Backtracking to get back on track
Or…how not to allow January to get swept away in the aftermath of Winter Break!
I like when my kids are home for 16 days. I swear. I do. But I also like when they go back to school and I am able to get back on track, to keep to a schedule, even if that means I’m up before 6 am and out the door before 7:30. When my kids are at school is when I can focus on whatever needs focusing on, because I know that they are under the watchful eye of teachers and administrators and that I will be called, only if necessary. There are usually no surprises unless someone ends up with an impromptu stomach virus.
That being said, I’m a fabulous procrastinator, which means that if I let it, my non-scheduled days of winter break could morph into a whole month of getting nothing done. I unpacked from our trip East 4 days after returning home. I often do dinner dishes in the morning. I put the trash out as the truck is coming down the street.
So I have to backtrack to the beginning of last month to remember the schedule that was working so well, allowing me to really get it all done daily. I’d set it in motion back in September and hit paydirt. It includes my brand new 2009 planner, lots of lists, an alarm on my cell phone and unbridled enthusiasm for completing lots of things in-the-works.
Starting tonight, I’ll once again get the dogs’ breakfasts ready at night. I’ll set the alarm for 6 and shower instead of rolling over for more sleep. I’ll let out the dogs, make coffee, check email and read a few blogs, drink coffee, make lunches, get dressed, take my son to school, come home, feed the dogs, finish getting dressed, take my daughter to school, come home and eat breakfast. Now it’s 8:30. From 8:30 to 10:00 I run errands, go to appointments, meet friends for coffee or read more blogs and watch Oprah. 8:30 to 10 is the time that allows me to know that things are in-order for the day, week, month etc. And it’s flexible – it’s my only available quiet time. Sometimes I even bribe the dogs with big fat bones so they’ll leave me alone. From 10-12 I work on my WIP exclusively. From 12-3 I work on everything else…essays, marketing, blogs, freelance projects, emails, consulting. Somewhere in there I eat lunch and/or my daily bowl of popcorn. At 3 I start to shut down and gear up for after school where I either do very little except prepare dinner or stay in the car driving in suburban circles until about 6pm. I do play online at night, if the kids are busy with their own stuff. There’s a myriad of sites I love…but I’m not a night time writer. I will compose the next day’s blog post sometimes, but not always. Oh and if you want to reread this paragraph and insert: dog-care, laundry, housework, school events, studying with kids, helping with homework, reading — just put it in anywhere at all. That’s what I do.
This is what worked for me from September to December and enabled me to focus and write across genres and media and make a lot of personal and professional connections.
Keep your fingers crossed that it’s easier than getting back into an exercise routine…I’ve been waiting for that to happen since 2000.
How do you get back on track after time off? Any helpful hints?
I do dinner dishes in the morning too. Eek. I bet you will be back on track right away. I have a hard time sceduling because all of my days are so different.But I ordered my favorite organizer for 09 last night and I did get set-up on Quickbooks. Now if I can just get herd health entered into the computer this year…..
Everyone’s pace and schedule is made to fit the demands & responsibilities life holds. I can waste time too, especially on mindless computer games…Oh, just one quick game of spider solitaire before I go work on blah blah…
It helps when the kidlets are driving themselves and are reasonably able to take care of some of their needs. As long as you have your sacrosanct WIP hours in place, you’ll do great. Go get ‘em, girl!
I need to lock down my writing times better, but I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon. My dad arrives this Thursday for two MONTHS, and while we rented him his own place, I know my free time will evaporate. It’ll probably be online “playing” that has to give, but we’ll see.
I cringe at the thought of leaving dishes until the morning. I sometimes catch myself washing my plate while I’m still chewing my last bite!
What helps me is to make a list the night before. I also skip emails until I’ve done a substantial block of writing.
I admire you (and everyone else who’s commented so far) for having a set schedule at all! I’m so disorganized it’s laughable, mainly because I’m home with a toddler all day. I love having him here, but I admit I’m looking forward to the day when he’s old enough to start school.
I pretty much do all my writing activities when he’s asleep–either early in the morning, during afternoon nap or late at night. I spend the rest of the day chasing him around. Truthfully, I think it’s a given for us mothers to feel scatterbrained and overwhelmed at times. Look at all we have to do! But from where I sit, you’re doing great. Keep it up!
Great schedule. Wow. I am in awe.
For me, it’s a little harder to get off schedule much when you have a dayjob, though I did get some nice four-day weekends out of the deal and I really liked not having to take my daughter to school and fighting the school traffic. My daughter was over at her dad’s house for much of her vacation, so I had a lot of time to myself. I was actually ready to go back to work just to be around people! I’ll be complaining that I need a vacation about two weeks from now. Ha!
I enjoyed this post a lot. Especially as I can see some of myself in here too. My days revolve around four basset hounds and a demanding family. Plus I am a recovering writer (I was lucky enough to publish a novel in the UK in the late 90s), who fell into journalism, translation and copywriting after novel 2 and a PhD got me contemplating 8th floor windows. Five years later I’m writing the most honest piece I’ve ever scratched out –when I’m not translating other people’s stuff.
Earlier today I was thinking How the Hell Can I Cope over on my blog. I guess scheduling and thinking about what is really imporant is a large part of the answer.