I’ll be posting my time logs here all next week (as will others, here and at Facebook and on their own blogs). Since I know my logs will be public, I’ve been planning ahead to make sure next week has some good stuff in it. Nothing like public accountability to make you think more seriously about your time! Here’s what I’ve been doing:
1. Getting clear on my big goals. I want to be spending solid chunks of time next week on activities related to my professional goals for the year. These goals are to bring 168 Hours to a wide audience, to get a contract for another non-fiction work, and to get a novel into readable shape. At least I have several activities lined up in the first category (a speech, two radio interviews, two print interviews, etc.)
2. Looking at spots for exercise. As I’ve written here recently, I’ve been falling off the wagon with running lately. But next week will be better, because the time is blocked in! Plus I’ll be posting my mileage tallies here. I would like to sign up for a half marathon or 10-miler in the near future to get a bit more motivated.
3. Making plans to get out of my office. I spend a lot of time in my home office. So I’m looking to make sure I have activities that involve getting out of it — meeting people for coffee, etc. (I have two of those set up).
4. Setting up fun stuff with the family. It will be a busy week next week, so I’m trying to make sure my evenings and weekend feature better plans than just sitting around, trying to dream up games for the kids that involve my lying on the sofa.
How would you plan your week if you knew the log would be public? It’s a good question to think about in general! As a reminder, the rules for the 168 Hours Challenge:
- Log your time for a week. You can download a spreadsheet here (see “Manage My Time” on the sidebar) or just write it down in a notebook or in a word doc, or your own blog. If you start late, that’s OK.
- Post how you’re doing, on the threads here, on Facebook (the 168 Hours page will have discussions going), on Twitter (#168Hours) or on your own blog (or email me).
- I’ll be giving away some signed copies of 168 Hours during the week to people who post about their progress.
- If you’re interested in a time makeover, let me know. I’ll choose someone for that after the challenge week. We’ll discuss some changes, and I’ll give you a $100 Amazon gift card in exchange for writing a guest post about how you’ve been implementing them in your life.
How would you plan your week if you knew the log would be public?
Excellent question Laura! It really makes you think about how you are using your time. I am going to print out the spread sheet and try the challenge. Nervous about doing it because my husband is out of town and we don’t have childcare so I suspect Monday and Tuesday will be awash. But I’ll try anyway.
As long as I don’t have to hold yoga poses in the kitchen (it was that sentence in your book that got me thinking you sometimes–maybe–do a bit too much?!)
Jennifer: You’ll be happy to know I seem to have stopped doing the yoga poses in the kitchen. Although it is still a good question: what do you *do* with that 1 minute when your food is in the microwave? I didn’t think a plank pose was any worse than cleaning the kitchen (which is what I suspect many of us try to do). I look forward to seeing your logs! Days with no childcare present their own challenges in terms of accounting for the time but it’s still a good thing to think about.