Time Management

January 15, 2012 by hannahsurges | 4 Comments

Hi Folks! How’s your weekend going?

I finally used my KitchenAid mixer on our cheat day yesterday!

Sadly, it was not the best batch of chocolate chip cookies, but I am in love with this mixer!

We took a trip to Whole Foods to stock our freezer. All frozen vegetables were 50% off! We may have gone a little overboard when we bought 18 bags, but I know we’ll use it eventually! We bought broccoli, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, green beans, edamame, peas, spinach, kale, collard greens, and a few different mixtures of vegetables.

We made a big pot of chili for the football game (and plenty to put in the freezer… if there’s any space).

I LOVE chili, and I especially love that it’s a little different every time I make it.

Time Management

Another thing I’ve been working on today is starting to organize my time management resolution for 2012. I started by finding some resources and ideas for time organization. I especially enjoyed the tips from this presentation, because the people giving the presentation are people who have priorities similar to mine (balancing marriage, school, work, healthy living, and hobbies). The first speaker has one of my favorite blogs (www.theshubox.com), and our organization styles are similar (I am also a “paper princess”).

 

I am not a slacker. I’m not even really a procrastinator, and I’m always on top of things that are required. The key word here is required. Especially when it comes to school, I tend to do what I have to do (for the next day, the next test, etc.), and then chill out for the rest of the evening. And I have to admit, I am definitely guilty of saying I don’t have time for things that are important to me (but I have plenty of time to watch my shows! I can’t roll my eyes hard enough). The purpose of my time management goal is to help me move beyond the required tasks so that I can be more productive and do more things that I enjoy.

 

To begin, I made a list of priorities. This is where my dilemma begins. I have a lot of priorities!

Top Priotities

  • Time with Greg
  • Sleep
  • School (class, study time, homework)
  • Talking to my family
  • Exercise
  • Preparing healthy meals
Slightly more adjustable priorities
  • Blog
  • Baking
  • Reading
  • House cleaning
  • Relaxation/Free time
Things that can be delayed for the moment but are still priorities for the near future
  • GRE prep
  • Graduate school applications
Other things that take time
  • Transportation
  • Meal planning, schedule making, paying bills, organizing finances
  • Errands
  • Work
There are 168 hours in a week. I need to sleep for about 56 hours a week. In the spring semester, I’ll be in class 22 hours a week. I’ll be working for about 20 hours a week. I’ll need about 7 hours of transportation time to travel between home, school, and work during the week. This leaves 63 hours a week for everything else, which is a lot less than it sounds like.

 

A common idea is that for every undergraduate credit, you should expect to spend 3 hours working outside of class. I don’t think I have EVER spent this much time outside of class per credit (maybe I should have?), but assuming that’s true, I should be spending 24 hours working on school related stuff outside of class. Suddenly, I’m down to 39 available hours.

 

5 hours of exercise each week means 34 hours left.

 

I probably spend a minimum of 8 hours a week preparing healthy breakfasts and dinners and packing my lunch. 26 hours left.

 

My average blog post takes about an hour to write. If I try to post 4 times a week, I have 22 free hours remaining.

 

You get the idea. The hours are dwindling quickly, and I haven’t even accounted for spending time with Greg, talking to my family, or cleaning the house. Luckily, some things on my list like preparing meals and cleaning the house are shared between Greg and me. We’re also only cooking for two people, and we have a very small house.

 

Still, some things are not going to happen. The beauty of having my priorities straight is that I’ll be making a conscious decision to do one thing over another, allowing me to feel good about what I am accomplishing instead of feeling like a failure for what I’m not accomplishing.

 

You can have anything, but you can’t have everything.

 

How do you organize your time? Any time management tips to share?

 

and, on a completely unrelated note,

 

What’s your favorite episode of Glee?

 

I thought my favorite episode was the Brittany Spears one, but the Fleetwood Mac episode may have just taken the number one spot…

4 Comments

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  1. Hannah Aleshnick
    January 15, 2012 at 8:08 pm

    I am super bad a time management and totally impressed by your ability already, pre-2012 goals. Some things important to me this year that I’m working on:

    - a solid, achievable morning routine (consisting of livestock chores, running with the dog, morning writing, and having time to make a good breakfast)

    - clocking in to work on time. I am chronically late to everything, especially things like work, so this is really important to me. If I plan on leaving a half an hour early, and don’t squeeze lots of things in, I usually make it on time. Pathetic, I know.

    - GETTING TO BED AT A REASONABLE HOUR. I just can’t seem to do it. There always seems to be something more important than bed (until it’s 6:45am and I’m cursing myself): internet surfing (especially YouTube), blogging too late, cleaning, etc.

    All really basic things that would make my life SO much more enjoyable on a daily basis. And with that, I’m going to bed :)

    P.S. Thanks for your blog. It’s inspirational, and fun to read regularly!

    Reply
    • hannahsurges
      January 18, 2012 at 9:09 pm

      All of that stuff is totally doable! I’m chronically early for everything because I hate feeling rushed pretty much more than anything. I’m also trying to develop some morning and evening routines, as well as some fun/productive multitasking combinations. For example, I feel much better about watching trashy television when I’m simultaneously doing laundry or writing a meal plan.

      Thank YOU for reading my blog and contributing so regularly. I love hearing from you!

      Reply
  2. Grandma "B"
    January 16, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    I am so-o-o grateful to be Retired!!! I am on Chapter61 of “Gotham – A History of NYC to 1898″. If I should go blind, like my father. . .I would learn braille. They older I become they more I need to learn. Love You. . .xoxo

    Reply

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