As y'all know I have two kids under 3.5 and I'm struggling with exhaustion, deadlines,a nd getting everything done. I've given my routine some thoughts.
Some initial thoughts
Maybe I can relieve some stress by laying the foundation to do more in less time, and get more out of the time I already so spend on everything. But how?
Some ideas:
1. Make fewer car trips, fewer trips to the store each week. This will require better planning, but can hopefully cut down on a lot of the "Oh we need this," store trips.
I have already "cut" some of the childcare trips. My sitter now lives 30 minutes each way (up from 10 since the move.) We won't give her up, but instead of driving home and back after pick ups and drop offs, I've begun working from the library by her house, and using that time to go to the gym, work, run errands, etc.
2. Check email and use the Internet fewer times each day. I'm thinking I might be able to check my mail in the morning, in the afternoon, and again before dinner and manage all of my work obligations. Except maybe the day before my story runs and my editor is blasting me with questions. But the rest of the week, yeah. And no surfing because I'm bored. If I'm on the computer, it's for work or something specific. Not just wasting time.
With that time, maybe I can redirect it into cooking, cleaning, vegging out, catching up reading while the kids are playing, etc.
3. Change the kids' TV time. We don't let the kids run rampant with the TV, but it is kind of random. I'm thinking it might be better to stop the random TV, and save it for only when I need to take a little break and get a little bit of work done. Maybe for 15 to 45 minutes?
4. Clean up my upstairs and downstairs workspaces. Upstairs is a catch all for bills and such to the point where I don't have a place for the computer sometimes.
Also, my office in the basement is still packed in boxes since the move. I need to set it up, as when my mom comes to watch the kids on Tuesdays, I'd at least have a quiet uninterrupted place to make calls and work. Right now, I'm upstairs, and they are always climbing all over me while I make calls and tugging on my arms begging me to hang out with them. It's impossible.
5.Get more out of my time with the kids. I'm often juggling so many things I'm not really there at all for the kids, even though I am there. Make sense? I'm trying to make an effort to read to them more, sit down on the floor with them more to build things and play with things, so that maybe when I do actually have to sneak off to make dinner or work, they won't be as desperate for my attention. We'll see. But it is exhausting!
6. Have designated nights for work projects, leisure, and personal projects. I have an informal system already, but it doesn't always play out in practice. Maybe I can be more motivated if I know working on X night, means I can work on my novel or watch a movie on Y night.
7. Plan meals and get a regular schedule so I have one less thing to think or worry about. I'd like to put as many of the mundane daily tasks on autopilot as possible. Not sure where to start, but I'm thinking.
My plan, part 1
December 6th, 2011 at 05:23 pm
December 7th, 2011 at 04:08 am 1323230924