How I spend my time...

I have been thinking about time management lately and wondering what exactly I spend my time on?

It feels like the days fly by and I am SO busy and yet all I seem to be doing is surviving and getting the things done that HAVE to be done.

This little experiment I did was sparked by a discussion that I had with someone where they were talking about how important is to find things to do that we are passionate about. Otherwise, life can become very mundane and boring and then we tend to look for ways of escape from our reality. And that is usually not healthy.

I wondered aloud when I would ever have time for those things?  It seems like everything takes time and costs money.  Both of which are in short supply.

You know how no matter what you want to do, "there's an app for that"?

Well, I found an app for tracking time and I decided I was going to see just exactly where my time went.

The app is called ATracker Lite and it was free on my I-phone.

It only took a little bit of time to set up all of my categories and then you just put the button by the category when you start sometime and push the button for the next category when you switch to that.  It was very simple and effective. And if you mess up or forget to stop when you should or whatever, you can edit it or correct it afterwards.

I figured it would also keep me on task because if I am in the "bookwork" category, then I don't have time to be surfing Facebook in between. I had been reading anyway how multi-tasking is not productive, so I thought that this would also keep me focused on one thing at a time and maybe that would be good for me.

Honestly, that thing about multi-tasking is still up for debate in my brain.  I DO feel like I accomplish more because I multi-task.  But, hey, who am I to argue with experts?

So, last week from Monday morning to Thursday night I kept diligent track of my time.  This was a very normal/average week for me, so it gives a good snapshot of my life.  Mundane as it is.

If inquiring minds want to know, here is how I spent my time for 4 days.

Sleeping -- 25 hours  (This was kind of frustrating to me that I spent a THIRD of my time sleeping, although I guess I should be thankful that I get a solid 8 hours of sleep pretty much every night.)

Bookwork -- 20.5 hours (This included bookwork that I did away from home and at home.)

Driving -- 2.5 hours

Errands -- 2 hours and 45 minutes (Those dang errands!!  And this didn't even include grocery shopping, because I didn't go in those 4 days.)

Exercising -- 1 hour

Food prep and eating -- 3.5 hours (I guess we had a lot of quick suppers that week. I know we had leftovers at one meal.  But I don't usually spend a lot of time cooking as a general rule. I do quick and easy.)

Fun for me -- 45 minutes (I think that this was trying on new clothing/outfits that I had bought.)

Housework -- 2 hours and 11 minutes (Laundry, dishwasher, random cleaning, packing lunches, etc.)

Reading -- 1 hour and 12 minutes

Rest/Time with God -- 1 hour and 9 minutes (this was devotional time and meditation time)

Showering and getting ready -- 2.5 hours (This was one that seemed high to me.  But I honestly think that I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to getting ready, etc.  I have to leave the house appropriately dressed pretty much every day, but still, I am curious how this would compare to other women.)

Shopping -- 41 minutes (This could probably also go in the "Fun for me" category. This was a little clothing shopping outing to brighten my Monday!)

Talking on the phone -- 26 minutes.  (I talked on the phone more than this, but I was either doing housework or bookwork while I talked, so I put that into those categories.  This was time where I was just sitting and talking on the phone. Which rarely happens with me.)

Time with friends -- 7 hours (This seemed really high to me.  But it included our weekly Community Group/Bible Study, my weekly coffee with my parents, and my weekly "Wednesday Girls" get together. So this would be pretty normal. Plus, I often have another social thing or two in my week, like book club or going out for dinner with a friend.)

Time with Jeremy -- 2 hours and 24 minutes (This was time with Jeremy that was not also "Time with Kids" or "Time with friends" where he was along. I should have maybe called it "alone time with Jeremy".  Not much in four days, though, is it?)

Time with kids -- 4 hours and 37 minutes (Basically, what I found is that whenever I had "spare time" I would pretty much hang out with the kids.  This didn't include meal times or times in the morning when I was working on housework as they were getting ready for school or whatever.  They are gone to school so much of the time, that during the week I try to be with them when I can.)

Watching TV -- 20 minutes (1 episode of "Community" -- One thing you cannot put on me is that I spend too much time watching TV.  I rarely watch it.  I don't have time!)

Web surfing/blog reading/Facebook -- 2 hours (I thought that this category might be a lot higher, which was one of the reasons that I wanted to track my time.  And some of this time was even productive type of web surfing, where I was looking up something specific, etc.  So not much to cut out there!)

And that was it.  My whole 4 days. And then I left for 2 days for a Women's Conference, so that is where it stopped.

I honestly felt kind of discouraged by this. Because I didn't see a lot of places to cut things and make more time for something I am passionate about.

I guess sleeping less would be one of the most obvious, but I feel like that would affect me negatively anyway.

Comments or thoughts?

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