Abra Staffin-Wiebe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
abracanabra) wrote2009-10-29 11:17 pm
abracanabra) wrote2009-10-29 11:17 pm
Entry tags:
How Long Things Actually Take
As part of my quest to make my life not seem like a never-ending drudge through work and projects that will never truly be finished (that's the problem with being writer, photographer, and primary-house-caretaker--none of those come up with their own achievable "finished" markers), I've started picking a set of (achievable!) goals at the end of which I'll be realio trulio done for the day. After that I can do anything I like, including just reading pulpy sci-fi novels or baking brownies or making that lightbox or, hell, doing my filing. This isn't a to-do list, it's a to-be-done-after list. The difference is crucial. The goal is to accurately estimate how much I can realistically get done in a day and still have free time left over. Because the free time is the real goal: it's the recharge time, the reward, the reason to really dig into the to-be-done-after list. When faced with an endless task, it's easy to become unmotivated and to grind very, very slowly, with lots of procrastination.
I've been trying this on and off for the last couple of weeks. So far, I can tell the motivation part is working. I've got lots more done that I was before, and I feel less depressed and bogged down in, well, life.
This, despite my not yet having actually finished everything on the list. I haven't yet experienced this motivating free time. So yesterday I decided to approach this all scientific-like and write down my done-for-the-day goals (which I had been doing), how much time I thought they'd take, and then my actual day schedule and the time they really took.
Let's just say I'm not good at estimating how much I can get done.
Thursday
What I did | Time Predicted | Clock Time | Time Spent
Woke up and got ready | not predicted | 7:50 - 9:00 (where did that time go?) | 1 hr 10 min.
Work - Code 300 records | 4 hrs | 9:00 - 12:45 | 3 hrs 45 min.
Lunch | 30 minutes | 12:45 - 1:20 | 35 min
Break | not predicted | 1:20 - 1:30 | 10 min
Freewriting and Writing Log | 15 min | 1:40 - 1:55 | 15 min
Submit 1 story | 30 min | 1:55 - 2:55 | 1 hr
Edit and order last photo for photo gig | 15 min | 2:54 - 3:34 | 40 min
Not sure--cleaned, charity donations, quick email check | not predicted | 3:35 - 4:30 | 55 min
Finish redmarking Vicesteed chapter (5 pgs) | 1 hr | 4:30 - 6:00 | 1 hr 30 min
Make dinner | not predicted | 6:00 - 7:15 | 1 hr 15 min
Eat and do knee exercises (simultaneously) for 2 hrs | 2 hrs | 7:15 - 9:30 | 2 hr 15 min (not bad--given that this is a time period goal--if I did all my exercises it'd be more like 3 hrs)
Fold laundry for 1 hr | 1 hr | 9:30 - 10:30 | 1 hr
Check email and type this out | not predicted | 10:30 - 11:39 | 1 hr 9 min
...er, well, I think I should go to bed now. Sleepy.
My first time estimate for today left me with 10 hrs and 15 minutes of work. Then I took out some of the writing goal. Estimated I'd have 7 hrs and 15 minutes of work--it ended up a lot more.
I've been trying this on and off for the last couple of weeks. So far, I can tell the motivation part is working. I've got lots more done that I was before, and I feel less depressed and bogged down in, well, life.
This, despite my not yet having actually finished everything on the list. I haven't yet experienced this motivating free time. So yesterday I decided to approach this all scientific-like and write down my done-for-the-day goals (which I had been doing), how much time I thought they'd take, and then my actual day schedule and the time they really took.
Let's just say I'm not good at estimating how much I can get done.
Thursday
What I did | Time Predicted | Clock Time | Time Spent
Woke up and got ready | not predicted | 7:50 - 9:00 (where did that time go?) | 1 hr 10 min.
Work - Code 300 records | 4 hrs | 9:00 - 12:45 | 3 hrs 45 min.
Lunch | 30 minutes | 12:45 - 1:20 | 35 min
Break | not predicted | 1:20 - 1:30 | 10 min
Freewriting and Writing Log | 15 min | 1:40 - 1:55 | 15 min
Submit 1 story | 30 min | 1:55 - 2:55 | 1 hr
Edit and order last photo for photo gig | 15 min | 2:54 - 3:34 | 40 min
Not sure--cleaned, charity donations, quick email check | not predicted | 3:35 - 4:30 | 55 min
Finish redmarking Vicesteed chapter (5 pgs) | 1 hr | 4:30 - 6:00 | 1 hr 30 min
Make dinner | not predicted | 6:00 - 7:15 | 1 hr 15 min
Eat and do knee exercises (simultaneously) for 2 hrs | 2 hrs | 7:15 - 9:30 | 2 hr 15 min (not bad--given that this is a time period goal--if I did all my exercises it'd be more like 3 hrs)
Fold laundry for 1 hr | 1 hr | 9:30 - 10:30 | 1 hr
Check email and type this out | not predicted | 10:30 - 11:39 | 1 hr 9 min
...er, well, I think I should go to bed now. Sleepy.
My first time estimate for today left me with 10 hrs and 15 minutes of work. Then I took out some of the writing goal. Estimated I'd have 7 hrs and 15 minutes of work--it ended up a lot more.