I nerd out over time management and ways to maximize the minutes and hours I allocate to different projects.
I was really good at this pre-Saira.
I’m still good at it post-Saira though my definition of productivity has certainly changed. She’s brought a sharper focus to the things I say yes to (and, more notably, the things I turn down).
I am in a constant state of time-management flux. Best laid plans and all. It works out perfectly in my head and then we get a virus or emergent morning snuggles earlier than scheduled or a dog gets a double ear infection and we spend two hours at the vet.
Now, more than ever, I’m nerding out about time management. Shit has to get done. Somehow.
So here are two habits I’ve built mental-muscle on the past several years and they still work for me during this lid-off-the-blender season of life.
Time blocking. I don’t do every thing every day and I diligently assign my work-hours to specific tasks.
Plan the day the night before. Intentionally scheduling my day before it begins helps keep me on track to complete the day’s work.
These things help. What also helps me is having low expectations for my success rate (cue: toddler for me or whatever it is for you that disrupts the flow) and having a partner who shares the burden of sick days and doctor appointments and everything in between.
The benefit to all this that I love very much is that my playtime is my guilt-and-work-free playtime. I am present. I can sit in the driveway counting acorns or walk up and down the street looking for and waving at all the school buses and not be distracted by work. You know, the work I finished during the time block I obsessively put it in.
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