A Day in my life...

No, it's not as exciting as sharks chasing me. But hey, I can only handle so much excitement. I'm a Christian you know, and I need to uphold the standard of the rest of the world that says I'm not allowed to have fun.

Next week at Words for the Journey, I'm teaching on, um, something, I forget the title, but it's brilliant, because Michele wrote the title. I stink at titles. Anyway, part of why I'm teaching it is that folks have commented on my high level of productivity and can't believe it. I can't believe it myself. But I do think I have some useful ways of helping folks figure out how to up their own productivity.

As I was thinking about the class and what I want to teach, I started looking at my own schedule, and I realized that it would be useful to share with folks in general what a day in Danica's life looks like. So here it is: My Schedule!

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
7:00 wake up, angry at the universe for forcing me to be conscious at an inhumane hour.
7:30 get out of bed and get kiddos ready for school, realizing that if I don't, my kid will go to school with messy hair, no lunch money, and child services will show up on my doorstep.
8:00ish jump in the shower
8:15 Yell goodbye down the stairs as kiddo leaves and get myself dressed
8:20 Fight with smaller child about her wardrobe and eventually compromise on something we can both live with. See underwear post.
8:45ish drag little one to car for school.
9:05 drop little one at school five minutes late (note school is only 5 minutes away. It just takes that much to get her out the door)
9:20-11:20 PANERA TIME: This is my "me" time for writing and drinking tea. Ginger Peach.
11:30 Pick up kiddo, fight with her on the way to the car and on the way home over some thing I didn't do according to her rules.

Mondays, we hit the grocery store on the way home. Wednesdays, I have to rush home to fix lunch before my weekly meeting with el boss lady. Fridays, we just go home.

12:00 online meeting with boss for my online hosting job
post meeting-3:00 Online Job. I've checked in a couple of times during the am to make sure nothing was blown up or there are not urgent emails, but this is when I get the bulk of that work done.
3:00 other kiddo gets home, we dive into homework, dinner preparations, etc.
4:30 I leave for tax job
9:30 (if I'm lucky) I get home
post arrival at home-whenever my work is done: Finish up loose ends from online job, finish loose ends from writing, Bible study, and *gasp* exercise.
My goal is to get to bed by midnight.

Tuesdays:
AM Schedule looks pretty much like MWF, except I drop little one at "bed school" which is code name for daycare.
9:30-11:30 Words for the Journey (Seriously, it's an amazing group, you should go)
11:30-1:30ish Lunch with my writer friends
1:30-3:00 Writing Time
3:00 older kiddo gets home and we have quality time together until I have to fix dinner or get small child. I try to con hubby into picking her up.
4:00 Start dinner, attempt a few household chores, catch up on work I missed while out
6:00ish-9:00ish Church
9:00 fight with kiddos to go to bed even though they're hyped up from church
9:30ish See MWF schedule. I tend to have to be up later because I didn't get my usual chunk of time for online job and have to play catch up.

Thursdays: My semi free day
Technically, my day would look like, get kiddo off to school, go back to bed, fix lunch, go back to bed, fix dinner, go back to bed.
In reality because it's the only day not jam-packed with stuff, it ends up being jam packed with stuff that I can't do on the other days like errands, doctor appointments, catching up on work I didn't get to on other days, seeing my non writer friends (yes, they do exist), etc. Occasionally, I even do housework on this day.

Saturday:
The whole morning routine, except I don't have to get kiddos anywhere, I just have to be to work by 9.
During not busy season, I work until 5, during busy season, I work until 9. Yes, twelve hour days.
After work, I come home and catch up on all the writing/online/general life stuff/etc. I don't go to bed until it's done.

Sunday (or holidays)
I sleep until I'm good and darn ready to wake up and don't you dare try to make me get up any earlier, because I. WILL. KILL. YOU. Just saying.
I try very hard not to work on Sunday, but if I'm really behind on any of my jobs, or there's a project to be done on that date, or I'm avoiding housework, I will.

The truth about my life/schedule is that I am productive because I have to be. I've got too many balls in the air. And yes I am working on reducing some of them. Not fully prepared to share that yet, but I will eventually. While my schedule looks pretty rigid, I do adapt it as needed. If little one climbs on my lap and says, "I need mommy time," she gets it. Even if that means powering down and staying up later that night.

That said, there's also the non-negotiables. I made a commitment to my writing a long time ago. That's sacred time. Because I believe God has called me to be a writer, I honor Him by giving Him that writing time. I call it "me time" but the truth is, when I'm writing, creating, living in "the zone," it is when I truly feel closest to God because I know that's who He created me to be.

Not everyone can handle my schedule. Totally get that. But here's what works about my schedule: I look at the important things in my life, and I make time for them. More importantly, even though I don't always have a lot of time for them, or as much time as I'd like, I look at all the ways I can make the most of the time I do have.

And, that my friends, is what we'll be talking about next Tuesday. :)