Tag Archives: getting things done

5 Things you can do now to reclaim your weekends

By Juliet Chase | Published May 9, 2013

It’s easy to fall into the trap where Saturday and Sunday are catch-up days for what didn’t get done the rest of the week. But does that really give you the mental break and relaxation you need? Or does it just heap on the guilt for not getting it all done as you vacuum while staring out at the sunny blue sky?  There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. You may have to sacrifice some “I should’s”, but you can keep your weekends for the other areas of your life that need your presence too.  Here are 5 simple, not necessarily easy, things you can do to get your weekend time back.

  1. Divide up the routine chores among family members and among the weekdays.  Have a dedicated chore hour every night when everyone chips in and maybe even put on some great dance music.  For example, clean the bathroom on Monday night, change the sheets Tuesday night, grocery shop on Wednesday etc.
  2. Stay in on Friday night and get ready for the week ahead (clothes, frozen lunches, etc.) Use that as your wind-down time from the work week.  That way you won’t sleep Saturday away and won’t have Monday’s demands eating into your time on Sunday.
  3. Limit your kids’ sports and club activities to one each.  They’ll still get into college and it’s been shown that boredom can be good for kids.  If the adults in the house are hyperactive joiners; cut back there too.
  4. Have some potential ideas worked out for what you want to do with all this free time. Have a tentative plan for a sunny day, rainy day, stay at home day etc. That way if your first choice isn’t quite so appealing because it’s pouring out, you won’t waste the day wandering around wondering what to do.  If you need supplies for a craft project or something, do that shopping earlier in the week. Don’t forget to leave a little free time for just enjoying the moment.
  5. Lower your standards on housework, lawn and garden.  Turn your back on Martha Stewart and settle for good enough in these areas.  Your soul needs feeding even more than the lawn and if it’s an inch or two longer than the neighbors’, you’ll be giving them a chance to feel superior;-)
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When Productivity Isn’t a Measure of Success

By Juliet Chase | Published April 14, 2011

yellow plumeriaI was checking out other blogs last weekend and found myself relating with some chagrin to a post on Zen Habits, Productivity tips for people that hate GTD.  The chagrin was due to having recently re-added my tattered copy of Getting Things Done to my to-do pile because not much of it stuck from the last time I tried to follow it.

So this article got me to thinking about all the times we use precious hours trying to get something to work for us that simply isn’t a good fit.  Morning pages don’t work for me either (see Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.)  I know they can work for others so I’m not against the concept, but after three months all I got was notebooks full of nothing.  I think maybe the obvious non-working things are easier to stop doing.  But how often have you read a book where the author addresses the need for more time in the day by saying “just get up a half hour earlier in the morning”? As if theirs is the only advice/exercise/task you are trying to follow.  Pretty soon you’re getting up two hours earlier, and not seeing results because you are now critically deprived of sleep, which you probably were already if you’re like the majority of the population. Maybe it’s time to pursue only the things that add the most value.

As a reminder of what’s important, I have an “ideal day” schedule posted on the wall behind my desk.  This is simply how I would love to spend an ordinary, everyday kind of day.  What surprised me when I put my thoughts to paper is that without keeping track, everything added up to between 23 and 25 hours a day – I guess my subconscious was trying to tell me something;-)

My ideal day looks like:

  • .5 hour meditation
  • 1 hour to do nothing in particular
  • 2 hours physical activity
  • 2.5 hours cooking & dining
  • 2 hours with family, friends and pets
  • 6 or 7 seven hours working
  • 1 hour chores
  • 8 hours sleep

My real day doesn’t look like this – yet. But living a life where this schedule is a normal day represents success to me, not how much on a list gets done. I have to ask myself if GTD or other things in that to-do pile are aiding or detracting from living this ideal day? And as  much as I hate to admit it the answer is usually that it’s detracting. I think I’ll stick with the parts that stuck with me from the first time I tried it (I have a bill paying folder and a basket for stuff I need to deal with) and leave it at that.  A new pasta recipe and an after-dinner walk are going to do more to move me towards my real goals.

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