I planned it out before the start of the year, I got things lined up, and was all set when January 1st rolled around.

But then a couple of things hit me by surprise and I had a rough start that got me all panicky. I’ve now settled down and am trying to make the plan work.

The main issue now is trying to get everything resorted and going again.  I went back and reviewed my goals for the year and came to a couple of realizations.  Firstly that it’s 18 pages long.  How did I get that complicated? So many goals and sub-goals and extended goals.  Looking at the totality of it all it seems daunting.

Secondly that although the plan is overly detailed in some ways that in other more important ways it’s totally not detailed at all. Things aren’t organized by priority or have specific dates or have specific goals or targets.  As a consequence I’ve been trying to do it all at once and I don’t think I’m utilizing my time to the best advantage.

With everything that’s happened already I feel like it should be February but I look at the calendar and it’s barely the middle of the month.  At the same time I feel that I am falling behind.  I am definitely having to review my goals more than last year.

But I think if I am going to make any progress at all that I have to step up and stress myself.  I don’t mean failure stress, that is to stress the system till it breaks down but definitely stress the system more.  Only in this way will I make any forward progress.

I have to remember that I have the whole year to get some of these things done and that things will get done.  Things are getting done.  I just have to be more patient.

Posted in: activities, goals, schedules, thought, time

The doldrums

February 18, 2014 6:45 AM , 2 Comments ,

Despite trying to keep myself going at full speed all the time (or perhaps because of it) sometimes I get into periods of time where my energy is at a low ebb.

Work doesn’t appeal to me, neither does exercise, writing, not even brainless activities like web surfing.  I feel just drained of energy.  In Spanish I would say that I have no “animo” related to animation.  To be clear, it’s not a depression but a lack of will to do anything.

These type of days can play havoc with the rest of my week.  Specially on days when I have more than enough to do already.  I do what I can but without any real enthusiasm.  I feel overwhelmed as things get done hardheartedly or don’t get done at all.

I recognized these patterns years ago but never knew what to do about them.  I shrugged my shoulders and figured that this was the way that things were.  Falling behind schedule was acceptable to me.

But no longer.

I can’t allow errant fluctuations in my energy dictate my life for me.  So what to do?

Well firstly I recognize these periods of listlessness when they occur.  I don’t just hope that they will go away but address them.

Next, get onto my scheduled activities and force myself to go through them.  We all have things that need doing and need to be done well.  Focus, focus, focus.  Make an extra special effort to get things done right.

Lastly, economize my energy.  I have things that need doing and things that would be nice to do.  I focus on the essentials on these days.  Leave the other stuff for another day.  But note them down so I don’t totally forget about them.

The doldrums will still come and go over time but there is no reason why I need to let them rule my life.

 

 

Posted in: attitude, energy, habits, schedules

Time thieves and time sinks

January 9, 2014 7:21 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I’ve written before about how important time is to me.

One of my relatives asked me this Christmas what I wanted and without a second thought I said “time”.  Don’t give me sweaters or boxes of chocolate, or whatever just give me more time to do what I need to do.

Of course no one can give us more time.  All we can do is organize what we have and use it as best as we can, exploiting it for all it’s worth.

My tablet computer updated some applications the other day and I noticed one of the updates was for a big time thief.  Oddly enough it’s a game about time management.  The game “plants vs zombies” is nothing more than a time management and decision-making game.  You have to organize your time as best as possible and use your resources wisely or else suffer the consequences.  Ironic as the game itself prevents people from organizing and using their time to the best of their abilities.

The thing is that even though it’s a simple-minded game and doesn’t take much effort it takes up time and you really can’t do anything else while playing it.  You can’t do work, you can’t think, you can’t read.  You’re stuck in a single activity and it’s not a particularly productive activity.

Some time sinks you can’t avoid.  Work, sleeping, exercise.  These are fixed in my life and I can’t avoid them.  These activities require some concentration and I can’t really multitask while doing them but I don’t really mind as they are beneficial to me in some other way.

But other time thieves I can avoid or sort in such a way that they don’t harm my everyday activities and long-term goals.

  • Social media.  I keep this minimized and off to the side as possible and I am also trying to reduce my time on it and use it sparingly in my off time.
  • Movies, play, sports events.  I don’t plan to cut these out but I am being much more selective as to which of these events I go to.
  • Books, art work, this blog.  Only on my off time and on scheduled times.
  • Games and television.  For the most part I am past these, especially television.  Games I still enjoy but I have less and less time for them.

Apart from this I am also evaluating all my daily activities to see which I can take advantage of and turn into multitasking opportunities.  Every second is going to count from now on.

Which reminds me I need to delete that little time thief off my tablet.

Posted in: habits, schedules, time