Time to Time Track . . .

It’s that time again!

(For me, anyway.)

I do not track time consistently, but I like to do it once a season and periodically I think it’s fun to share my findings here.

This week is not a ‘typical’ week, but when do those happen anyway, especially in the current travel-heavy season? Today plus the next 6 days will include:

TODAY: Work-at-home day

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Clinical days

WEEKEND: Road trip!

MONDAY: Work-at-home day

TUESDAY: Call day

A 7 day smorgasbord of different types of days.

And, not going to lie, I feel like posting here will give me some inspiration/accountability to use my evenings better than I have been. Some have been a pout-and-scroll-fest as of late, and I had been doing so much better earlier this year with my Golden Hours.

I’m going to use the Toggl app again — as much as the idea of a color coded paper time tracking layout appeals to me (and you KNOW IT DOES), this app works better for me in actual reality.

Things I am hoping this exercise will do for me:

#1 Help me better understand how I am using my nonclinical (creative) work time, and how much time I actually have to do non-clinical work. I feel like I tell myself a lot of stories here, but I’d like to get some numbers. On that note, one week probably will not be enough for this.

#2 Remind me of how open my evenings really are some nights. Josh usually does the late pickups, which means I’m typically home with G by 6ish. YES, I’m overseeing some homework and piano (G), but it’s really a lot of time. It often doesn’t “feel” like free time because there is uncertainty as to whether I will be doing the later pickup and it puts me in this weird angsty limbo phase. But I need to get over myself, because even when I DO have to do pickup, there’s still a lot of time. The only kids who can’t stay home alone for a bit now is G, and that makes everything easier.

The way I feel about this particular window of time is how many of the people on Money for Couples talk about their money — yep, they spent it. It’s definitely gone, and never coming back. But on what!? They don’t know! They have nothing to show for it, nothing tangible or even happy memories! This is me in the evenings sometimes, and I don’t think it has to be this way.

I use YNAB for money (and CalAI for macros!) so I can answer that question; let’s try using Toggl for time for a bit.

(Probably not 10 years like Laura, but historically I can manage a week or two.)

#3 Encourage me to take better and more intentional breaks. I never regret a walk. I almost always regret a random Reddit binge or cycle of overchecking texts/emails/WhatsApp/etc. If I have to enter it in, I believe I’ll make better choices.

SOOOOO HERE WE GO – wish me luck!

PS: Thank you so much for the encouraging words re: my MOHS surgery! I had initially declined the consult with the surgeon (the person on the phone kind of minimized the need for it after I said I knew what MOHS is) but called them back to schedule it. YES it will take time but I’ll feel more reassured if I can ask questions in advance about what to expect from the scar and possible unintentional haircut. I appreciate the recs about plastics as well — the derm practice where I go is . . . let’s just say cosmetically inclined so I suspect they work very hard to make things look as good as possible but I will find out what the options are!