Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
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Time management for parents
MIkael Lindberg | Oct 10 2007
The excellent news that Merlin is joining the parent flock prompted me to write this post. I became a parent about a year ago and I've been battling the "loss" of about 8-16 hours of every day to parenting and the unpredictability element that babies bring to your schedule. I'm interested in hearing what other parents have done in order to keep a grip on their schedule and their lives. For me, the most extreme effect was that I decided to change jobs in order to do something I really like, despite having to take a 50% pay cut. I just can't afford to waste hours doing things that doesn't make me happy. I've also taken a few hints from Merlin and now carry a small note pad (sort of a hipster PDA) in my pocket at all times for capture purposes. I think my previous attempts at GTD has failed just because I havn't needed it enough. Now, I can't survive without it. As for handling the unpredictability element of children, my wife and I have a system where we try to never replan the current day schedule but instead handle exceptions as far into the future as possible. This keeps our schedules reasonably stable. What are your experiences? 58 Comments
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Firewalled "thinking" time while caring for kidsSubmitted by Joe on October 10, 2007 - 9:21am.
shayarnett reminded me of a great point about maintaining productivity while caring for kids by writing "I could have made vast improvements just by having my next actions ready to go when I came off baby duty". Much like waiting to respond to e-mails until commuting via bus, you can save up tasks and dedicate them to times when your mental cycles aren't being spent on your kid (much easier when kid=baby). For example, when I have issues that I need to make decisions on and I want to spend a good amount of time thinking about them, I save these tasks for the time I spend feeding my daughter a bottle or taking her for a walk in her stroller. This gives me a good 10-15 minutes to do baby care and also mentally organize for and prioritize upcoming tasks. Brittp, your post reminded me that I can still make advances in my multitasking abilities. I, too, suffer from interruption anxiety. Some of my co-workers with kids have been able to play with their kids while simultaneously working, and I'm constantly envious of their ability to do so. For some reason, I just can't start some projects when I have a fear of being interrupted (especially reading, which I do quite a bit of for my research). The way I cope with this: I've decided that mom was right: if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. When I have family time, I devote it 100% to my baby. I've adopted the opposite of "Work hard, play hard". In my mind, if I play hard with my daughter, she'll enjoy it more (and also sleep better once I've tired her out!) Then, my reward is to have time to work hard while she's napping! » POSTED IN:
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