I spent Friday afternoon with my tax forms. It’s grim, but not as grim as last year, so I’m getting a little better at both the forms and the payments. The first forms are always done in pencil, and I don’t commit to ink until I’ve located every possible deduction. Even then I have him check it in case I’ve missed something (he has mad math skills and a sick love for the 1040).
I made time for that. April 15th is this looming, dark cloud that I feel compelled to clear up early. If nothing else doing tax forms early gives me an idea of how hard I have to work until that check gets mailed. Nothing jump starts your marketing like a large impending bill.
I had to push back a deadline, which is today’s deadline, but I have my schedule in a sweet place at the moment. I turned down offsite things in February that allowed me the time now to get the much-needed accounting work done. I have time built into my schedule right now for a few more Fridays off. It won’t affect my earnings goals, either.
How do you work time into your schedule? Time is our constant battle, isn’t it? Here are a few things that worked for me:
Secure better paying work. It makes sense that the less you make the harder you’re working to reach your monthly goals. By seeking out clients and projects that pay at or close to your hourly rate, you’ll be able to take on fewer projects for the same payout. Or if you’re a workaholic, you can take on more higher-paying projects in that saved time and surpass your goals. Either way.
Schedule. Every week I have a schedule. Daily deadlines first, weekly deadlines second, one-time or special projects next. I map out my workload based on deadline and hours it will take to complete each project. The easy stuff comes first, then the harder stuff. The mapping out, by the way, is done in my head so no, you don’t need a schedule on paper unless you want one.
Schedule the day off. If you can’t wrap your head around taking time off, make it part of your schedule. Put it on Outlook, inform the masses, etc. I did this at first, but now I just eyeball the week and decide what day I want to keep for myself.
Turn off the computer, leave the house. What good is a day off if you’re still sitting in that chair? Plan something! For me, it’s escaping with the laptop to the coffeehouse or the mall. On gorgeous days, I’m going walking. My days off have included shopping, lying on a blanket in the park, sitting in the coffeehouse on a snowy day editing my book or surfing Facebook, meeting friends for both breakfast and lunch…
How do you make time for you?
7 responses to “Making Time”
Yoga every morning, no matter what. Then, my first 1K of fiction for the day.
I switch between projects as I need to, depending on deadline.
The way I schedule is: my most creative time is for fiction. Then come the hard projects; then the easy ones.
I like to have a floating day off, so that when I'm ready to rip up the room in frustration, I can just shut down the computer and walk away.
The Tibetan Singing Bowl App is also a big help in stressful times. It's lovely.
I did my taxes this weekend, too, Lori. I used a software program, which helps a lot, since my math skills are nonexistent. I did them about three times because each time it said … brace yourself … I had a refund.
Me? A Refund? That hasn't happened since 1997.
After checking it over and over and running the "alerts" feature the program has to spot possible errors, it still said I had a refund of $198 (and another $17 from the state).
Naturally, I'm having the $198 applied to my 2010 contributions. But I was so excited I went out the same day and bought paint and supplies to finally re-paint the bathroom ceiling that's been peeling for over a year. This leads directly to your question about time: I'm hosting Easter, so I need to schedule time to scrape/patch/prime and paint the bathroom and deep clean the house (some of the grown-ups hide the kids' candy and eggs under beds and in closets, so every square inch of the house needs attention). Oh – the snow melted so I have a bunch of trash and branches that need to be cleaned out of the yard, too.
I'm hoping to take a sunny afternoon or two this week to handle the yard; scrape and patch one day or evening this week, prime and paint this weekend.
I always schedule in admin time, and travel time, and research time, and library time, as well as all the other times. AND, of course, I schedule in ME time – this is time where I do what I like. At the moment it's evenings and weekends because I'm so busy during the working day. Saying that, though, every time I go for a walk or to visit a place of interest, I'm still working. Like Devon, I do yoga, but I read and watch television a lot too.
Anyway, Lori, you've won a prize, love. :o) Yup, your blogaversary comment was drawn from the pile by one of my (impartial) friends at work. Congratulations.
I forgot to note the downside of my refund: it's because my income was down sharply from the year before. (Thanks in big part, not doubt to one major client cutting their rates.)
I don't so much have a problem with scheduling a day off. It's sticking to it that I find difficult at times.
I plan for a day and then I change my mind at the last minute, deciding to work on something instead. Sometimes, I have to plan to do something that day, so that I won't back out so easily.
Getting away from the computer is another problem. I'll walk away to do laundry or something and find myself meandering back to check my email, read some blogs or look into some topic.
Forcing myself to walk away from the great devourer of time that is the Internet.
I can't tell you how many times I've realized it's three o'clock and I've been at my desk for hours… but haven't actually accomplished anything. I'm constantly setting aside blocks of time for my To Do list, and then squandering them all on my favorite sites.
I'm more likely to work and less likely to surf when I'm working in a cafe, but in general restricting my Internet useage adds hours to each day.
Devon, yoga is great, isn't it? I'm getting better at remembering to meditate in the mornings (twice a day). I'm also finding a LOT of release in kickboxing. It's oddly empowering though I'm sure onlookers would think I'm having spasms. I like the idea of a floating day off.
Wow Paula, you've got some immediate goals! Love it. What color?
Diane, a prize? Me? Very cool! 🙂 Thanks!
Wendy, that was my problem at first, too. I sat here playing online games, then I'd check email and that ended that day off! It's when I decided a day off needed to be away from the house. The guilt was a little tough at first, but it's easy now to jump in the car and go. 🙂
Valerie, I hear you. There's so much STUFF on the Internet! This morning my attention was drawn to, of all things, ballet flats you can design with specific tartan patterns. Like I need more shoes – like I need MacBeth plaid ones! But it's why I changed my home page from Yahoo! to Google. No addtional distractions. 🙂