Schedules

[Renee in NC]

Someone mentioned in the PhD thread about having a strict schedule. I am finding in my life that the only way to "get it all done" is to have a strict schedule. Then I feel burned out! Yesterday was terrible - a customer yelled at me (for the second time), I found out that my daycare will be going up $600 per month, and it was an all around just nasty day.

 

Today I feel like doing NOTHING, but I still have so much to do.

 

So, back to the schedules. If you have a schedule, is it just for the week? Do you schedule weekends separately? What does your schedule look like?

 

I had Managers of Their Homes several years ago, so I understand the concept of scheduling, but her book doesn't really touch on scheduling work, school, home, etc.

 

Rough schedule:

 

5:00: Get up, prayer, exercise, get ready, etc.

6:00: Get dc ready to go

6:30: Travel

7:15: Get to store and ready for day, dc eat breakfast, etc.

7:30: Store Opens - the GOAL is for me to do schoolwork from 7:30-10:30 with the dc and then move to doing my work.

12:30: Lunch

5:00: Store closes

6:15: Get home

9:00: Bed (I have to go to bed by 9 if I am going to function at 5am)

 

I am thinking of even more strictly scheduling my time. I have a bad habit of getting on here in the evenings to "unwind" when I really should be doing other things.

 

I also need to schedule my weekends better instead of spending a lot of time doing nothing.

 

Is there anyone here who can give me some insight? Advice as to what has worked for you?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I schedule our schoolwork by the week - some of the subjects are everyday and some are once or twice a week.

 

We have choretime scheduled right after breakfast. Each day has it's own chores (M & Th are laundry days, T is bathroom cleaning, W is vacuuming & dusting, F is "special chore" day). Sat. is errand/shopping day. Sun. is busy with church. Obviously there are daily chores too (we do wash dishes etc. around here!)

 

I don't work outside of the home so I can't tell you how I schedule that.

[Melinda in VT]

I was really good about having a schedule for the summer, but I've slacked off a bit since school started up again. I am good until about 2:00, and then largely inefficient after that. I've been thinking I need to develop a complete schedule again.

 

I am juggling a toddler, an inn, a part-time telecommuting job, and three kids in public school.

 

A couple of thoughts--hopefully one or more will help.

 

It helps me to think about all my different roles and what I want to accomplish in each one. Of course, I usually want to accomplish more than I have time for :rolleyes:, so I have to pick one or two things that I definitely want to do and schedule those for optimal times.

 

It is important for me to stick to the time frame. When my paperwork time is up, for example, I stop. I have to trust that putting in the alloted time daily will be sufficient. (If it really isn't, then you need to change the schedule to allow more time.) This works better for me than spending lots of time in one area one day and getting burned out on it for several days. Some days, I have more distractions during one time period than another, but over time it evens out.

 

I need to be realistic. I am juggling a lot. I'm not going to be able to perform in each area of my life as well as I would like. Having a schedule is not going to give me extra hours in my day. My house is still not as clean as I would like, even when I follow the schedule religiously, but it is cleaner than when I don't follow the schedule.

 

Going along with that, I need to realize that my personality is not going to change overnight. Evenings are a low-energy time. For me to plan to get stuff done regularly after the kids are in bed is just a recipe for failure and guilt. In an emergency, I can do it. But not regularly. I fold clothes while watching TV. Or read. Or talk to DH. It helps me be more productive earlier in the day if I know I get my break.

 

I haven't scheduled weekends, but I'm thinking about it. DH and I both noticed that the days with schedules (for me and the kids--DH is not a schedule person) go better than the days without schedules.

[Renee in NC]

Thanks, Melinda! (And Jean!)

 

What I was thinking is that a schedule like in MOTH wouldn't work, because there are variations each day.

 

For example, on Mondays my dh drives separately, so I leave the house at 8am as opposed to 6:30. On Tuesdays, for example, I come home, throw dinner together, and go to Cub Scouts from 6:45 to 8:30 (including travel time.)

 

I like the idea of even scheduling my time at work - I tend to "bounce around" to different tasks and not really get anything *finished* at one time. If I scheduled my time there, I might get stuff done that I have been putting off.

 

I also want to use Sunday as a "rest" day, so I could schedule school planning, meal planning, etc. for that time.

 

So, how about a spreadsheet with 1/2 hour time increments vertically and the days of the week horizontally? Then I could schedule the whole week and still be able to tweak it easily.

 

I imagine for some people this seems crazy, but when you have as much to do as I do (6dc, work, hs, etc.) and have the attention issues I do, lists, schedules, and checklists are your friend!