Make Your Minutes Work for You

If you’re a list-maker like me, you’re going to love this post. If you’re not, I hope it sparks something productive anyway. And if you’re someone (also like me) who can fill endless minutes with mindless scrolling on your phone or tablet—may you find ways to apply this.

Because I work from home, and because writers are notorious procrastinators when it comes to actually writing, I constantly see little tasks everywhere that I “should” be doing. I pull out my crumbling three-ring binder stuffed with recipes and remember I wanted to make a project out of that over the winter. A garment in need of mending sits on my sewing machine, where it has waited for months. A couple of hubby’s shirts hang on a doorknob, needing ironing. My desktop’s a mess. Our humidifier needs cleaning and putting away for the summer.

But I don’t tackle any of these jobs because, well … I’m “supposed” to be writing. Except then I don’t write because I really should be taking care of something else, but what was that something else? Out of sight, out of mind. Neither the tasks nor the writing gets done. This could explain why many writers prefer working at a coffee shop or cabin somewhere.

The crazy thing is that many of these (and other) tasks can be completed in ten or twenty minutes once I get at them. But I’m loath to assign them a slot in my calendar because one never knows when one’s day is going to go sideways and then the task won’t get done when planned, and one will feel like the miserable, pathetic failure that one surely is.

We can’t have that.

So, I decided a new chart was in order. If I think I can complete a task from start to finish in an hour or less, it goes on the chart. Every time I spot another task in my house or yard, onto the list it goes. In the second column, I put how many minutes I think the job will take. The third column is for checking it off when done. Then I can put it out of my mind, freeing headspace for other things, like writing. So far, so good.

That’s the first half.

Here’s the second. Whenever I find myself with an uncommitted ten, 30, or 60 minutes, I don’t need to waste time deciding what to do with the time or trying to recall a task that needs doing. I can simply go to The List and scroll my finger down it. Choose a job that fits the time slot. Do it. Then enjoy the great satisfaction of crossing it off.

Doesn’t that sound fun? If you’re a true chart nerd, you can add a column and give the task a priority number between one and five.

Sure, you might add three tasks for each one you check off, but you might also find yourself building momentum as you realize how little time some of these things take. We often say, “Everything takes longer than you expect,” and sometimes that’s true. After finally getting at the recipe binder project I’d neglected for years, expecting it to take only 30 or 40 minutes to sort through, punch, and place everything alphabetically into a new binder, it took more like two or three hours. Can’t win ‘em all.

But some tasks do take less time than we expect, especially if you stick with it and focus on only that job. Maybe my fancy chart needs one more column to record how long the job actually took. My guesstimation skills would improve.

“Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.” Titus 3:14.

3 Time Saving Tips (for those with better things to do...)

My mother thinks I’m too busy.

“You’re not 35 anymore,” she tells me. This from the woman who will never see 80 again, yet charges around like she’s forever on a mission—probably because she is. 

“If I don’t do stuff, I’ll have to give up my column,” I tell her. “I won’t have anything to write about.”

It’s true. If I had the courage, I’d take up skydiving or bungee jumping just to get a column out of it. If I had the money, I’d fly around the world and deliver my adventures to readers 500 words at a time. If I had the energy, I’d volunteer for every opportunity that presents itself and tell you how it goes. If I had the talent, I’d star in a blockbuster movie and regale you with the ups and downs of fame. If I had a willing partner, I’d learn ballroom dancing and let you vicariously trip the lights fantastic as you read all about it.

But there’s only so much I can say about preparing council agendas at City Hall or cooking vegan meals or performing yardwork or taking afternoon naps or pressing buttons on a computer in my church’s tech room. Readers are tired of my old car and my new couch and my weird health issues. You’ve heard enough about my kids and grandkids, at least until one of them wins an Olympic medal or pulls off a bank heist or walks on Mars—all of which I consider highly unlikely.

So I have to keep doing stuff and then writing about it.

Mom’s right when she says I’m not 35. I also require ridiculous amounts of sleep, which bugs me. Life’s too short to spend sleeping. When I see people capable of staying up until midnight, I feel jealous. Especially if they waste those golden moments watching TV or playing video games. Oh, the books I could read. The books I could write!

As someone who once held down three part-time jobs plus college courses with three children still at home, I’ve learned a thing or two about juggling time. So I’m offering three tips for those with a household to run but better things to do.

                                         

#1.  Make your Calendar and your To-Do List the same thing.

I’m a compulsive list-maker. But making a list on random slips of paper or the back of your hand can be counterproductive. I’m old-school enough to use a spiral bound daily planner. It goes everywhere I go and I write everything in it: appointments, meetings, due dates for bills, tasks for the day, when to put the recycling out, what’s for supper and what books I’ve read. These planners have settled arguments and answered unsolved riddles as well.

#2.  Do housework on a schedule, not for company.

I spent twelve years cleaning other people’s homes and quickly learned how demoralizing it can be to clean hard all day only to return to your own dirty house. So once a day, I walk through my home and put away anything out of place. I wash sheets and towels simply because it’s Monday. If it’s Thursday, it means the clothes are getting washed. I clean floors and bathrooms on a regular schedule, with some flexibility. After a while, it becomes a routine and you don’t get unbearably behind.

#3.  Cook in marathons.

To be fair, every day felt like a cooking marathon when the kids lived with us. But now that we’re back to two, I don’t cook every day. I make a large pot of soup on the weekend that provides lunch all week. I double-up on most meals so we have extra for the next day or for the freezer. Sometimes I make two or three dishes simultaneously, not bothering to wash the food processor, measuring cups, or spatulas between recipes. Hasn’t killed us yet. The kitchen might look like a disaster zone afterwards, but it only needs cleaning once.

If you already follow these tips, I apologize for taking still more of your precious time. If you don’t, I hope you find it helpful.