This Writer’s Wallet

On Managing Time or, Not Managing It

Do you know what everyone in this room has the exact same amount of?

Time. 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week.

That was the beginning pitch for a speech I didn’t get to hear the rest of at a conference last week. I, instead, went to a fantastic, inspiring, completely great talk about relationships, and I’m glad I did. However, the time thing is still on my mind. I have got to get better at my time management, and I’ve got to do it fast.

Here’s what I know:

My total time: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (168 hours total in a week)
Sleeping: 8 hours a night for a total of 56 hours (non-negotiable, if at all possible)
Daily routine/getting ready: 7 hours morning, 2.5 hours night
Working: 42.5 hours a week
Church: 2.5 hours a week
Transportation: Between 6 and 11 hours each week (traffic, how it varies)

Rounding up, that’s 120.5 hours already accounted for, leaving me with 47.5.

What other responsibilities do I have?

*Working for the family company
*Blogging for this site, at least 3x weekly
*Eating/cooking/planning meals
*Logistics: e-mailing/bill-paying/budgeting/phone calls
*Cleaning/organizing

What else takes up time?

*Socializing: with family, friends
*Being outside: in the garden, with the dog, going for a walk
*Relaxing: watching TV, Facebooking, reading magazines, vegging out

Wow, I really thought this budgeting-my-time idea would make me feel better, but instead it’s making me feel more stressed out. I only have 47.5 hours to get all my stuff done!!??

There are things I can cut out (relaxing/socializing), but what kind of life doesn’t have relaxing/socializing built into it? There are things I can double-up (organizing my bills/cleaning while also talking on the phone or getting something else done), but only some things will work like that.

What’s happening right now is that I’m cutting out downtime, getting less sleep, almost nodding off at work on slow days. I’m also online way too much, at work and at home, and my eyes are sick of it.

Any suggestions? I am going to be thinking about this, while doing everything else, obviously. I’m open to any tips and tricks you’ve found to help you manage your time. But just off the top of my head, I’m thinking this blog is going to suffer.

Photo: Mike9Alive