Since I've been unemployed and there isn't anyone else directing my day, I'm having to learn how to manage time better. I'm working on getting on the educational assistant sub list at the school, but I have to wait for a child welfare check to come back, so until it does, the days are mine. In the last fifteen years, there hasn't been a day when kids or work fill my waking hours. Now I send my three children off to school in the morning and look at the hours stretching ahead of me. It's a huge task just to decide what to do during that time.
There are chores around the house, volunteer opportunities, church responsibilities and of course, writing. My husband is encouraging me to take more time to write, which is important to me, but I'm quickly discovering that if I don't do it first, all the other things push it aside.
To write well I need to be clear headed and awake. This afternoon I was trying to re-type some minutes from the elementary school parent council I am secretary for. It didn't go so well. My lead fingers and fuzzy head made for interesting notes. I finally put my head down on the desk for ten minutes and took a little power nap. It made all the difference in the world and the notes made so much more sense with my eyes open. Often when I try to write in the afternoon, I end up closing my eyes and not getting much done.
So knowing this, I need to rearrange the way I do things. I don't think I'll be breaking any laws if I decide to do more writing in the morning after the kids go to school and more housework in the afternoon when I have such a hard time focusing. Evenings are also a good time for me to get writing, and I seem to be at my most creative after everyone else has gone to bed.
The hardest thing is just getting out of the rut I'm in and convincing myself I will do the housework if I save it until after lunch. In the long run, I think I'll get more done throughout the day. So what is your favorite time of day? When do you do your best creative work?
6 comments:
Morning for me, so long as I don't get distracted by the internet :-)
Strange, isn't it, when after all these years, you suddenly have time during the day. Enjoy it!!
I have a routine down now that school is in, and it's working very well.
6-7 Make breakfast and lunch and get Alyssa on the bus
7-8 Exercise and get Anna on the bus
8-9 Shower and Write!
9 starts the work day
Having a set time every day, first thing after the mayhem dies down, has been heavenly.
Stephanie, I think you have every right to head off to your writing place first thing in the morning. Think of it as checking off your most important 'to-do' before tackling the more mundane household tasks. If your day is your job, then this is what you would do to manage your time, right? Most important things first ... the rest, after!
Since I'm homeschooling, I really can't wrap my head around writing until after school. But I think if I were free to pick my own time to write, I would do it first thing. Like working out, I would feel great about myself then and the rest of the day would be buttah!
It's morning for me as well, which is hard because that's when I usually do my blog reading. I have need of a similar life reorganization, but it's hard to iron out all the old bumps and ruts and start fresh.
I'm a morning person too. If I don't write early, it doesn't happen. My brain slows down around 2:00 p.m. and then completely turns off around 5:00.
My daughter is in preschool from 12-2:00, so that's sort of my only real writing time unless I get up extra early. So I try to get emails, housework, and errands out of the way so that at 12:00 I can just focus as much as possible.
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