Testing a new time schedule

June 1, 2007

Running my own Web development business has always been hard. I never managed to follow the instructions of all those time management trainings. So my schedule was always hectic.

In this whole mess of a schedule, my priorities were misplaced: I had the Blind Squirrel Problem. I knew sending out those invoices is important, but I would rather spend the day commenting on blogs and working on my own. Keeping my wife warm at night is very important for the marriage, but I’d rather work till 4 in the morning to finish some jobs, so the customer can see results when they get up from keeping their wifes warm.

The change

I decided that, as of yesterday, I will treat my work as if I was working for someone else. That brought me to the following partitioning of my time.

• Work hours: 8 am to 4 pm (could be extended but no later than 6 pm)
  This is the period I would dedicate to “working for the company”. Anything for the company needs to be done between 8 and 4: Invoicing, design, meetings, support. After hours are for emergencies only. And with emergencies, I mean things like my server being unreachable for my customers. Anything else will need to be reported via ticket and will be answered in order it was received.
• Secular work/hobby: 6 pm to midnight (could be extended to no later than 1 am)
  This is the period is reserved for my blogs and other projects I’m working on. I am yet to make a weekly schedule for each activity.
• Family time: any time
  Whenever my wife needs my attention, she gets it. Since she is at work during my work hours, her time does not usually interfere, but I’m ready to free some time there too. During the work hours I may need to take a break to do some family related chores, like paying the bills or doing some shopping that can’t be done after 6 pm. Most of the time after 6 pm is subject to the attention that my wife needs.
• Weekends
  Weekends are for a combination of my wife, secular work/hobby and work, in that specific order.

The good thing is that this schedule has my wife’s blessing. She’s an independent woman, who understands my schedule and won’t misuse the priority 1 spot.

Now to make this actually work. I’m not too good at time management, but I’m sure this is doable, a first step to growth in this area.

What are your experiences with time management?

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Posted in Personal development