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Way back in 2009 I wrote a bunch of posts about blogging more often, my crazy busy schedule and happiness -- or unhappiness as the case may actually have been. Here I am in 2010, revisiting all of those old posts and wondering if it is time to re-evaluate my work schedule and try to come up with something new.
I'm still a freak for a good schedule, I still love my job and my life, and I still can't find time to blog. I'm happy. I'm doing good work. My family loves me. But there are days when I know that if I stop for just five minutes, I'm going to find myself so far behind that I'll never catch up. How can a five-minute, unscheduled break, cause such turmoil? That's the question -- and the problem. A five-minute break or an unexpected detour to resolve a problem, personal or professional, shouldn't lead to chaos, but it does. And freak for a good schedule that I am -- I do not like chaos.
So I'm surfing through the productivity and organization blogs. Looking for tips and inspiration.
- Change The Way You Think About Time
- How to Create Work-Life Balance
- 6 Rules of Stress Free Work Life Balance
- Zen Habits
- Lifehacker (Productivity)
- Org Junkie
As I surf through these posts and my favorite life, organization, and productivity blogs, I keep hearing certain people in my life saying, "What can you let go of?" I always have trouble answering that question, but I'm working on it, I really am. I'm also trying to answer the question, "Who cares?" as I think about all of the things I do. And of course, I'm thinking about how to do all of the things that I cannot give up because everyone cares faster, smarter, or better.
Some of the things I'm taking away from my explorations are:
1) I really have to stop carrying my iPhone around with me 18 hours a day. When I turn off the computer for the night, I should steer clear of my inbox unless there's some specific reason to keep checking. If there's a crisis -- my family, my friends, my co-workers all know how to call me.
2) I need to get my desk organized, my office organized, the #prairiedogs organized -- and keep those things organized. I'm not a neat freak, mess doesn't make me crazy, but I think even I've reached the point where enough is enough. I miss being able to glance up from my work and see my Nancy Drews lined up all nice and neat. It's bugging me -- so I need to fix it. I have no idea why the Cheez-Its box has been on my desk for a month, but it really needs to go. Liz must stop leaving her papers and her junk on my desk. (And yes, that little calendar that Joy Des Jardins gave me DOES say December 23. See ... I have to get organized again.)
3) I'm never ever going to be able to keep the house clean. I think it's time to bite the bullet and hire a cleaning service. (TW is now having a heart attack because no, I have not told her I'm planning to do this. She's hearing about it for the first time just like you are -- by reading this post, hah.)
4) I'm really good at setting aside specific times of day to do various work-related tasks that have to be accomplished on specific dates by specific times. But, I'm really bad at scheduling things like taking a shower, (really it shouldn't be so darn hard to get a shower when you work from home -- but it is -- ask anyone), eating breakfast, lunch or dinner, talking to my kids (or my parents) on the phone, writing a blog post just because I want to write a blog post and not because it's assigned to me. I need to schedule my personal life.
Now off I go to look at my Outlook calendar and make some of these things happen. Wish me luck and tell me how you manage your life and your schedule. How long does it take to adjust to a new daily schedule? And do you have any tips for surviving schedule changes?
~Denise BlogHer Community Manager Life. Flow. Fluctuate.
