Where Does the Time Go?
Where Does the Time Go?
I'm logging it to find out.
“If you wind up on the couch watching Netflix for days, call for help,” a friend said to me when I quit the last full-time job I held in 2015 to pursue my dream of writing full-time.
“Thanks,” I replied, “but that’s not going to happen.”
First of all, I lived in a small studio apartment and didn’t own a couch. But more importantly, I am extremely regimented and disciplined. I was not going to fall into a Netflix daze for days now that my time was unstructured and I didn’t have to spend it in a cubicle in downtown Manhattan.
I love structure, and I have routines and systems galore. And yet, after nine years of freelancing, time still tends to get away from me.
One of the biggest problems is that tasks expand to fill the time allotted to them. So when I don’t have much work, one writing project that should only take a couple of hours winds up taking all week. Conversely, being busy makes me more productive and forces me to get things done more quickly and efficiently.
I log my time for client projects by hand in a notebook and tally up my hours at the end of the month when I’m doing my invoicing. But that leaves me in the dark for most of the month about where my time is going.
An example: Recently, there was a month where I thought I’d almost worked a full-time schedule. But when I tallied my client work hours at the end of the month, I found that I’d only worked less than 30 hours the entire month. How was that possible?! I feel like I’m always working!
Another trap I fall into: When I have a light workweek and have time to do other things — like go to a yoga class, declutter my room, or get a mani-pedi — instead, I do nothing. Or, more likely, I just sit at home thinking about work.
Why do I feel like I’m putting in so many more work hours than I actually am? And how can I get a handle on my time?!
This is what I’m doing — and how it’s helping.