Inspired by SHU and Laura Vanderkam, I tried time tracking this week. I say tried because although I wrote down what I did and could tell you the basic architecture of my days and weeks, I didn't really learn anything from the experience. In order for me to learn something about habits which could use rethinking, I'd need to break my time into about 5 minute increments....and that in itself would probably leave me stressed out and unproductive.* The other thing I will actually start tracking is how many words per day I send in emails and number of requests sent by others. I'm pretty good about limiting time on email, but there are no doubt ways I could improve in this particular area.
What I do need to do (a la my Duck Break post) is take strategic breaks in the middle of big work blocks. I also need to replenish office snacks (done!) because a 100-calorie nut pack is not enough to keep me going from 11:30-4:00 while I'm on campus**, which should have been self-apparent ,but wasn't. I also need to plan to be out of the house on Wednesday, when the painter returns to do the living room, because I really can't focus when she's around (she's doing three rooms, across three weeks...)***
What else? Tiny Boy's new weekend babysitter comes by later on a trial run (she's the daughter of a colleague in another department) so I'm excited about that. In October I have two conferences (Toronto friend, I would love to see you!) and a book deadline and I think something else that I'm forgetting or blocking out. It will get done. It will get done. It will get done.
Now we're off to the Whole Foods...
*Actually, I take it back, I did learn something, which is that I talk to my new chair in lieu of swapping emails, which is nice, and led to a meeting on her front stoop with Tiny Boy in tow, which was unusual and in this case took longer than the email but also communicated nuance in important ways and you know, no paper trail. (Yes, the drama continues, though I am no longer at the center of it, thank goodness.)
** Nor is buying a candy bar from the vending machine.
** *My dining room is now this color and it is making me ridiculously happy:
When it's done, living room should be this, and hopefully more grayish than purple:
What I do need to do (a la my Duck Break post) is take strategic breaks in the middle of big work blocks. I also need to replenish office snacks (done!) because a 100-calorie nut pack is not enough to keep me going from 11:30-4:00 while I'm on campus**, which should have been self-apparent ,but wasn't. I also need to plan to be out of the house on Wednesday, when the painter returns to do the living room, because I really can't focus when she's around (she's doing three rooms, across three weeks...)***
What else? Tiny Boy's new weekend babysitter comes by later on a trial run (she's the daughter of a colleague in another department) so I'm excited about that. In October I have two conferences (Toronto friend, I would love to see you!) and a book deadline and I think something else that I'm forgetting or blocking out. It will get done. It will get done. It will get done.
Now we're off to the Whole Foods...
*Actually, I take it back, I did learn something, which is that I talk to my new chair in lieu of swapping emails, which is nice, and led to a meeting on her front stoop with Tiny Boy in tow, which was unusual and in this case took longer than the email but also communicated nuance in important ways and you know, no paper trail. (Yes, the drama continues, though I am no longer at the center of it, thank goodness.)
** Nor is buying a candy bar from the vending machine.
** *My dining room is now this color and it is making me ridiculously happy:
When it's done, living room should be this, and hopefully more grayish than purple:
I love the blue! Our bedroom is a similar color. (I love the gray, too, actually). I think you're actually quite productive during your work day, so, while I know you feel you could improve, maybe you need little tweaks rather than the bigger more obvious wins you'd find with time tracking.
ReplyDeleteI found the non-work time logs more interesting---the work time was all "8-12" work. Whereas its fascinating to me how long people spend on bedtime or bathing kids or cooking dinner.
Thanks, Ana! Gray is going up today so I'll report back :)
ReplyDeleteI think you're right that thinking about small tweaks of time use would be more valuable...so not tracking ALL my time but say my afternoon work block. Or tracking a particular activity (how much time do I actually spend on email?).