Time management for parents
Submitted by caid on October 10, 2007 - 1:03am.
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?
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Incorporate Child Into Life
I can't remember exactly how it was phrased, but there is one thing that stuck with me from one of the books my wife read: you adapt the child to your life, not your life to the child.
Obviously, you can't ignore the fact that there is another person in the equation (and a demanding one at that), but you can certainly make adaptation. If on weekends you like to go to farmer's markets, you take the kid. The child will adapt to the rhythm of the family, and it will be seamless. My daughter saw that I go bike several times a week. It is now just a given: "oh...is daddy on a bike ride?" There are probably subtler ways. If I had been a hard core GTDer since she was born, she'd probably put things in inboxes for her dolls to do.
The second, though it is really a life tip, is pick your battles. A lot of things you used to have as an "and" might have to be "or." You used to have an immaculate house and a daily workout. Now, you might get to have:
(an immaculate house or a daily workout) or (a relatively clean house and a workout every other day)
Deciding on a balance that works for you is important.