The Delusion of Discretionary Time
A month or two ago, I set up a schedule for myself. It starts at 5:30 am, when I get up to get the girls ready for school, and goes until 9:30 pm. From 9:30 to 10:30, I complain about how I'm supposed to be in bed already, but I don't need a schedule to tell me to do that..
My part of the day is scheduled for the hours between 7:30 am and 6:00 pm. At a minimum, eight of those hours are set aside for work, leaving me at most 150 minutes of discretionary time to do things like shower, eat, blog, run errands, keep the washer and dryer fed, pay attention to the yard, and clean the house.
Now, naturally some of these tasks spill out into the after dinner time, but for the most part if I really want to get anything done, I need to do it during that so called discretionary time.
Today, my discretionary is being eaten by the steamer.
You see, I printed out the pictures of our house for Kara, because she wanted to show some people at the clinic who are in a situation similar to ours. As a result, we are now hosting an informal open house tomorrow.
Given the fact that I only have 150 minutes of discretionary time during the day, and I spend some of that blogging and some eating and some taking a shower, in the end the house cleaning doesn't always happen as often as it should.
We're not ready for visitors.
Kara does quite a bit of house work while she is home, and I give her credit for the fact that the house hasn't fallen into complete chaos and disarray. She does a great job at tidying and organizing, but when it comes to things like cleaning the bathroom, that's my kuleana.
So as I write this, the steamer is in the bathroom building up steam. It's a wonderful tool, and does a great job at cleaning without chemicals. But Kara still reacts to the hoses and attachments, so I will need to run it while she is gone. Like now.
I suppose it is a good thing that these people are coming, as my current time management system is based on Crisis Management Theory. The house really needs a good steaming, and now that it's a crisis, it's actually going to happen.
My part of the day is scheduled for the hours between 7:30 am and 6:00 pm. At a minimum, eight of those hours are set aside for work, leaving me at most 150 minutes of discretionary time to do things like shower, eat, blog, run errands, keep the washer and dryer fed, pay attention to the yard, and clean the house.
Now, naturally some of these tasks spill out into the after dinner time, but for the most part if I really want to get anything done, I need to do it during that so called discretionary time.
Today, my discretionary is being eaten by the steamer.
You see, I printed out the pictures of our house for Kara, because she wanted to show some people at the clinic who are in a situation similar to ours. As a result, we are now hosting an informal open house tomorrow.
Given the fact that I only have 150 minutes of discretionary time during the day, and I spend some of that blogging and some eating and some taking a shower, in the end the house cleaning doesn't always happen as often as it should.
We're not ready for visitors.
Kara does quite a bit of house work while she is home, and I give her credit for the fact that the house hasn't fallen into complete chaos and disarray. She does a great job at tidying and organizing, but when it comes to things like cleaning the bathroom, that's my kuleana.
So as I write this, the steamer is in the bathroom building up steam. It's a wonderful tool, and does a great job at cleaning without chemicals. But Kara still reacts to the hoses and attachments, so I will need to run it while she is gone. Like now.
I suppose it is a good thing that these people are coming, as my current time management system is based on Crisis Management Theory. The house really needs a good steaming, and now that it's a crisis, it's actually going to happen.
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