Ramblings-n-Writings

Earlier this month I had to chuckle when, in a comment, Dianne asked me to share some of my time management tips. My first thought was “What time management?!?!?” Honest! She listed the things that I mention doing (gardening, tutoring, blogging, writing, taking photos, taking care of pets, cooking, housekeeping plus long treks to the store) and it does seem like a lot. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been pondering how I manage my time and am finally sitting down to answer Dianne’s question.

Before I do share anything, I need to mention a few things… (1.) We don’t have kids yet. (2.) Neither my DH nor I have an 8 to 5 job or any type of regular work schedule so our days are very flexible. (3.) I have tried over the past year or so to set up a daily schedule and menu planning – neither work for me. I don’t know why; they just don’t.

Probably the most important thing to managing time without a schedule is to work in time chunks. I tell myself that I’m going to do ____ for ____ minutes. For example, if I want to redecorate the living room for spring, I’ll give myself 10 minutes to pack up the winter decorations, 5 minutes to clean, and 10 minutes to redecorate. If I don’t accomplish the complete task in the set time, I sometimes continue til I finish and other times I save the rest of the task for later. Not finishing usually doesn’t happen because it is amazing how much can be accomplished in 10 or 15 minutes.

Another part of working in time chunks is to reward yourself. If I spend 15 minutes cleaning, I’ll reward myself with 10 minutes of blog reading, checking email, or some other non-work task. I like the work/reward system because it varies my time. I’m not spending an hour cleaning or an hour reading stuff online. It helps me not be sedentary for long periods of time, forces me to make the most of my time, and allows me to do the things I enjoy before I’m too tired to do them.

The largest portions of my day are reserved for work. I typically spend about 3-4 hours a day working on editing and writing projects for my business. And most evenings also include 1-2 hours of online tutoring. When I’m working on projects, I try to take 5-10 minute breaks every 20 minutes or so (the work/reward system). Sometimes I prep dinner, straighten a room, wander outside, play with the puppy, plan a shopping trip, or whatever else I can think of to refresh my mind. This also allows me to accomplish small projects throughout the day while working. In reality, my days are very non-structured, but if I’m working on a deadline, everything else is forgotten.

Cleaning has always been a non-favorite task of mine, but fitting it into my work “breaks” makes it manageable (short time segments) and even enjoyable at times. As far as a cleaning schedule, I sort of have one. I try to vacuum the whole house on Tuesdays and Fridays. The living room floor is sometimes vacuumed every day. I used to have a laundry day but that was too overwhelming. Now I try to do 1 or 2 loads a day 2-3 days a week depending on the size of the laundry mountain. Dusting is done on an as needed basis but at least once a week.

Besides whatever cleaning I accomplish during the day, every night I make a 5-10 minute “clean sweep” of the living room and kitchen before I go to bed. I fold all the blankets on the chairs, pick up the puppy toys (replace “puppy” with “kids” if you have children!), clean off the coffee table, put the remotes back – just make it look neat. After the living room, I straighten the kitchen. This might mean putting a few dishes in the dishwasher, wiping the counters, or returning miscellaneous things to where they go. Personally, this quick “clean sweep” makes me feel so much better. There’s nothing as depressing as waking up to a messy living room or a dirty kitchen. One benefit to “clean sweeping” the living room is everything is put away in the morning making it much easier to dust or vacuum.

The final tip for this post (I may do more in the future) is to plan your week but be flexible. In the beginning of the week, Jerry and I go over our appointments for that week and/or any places we want to go. We set a tentative day for shopping if we don’t have any appointments that take us to town; however, the shopping day may change if he isn’t able to make the trip. Because of Jerry’s RSD, I’ve learned to be very flexible in my plans. Some days he just isn’t able to sit in a car for 45 minutes, walk around a store, and ride home again. On the days we are home, I try to get as much done in the house (laundry, vacuuming, dusting – general housekeeping), so when we can make a trip, I don’t feel overwhelmed by what I’m not doing at home.

Flexibility in a schedule is so important. When I got married I promised myself that I wouldn’t be so stuck to a schedule that I would miss out on life, family and friends. How did I come to this decision? When I was teaching in Florida, I would go home to Pennsylvania twice a year – Christmas and a few weeks in the summer. I had a really good friend in PA who I always looked forward to spending time with. She was married with a young child so I realize demands on her time were different than mine, but she took her schedule way too seriously in my opinion. If I wanted to spend time visiting with her and catching up, I had to go along with her on her errands or visit with her at her mother-in-law’s or watch her clean (nothing like trying to carry on a conversation over a vacuum cleaner). Why? Because those things were on her schedule for that day of the week. I asked her about it once and she told me that her world would just fall apart if she didn’t vacuum the downstairs on Tuesday mornings, and if she changed her schedule, her child would be upset. Yipes! If someone calls and wants to visit me in three days, I rearrange my schedule so the time on that day is completely free. I’ll get up a half hour earlier to vacuum or even vacuum the night before! I would also prep my child that a special guest was coming and make it exciting to the child so the disruption of the schedule wouldn’t cause a problem. Moral of the story: be flexible!

If you are interested in learning how others manage their days, especially those with children, check out Fishboys and Biblical Womanhood. If you have any suggestions for how you manage your time, please leave a comment!

Woo-hoo! Today is the day! This is my 100th post!!!

Ramblings-n-Writings started in September 2007 with no real purpose in mind. I had some ideas like just sharing our life in the country on a farm, but after a few weeks it became obvious that only friends and family were interested in our life. And sometimes I struggled with what to write so my posting was quite sporadic. I experimented with a few other topics, such as editing, writing, organic living, frugality etc. All of those seemed to have a broader interest base. In February, I settled into my niche and began focusing mainly on writing, editing, reading, and books, with a few posts on frugality, gardening, farming and organic living thrown in for the fun of it. I also try to post on an almost daily basis (excluding when the dog ate the power cord or when our regular schedule gets tossed out the window).

In the beginning, I had very few readers. In November I installed Sitemeter and discovered I had maybe 10 readers a week – yipes! I did a little blog reading and implemented some suggestions on how to drive traffic – I use Mr. Linky on other blogs (that’s why there’s an occasional off-topic post about a subject I want to write about), I comment on other blogs, and I participated in the Ultimate Blog Party. Now my traffic numbers average around 250 readers a week!!! *pat self on back*

So, if you are new here, welcome! If you are an old friend, especially those from the beginning (Dianne and Becky), thanks for sticking with it!