Feb 21 2008
I Need More Time!
(Cross-posted at BlogHer)Â
Today as I was struggling to get my writing done, answer my emails and phone calls, draft an entry for this blog, and manage my workload at the office, I really wished there were more hours in the day. There’s so much that I want and need to do, and there’s so little time. For example, I’d love to do some more writing after work, but I’m heading directly from the office to my volunteer commitment. Maybe tomorrow evening? Nope. I’ll be at a celebration dinner for a friend who just started a new job. Arrrrgh–I need more TIME!
Then it occurred to me–why not just make more?
There are a few ways to go about this magical feat:
- Wake up earlier (if you’re a morning person) or go to bed later (if you’re a night owl). You’ll be adding an extra hour of time to the period when you feel your most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Early birds may find themselves going to bed a little bit earlier. That’s OK–early birds aren’t at most productive at night any way. Likewise, night owls might find themselves sleeping in. Also fine.
- Eliminate distractions. You know the hour you spent playing Spider Solitaire yesterday? Remove the game from your computer. Your marathon blog-reading sessions (I mean, you HAVE to catch up on all your e-friends)? Trim them to no more than 30 minutes. Your nightly ritual of watching three Law & Order SVU reruns in a row (my personal addiction)? Allow yourself one episode, tops.
- Work smarter. Let’s say that I’m in the middle of editing a document for work. I’m rolling right along when my blackberry goes off–new email. I stop what I’m doing and reply. Now where was I? Hmm… I’ll just reread the last paragraph I was working on and– Phone rings. I answer it and spend 15 minutes discussing an unrelated topic. OK, now back to my document. This is THE WORST way to work. Women are excellent multitaskers–it’s one of our natural advantages, but don’t multitask yourself into non-productivity. Do one thing at a time. ONE. Give it your complete, undivided attention. You will find that you work much quicker and more efficiently than when your brain is bouncing around like a ping pong ball.
- Plan ahead. Cook a week’s worth of lunches and/or dinners on Sunday afternoon. This will save you AT LEAST an hour a day. Organize your errand-running so that you aren’t driving back and forth across town. Make daily and weekly prioritized to-do lists. It’s amazing the difference that planning and organization can make in your life.
- Learn to say no. If you find every night of your week filled with social commitments, activities/events for your kids, volunteer obligations, etc., then you need to learn how to say no. It’s tempting to try and do everything for everyone who asks (especially your kids), but the truth is, you just can’t do it all. Be selective.
Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to start waking up at 5:00am every day (yes–even on the weekends). I already wake up at 6-6:30, so it’s not like it’s that huge of a difference. This would allow me to get an extra hour of writing done in the morning. The only time that I will sleep past 5:00 is when I’ve been up later than 11:00pm (I know that I need at least 6 hours in order to be functional).
What can you do to create some extra time?
* Day 15 was a success!
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That could almost go toward being a parent too
JimmyEW and I mostly cut out all TV and I can’t imagine getting up earlier than 5:30-6:00am. Staying up later isn’t an option but I do also do a good amount of cooking during the weekend (as you have seen) and try to make things that will be more than one meal.
Good ideas. I have the same struggle. Somtimes I’ll write blogs in email from work and then email them to myself…so I don’t look like I’m slacking. Sometimes you just have to write no matter what you’re doing.
btw, back at you (email)
Getting up early strikes a chord with many successful authors. The muse is fresh from dreamland then, ready to deliver.
And you don’t have to spend the rest of the day saying, I wish I were writing.
I have a rough draft almost completed and I can’t believe the distractions that turn me in a different direction each day. I’m going to go for it and report to you when I have that rough draft completed.
Report to me too when your writing is done.
Hugs, JJ
Hugs, JJ
I have a job with a lot of downtime. I’m overqualified, and therefore get all of my work done too quickly. There aren’t a whole lot of challenges here, and a big part of my job is customer service, so if the phone isn’t ringing, I’m not doing much. Therefore, I spend too much time surfing the internet. Good, bad, or indifferent, it’s what I do.
What I can do instead with some of that extra time is write my stockpile blog posts for when I go live. I read this post this morning, made that choice, and banged out three posts.
Limiting goof off time is another good idea. I’ll have to work on that one.
I wish I could do the sleep thing. I am a night owl and would love to stay up later. But, I have a job that prefers that I come in on time, so I can’t sleep later. And I love my sleep.