a few action steps

May 3, 2013

1.  no more iPhone in bed.  in fact, perhaps an iPhone/blog-surfing curfew is in order.  i think i’ll start with 9 pm.

2.  get out from under my to-do list, and consolidate so that it’s all in one place!  i’ve been using email as an adjunctive task list for work and home, and it isn’t working.  i need to really lay out everything i need to get done, break things into actionable steps, and keep track of it all separate from my inboxes.

today i deleted many old messages, but i need a solid uninterrupted chunk of time to build my lists from the ground up.  i will arrive back in NC on tuesday fairly early, so i think i will devote the rest of the day to this organization project.

3.  plan in time that is just for me.  i am realizing more and more that i just NEED this, and i’m going to take it whether i plan it in or not, so . . . i might as well just plan it in and enjoy it.

i’m thinking about small things:  a half hour of reading over coffee in the morning.  an evening yoga class [even if it’s at home after a is in bed].  a run sans stroller AND pager once in a while.  maybe even a few hours to shop/have lunch/catch up with a friend on a weekend.

and if that means hiring a babysitter on occasion, then so be it.  i am not going to feel guilty just because one of us is working almost every weekend until we finish*.

questions for the masses:

1.  inbox zero:  do you . . .

a) aspire to an empty inbox
b) delete nothing and just rely on the search function, or
c) keep emails around if you still have something you’d like to do linked to them?

just curious as to what is the most common, and why!

2.  to those of you in 2-career families:  if you or your spouse/partner has to work weekends, do you ever get help from a babysitter or family just to get a break and some self-care time?  please, someone tell me that i am not the only one who is craving this.  i have enough guilt re: working and being away from annabel during the weekdays.  but being at work isn’t time spent recharging.

* and i realize that once we do finish, less than half of our weekends will be with both of us free, as i will have call 20% of the time and josh 33%.  so it’s not like things will change that much.  however, josh’s hours will be at least somewhat better.  really, they couldn’t possibly be any worse.

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