So far this week of time tracking has been challenging. Nothing but challenging. It hasn't been hard, but it has pushed me and made me question the things I do and the way I spend my time.
What about you? Are you still on board?
Let's talk for a moment about the purpose of this week long time tracking event. It has not been to condemn you or me about the way we spend our time. It is more to keep ourselves accountable with how we spend our time.
I know that tracking your time has been annoying to say the least. Let's say annoying is about the nicest thing we could say about time tracking, but I would bet that it's been eye opening to say the least. I know it has been for me.
We still have two more days of time tracking, and I don't want you to go into the weekend thinking you have to have every minute planned out or that you need to spend every minute "doing something." You don't. But I am going to challenge you to do things that matter this weekend. Remember, that's how this all started in the first place....with the sentence:
What if we didn't "work" this weekend? What if you turned off your phone? What if you sat on the floor and played with your kids? What if you did things that mattered?
What if you stayed away from Facebook for two whole days? What if you lived in the here and now? What if you went to church? What if you played at the park? What if you went on an adventure? What if.......
And how is it going with the one thing you added to your daily schedule?
There have been two days when I didn't wake up early for my quiet time like I said I was going to, but I've made it a commitment to get in God's Word before I start working each day, and that 's a good thing.
And how are you coping with the one thing you took out of your daily schedule?
I'm amazed at the difference a day makes. Today it was much easier to stay off the Facebook newsfeed than it was the first day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?!
You're doing a great job. I'm proud of you. I'm hoping you're seeing a difference already in the way you choose to spend your time. I know I am.
Here is what I have uncovered about the way I spend my time so far:
- I waste time reading the newsfeed on Facebook.......and I would rather be reading to or with my kids.
- I waste time thinking about what I should be doing.....and I would rather be thinking about writing a book.
- I waste time checking messages or emails knowing that I don't have time to answer them.....and I would rather be in God's Word when I have a few extra minutes here and there.
- I waste time hitting snooze in the morning.....and I would rather be up spending those extra minutes in my quiet time or working out in the precious moments before the kids wake up.
- I waste time trying to figure out who is going where and what I'm supposed to be doing for the day.......and I would rather be up and moving everyday because I planned it out the night before.
I'm sure there are more things I waste time on, but these are the most obvious for me.
What about you? What do you waste time doing.....and what would you rather be doing? Comment below and stay in the running for the cash.
And speaking of giveaways, don't forget about the Much Ado About You calendar pre-sale. You have until March 4th to take part in the pre-sale and help save my favorite handmade business!
.....day 203 of a year of writing.....
I find myself wasting a lot of time worrying about things, the future, etc. I would rather focus on the now, the present, just enjoying or creating life as I live it. Life that's worth living. I want to live substantially and in the moment.
ReplyDeleteI know I waste time on FB, I need to limit my time on there.
ReplyDeleteI know I to waste time worrying/stressing about how many things I got to get done, instead of getting it done. I also need to make a better plan with my work schedule, now that Ryan's soccer games are starting. I spend a lot of time with working out everyone's schedules and getting them coordinated--I to need to plan more at night--but that is when I feel it is my me/relax time or its family time. But I am working on trying different ways to get it all done best I can. :)
I woke up and can't go back to sleep. My first thought? "I wonder if Allison posted to her blog for tonight..." LOL! :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I spend way too much time planning instead of doing... I plan and worry about what I need to do, or don't have time to do, and I would much rather get organized and be doing whatever it is I need to do, instead of sitting around wondering how I'm going to get it all done. I guess technically I'm not just sitting around, because that's part of why I worry; I'm always busy! That's why I think getting one of these MAAY planners is going to help me. I can lay everything out for the week and really see what I need to be doing, and I'm sure it's much more manageable than I'm making it. (I tend to make things more complicated than they really need to be... lol)
Thanks again for this challenge Allison! It's really been good for me. I can definitely tell what I need to improve on, but also what I'm doing right. :)
Oops, sorry to be writing so much, but I forgot to answer the other questions. My adding something each day was to make better use of my time driving to/from work (it's 1 hour each way). That's going pretty well. I find it's pretty easy to get through a few chapters of the Bible in the mornings (I don't drive in the mornings because my dad and I carpool since we work for the same company, lol). And my taking something away is going well. Every time I want to needlessly check my Facebook news feed, I read a few Bible verses instead. I've definitely slipped a few times, but it's getting easier. :)
ReplyDeleteI waste time cleaning the house. I know it has to be done, but I must figure out a time to clean that doesn't take from me spending time with my kids during the day, from myself during quiet time, or from spending time with my husband in the evenings. And those are the things I'd rather be doing... So, I haven't figured out how to balance it all just yet. I'm trying to get the kids on board with picking up after themselves, but at this point is just a negative thing to get them to clean. I was raised with my mom yelling at me to clean and I don't want to be that way. So, I've definitely got some things to figure out.
