manage my time better

I hate writing entries about how I’m not meeting my goals but here it is. I am now 30 years old, and ever since I can remember I take on way too much, feel I don’t have enough time for anything, and just end up feeling depressed that I can’t do anything really well, because there are too many things to do. Here I am again. The end of this is nowhere in sight. The flip side is that when I do have some time I become paralyzed and I am horrible at prioritizing. Feeling a bit down and stressed about a presentation I’ll be giving on Thursday. boo.

*laundry *pick up from cleaners *vacuum and sweep *bathe the dogs *finish book review *pick up general clutter *clean the bathroom *grocery shopping *make dinner *e-mail professor *renew credential on-line *apply for that job These things must all happen soon! So it sounds like cleaning and dinner today plus book review tonight. Tomorrow is community gardening in the morning, but if I wake up early enough I can do the job application. LT comes back from Nepal. So we’ll hang out in the day then we’re all going out to carb up for the marathon. Marathon on Sunday, but I think I’ll be able to do the credential and e-mail on Sunday afternoon and evening. I’m not making any other plans.

EDIT
Checking off: cleaners, vacuum & sweep, pick up clutter, grocery shopping, e-mail professor, clean bathroom
In progress: laundry, dinner
Tonight: job app & renew credential
Tomorrow: bathe dogs
Sunday and/or Monday night: book review, not procrastinating, just realistic. That book review is due Wednesday and I should only need a few hours for it to pull it together and revise. Hmm… still need some time to do research for my lit. review.

In my next life I will take on one large task at a time and do it well. Today I had a blowout. I have so much to do that I NEED to use my time wisely but I don’t have any scheduled down time, so instead I just go until I have a blowout. I did not go to the grocery store. I did not cook dinner. I did not revise my paper or clean up my house. I went to a movie and I ate popcorn. Tomorrow I will have to get back to work, but for now I am going to bed in lovely clutter-filled house.

I’m pretty good at sticking with long-term goals. I am even getting better at some things that I want to be regular habits. Somehow, I am not as good at short-term goals. I think it’s because I am afraid of failure. I’m not sure if I will make the goal or not, (especially by the deadline) so I don’t want to set it. Maybe many short-term goals are not as important to me, so I don’t take them seriously. I might start adding my short-term goals and checking them off when I accomplish them.

but you may have noticed that I am spending less time on the internet, because I am too busy trying to get my sh@t together. Stay tuned…I’ll let you know how it goes.

Monday
5:45 wake up ACTUAL: 6:00am
7:15 bike to work ACTUAL: 7:40am
8am-4pm work ACTUAL: 8:35am-5:20pm
4pm bike home
4:45 walk the dog, run errands, etc. ARRIVAL: 6:30pm
5:20pm RUN 5 miles then hit the showers
6:30pm start making dinner DINNER OUT: 7:30pm
dinner with friends tonight, so it will probably go late-ish.
9:30pm begin night routines…clean up, wash face, brush teeth
10:00pm read a bit, relax
10:30pm sleep I can’t remember what time I went to bed.

I go back to work on Wednesday, then school starts again on Monday. So today and tomorrow I need to get through my lists and not waste time. One thing I’ve noticed is that I often do the items on the list that I prefer first, so I might start a new chronological system. I always make deadlines if there are any, but I am going to try doing the things that have been on the list the longest first.

Today I moved a few things to the “give up” section of my list although I am not giving up. I just needed to set them aside for a moment and work on only a few things at a time. When my plate begins to get full, I start slipping at things that I am already getting good at, like drinking water. So silly! I also reordered my list and I need to make myself a reasonable schedule for the day. For at least a few days I am just going to focus on a smaller list. The other things can come back later when I am ready for them.

a little too late. I have spent a lot of time in school, and I am used to completing tasks at the last minute. The deadline is inspirational, I suppose. But I’m not talking about only those kinds of deadlines. I also mean the kind where I have to leave for the dentist in 20 minutes so NOW I better clean up the kitchen, get the laundry, brush and floss, check my e-mail…oh crap! It’s so late, I probably missed the bus. Actually, I think it will be faster to ride my bike anyway…..change my clothes, take my dog out….What? only 12 minutes to get there, I’ll never make it! So that’ how it happened that I was 12 minutes late to the dentist today. boo.

I had to take drastic measures to catch up today. What a great idea! I feel much better. Next week should be much improved.