TIME MANAGEMENT

I had plans for this post. (note the past tense, har har) I filmed a video on bullet journaling (which in reality was just me getting distracted and pulling out books from my bookshelf instead. now I have a pile on the floor. oops.)

So, I filmed the video, sat down at my desk, clicked play to start doing some editing...

...and realized that, somehow, I filmed the video on it's side. (nooooo) I don't have time to refilm it and regather my thoughts, so now I'm in a scramble to come up with a Plan B.

*runs to brainstorm and comes back fifteen minutes later*

My brain cells have stormed and spoken: Today we're going to talk about time management.

It's almost humorous how often I get asked about time management -- how do you have time to do school and reading and blogging and editing? I don't find it humorous in a rude sort of way, but because I feel like I'm horrible at time management.

I'll sit down to write for three hours, but only an hour of that will be actual writing, and the other two hours are spent getting distracted with messages and books and food and staring outside at the scampering squirrels (true story. I feel like the dog from UP). Even right now as I write this post I just got distracted with blog comments and then visiting other blogs and then going down a rabbit hole of "READ ALL THE THINGS!

Time management is tricky, because it's all about staying focused and determined. And, at least for me, staying focused is one of the hardest things on this earth. (#ENFPproblems) I have so much I want to do! So much I want to accomplish! But my mind refuses to keep my writing document open and instead will first take care of approximately 1.2million other tasks.

I briefly mentioned this in my Growing Older post, but life is short and I want to make the most out of time. Will browsing Twitter or YouTube videos or Pinterest really do that much for me? Nope. Will they get my novel written? Nope. I love connecting with people online, but should easily be able to go without checking messages after I've done an hour of solid writing.

I don't know what to say when people ask me about time management, because honestly, I don't think there's a secret. You just have to do the thing. You just have to force yourself to sit down and write. If you have fifteen minutes to spare, read a chapter of a book! Write 100 words! Do a lil research for your novel! Throughout the years it has become natural for me to turn to something mindless when I have a few extra minutes, like social media, instead of doing something more fulfilling. The minutes add up quickly -- a "little bit" of wasted time can easily turn into an hour. 

I'm usually awake for 15-16 hours of the day. Yeah, there's a lot of things I want to get done -- school, blogging, editing, working, critiquing, eating (ha), relaxing, reading -- but it shouldn't be that hard to give a couple hours to each. We're all given twenty-four hours in a day. I've come to realize that some are just a lot better at staying focused than others and using their time wisely. I'm still growing and learning not to become distracted by squirrels. :P

Lately, I've been tracking the amount of time I spend editing. I start the stopwatch when I open the document, and whenever my mouse wanders over to Twitter or anywhere else, I stop the timer. I've tried setting a time goal for myself, because I should be able to focus for an hour and a half on editing. 

But it's been interesting -- seeing how often I get distracted. It's rare that I can make it past ten minutes without running to explore something else. It'd be great to be able to sit down for an hour and just write... block out the distractions and get a major chunk of work done. But often, that doesn't happen, and I struggle with this just as much as anyone else.

This post is proof that I'm really not great at time management. I've been blessed with the ability to do things very speedily which helps (except blogging. eek). And I'm improving as the years have gone by. I've created a schedule with writing, and bullet journaling has helped me schedule out my week. Time management also takes time (ha, how ironic is that?) to perfect, and I'm still working on it.

Articles and tips and tricks can only help so much. You'll eventually reach a point where you just have to do the thing. Write the words. Rewrite the novel. Clean the room. Eat the pizza. Watch the squirrels. Good luck to my fellow artists and writers and dreamers and poets and lovely souls. xD

<3,
katie grace

do you have any tips for time management?