ReplyDeleteI waste time thinking about what I should be doing instead of actually just doing it! I waste time by NOT planning things ahead so I am wandering aimlessly (so it seems) Like by not planning dinner at dinner time I go to the chest freezer in the garage and look for something to make, then back inside and put it on to defrost then hmmm what vegetable, well I have frozen veggies in the garage so I go back out to get them. If I planned i could have saved myself the trip! Or I hang my laundry on the line, I found that I go out take it off the line and bring it inside and then take the next load out to be hung. Why didn't I just bring the wet load out when I got the dry load? I waste a lot of time going in circles!! I have learned that even though I feel like I have no time if I was more organized with my time I would probably have plenty!! I did okay with the fb newsfeed the last couple days and then when i was scrolling it this morning as I saw the blog post I was like "oops! I am not suppossed to be on newsfeed!" lol This has certainly been eyeopening!
ReplyDeleteI spend too much time hitting snooze and that was the thing I was giving up this week. It has been hard, but it's getting easier. I spend too much time playing games on facebook and watching tv without doing something productive while I am. I don't watch much tv in the morning or evenings, but the afternoons and after the kids are in bed I zone out in front of the tv. Didn't realize how much until tracking this week. Will be changing some things that I never even knew was an issue until now.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving not spending so much time on Facebook. I would rather be blogging or playing with my son anyway. Last night was the first night I didn't do any exercise since I added it, but I was just too exhausted from work. Plus it was family night, so I spent he time well.
ReplyDeleteI waste time on FB and would rather play with my son.
I waste time hitting snooze, and I would rather get up and get where I need to be on time or early.
I waste time thinking about what I should be doing and should just do it.
I waste time mentally planning and would rather put it on paper, so I don't forget my great ideas and know what to do when I have the time.
I waste a lot of time cleaning...I know it sounds crazy bc of course things need to be clean but I am a little obsessive. I pick up the kitchen, the living room, the bathrooms, the bedrooms...only to have another mess made. The time I spend cleaning could be spent playing with my kids, or just hanging out with my husband. With the loss of my husbands grandmother and our sweet little dog both this week, and logging what I spend my time doing I have realized what should be important in life. Its not if the toys are put away, its that we had fun playing with the toys. Its not if all the laundry is done and put away. Its that we got the laundry dirty playing in the dirt. Its not if the dishes are all clean in the cabinets. Its that we were able to eat a home cooked meal together on those dishes. Time well spent is spent with those you love.
ReplyDeleteI waste a lot of time stressing about life in general when it comes to a messy house, bills, toys everywhere, dishes, homework I need to do, phone calls and appointments I need to make, etc. I would rather be spending more time with God and giving him my worries and stress because I know he will take care of it all or playing with my boys and enjoying these precious moments and time that I have with them or working on creating a successful future for my family so I dont have to worry about some of these things later in life!
ReplyDeleteSo I posted from my phone and it is not here. So here it goes again. I find I waste ALOT of time surfing the web. But really it is more like the apps on my phone. I have about 9 news apps (like really I need to check 9 different sources to see what is going on in the world?) Of course there is my workstation (love looking at my numbers, but really need to limit the amount of time a day I check them). Of course Facebook and my emails...I realized as I started limiting g the amount of time I spent doing this I had much more time to do my "I rathers". I would rather be outside exercising. So this week I intentionally walked with a friends three times! I would rather be spending time with my hubby. And I would rather be skyline with my three nephews. Well this was the gist of what my first post said!
ReplyDelete