[Tracking Every Minute]-Day 18 – Holiday Season Begins

This post is the eighteenth post in the #trackingeveryminute challenge. You can follow along here.

Here we go… ‘Tis the season.

6:00 – 6:30. Reading. Yes! I love this time, but as you can see if you are following along, I do not do it very frequently.

6:30 – 8:30. Morning drop off. Funny the one day I can’t afford to have traffic, I have massive traffic, almost causing me to miss the start. Dad chat was on fire with traffic advisories.

8:30 – 10:30. First Christmas event of the season. It’s the 18th day of the month, so this feels a bit later than usual.

10:30 – 12:30. First deep work block of the day. Good to get it in after having a pageant earlier in the morning.

12:30 – 3:00. Lunch. I had an opportunity to go to lunch with a kid and wife. This is pretty close to a non-negotiable item I have to do. It’s too rare not to take advantage of.

3:00 – 5:00. Second deep work block of the day. Huge win with a fragmented day.

5:00 – 7:00. Sons basketball team had a holiday festival. Went from 0 holiday events to 2 in one day. That is the way it works some times.

7:00 – 8:00. Family back together for dinner.

8:00 – 9:30. Work block after dinner.

The Holiday Season Begins

It’s December in the United States. That means its Holiday party time. I am not sure how many days people actually work in December, but it isn’t many. Reminding myself of this throughout the month is important.

If you’ve read any of these updates you might notice (as I have) that I often take any open time in my schedule to work. I’ve tried to make a habit of keeping my laptop on me at all times, especially when driving my kids around.

The thinking is that if I have a few hours of time in between dropping my kid off and taking them somewhere else I can get some extra work done. This honestly helps me feel better about driving them around during traditional work hours.

Sure, I might head out with them at 3:30, but once I get them where they need to go I can work for another hour or so. A fair trade off in my mind.

During the holiday season there is a lot of extra down time. How am I going to deal with that?

Today I had a school play and a basketball holiday party / fundraiser. The entire point is to enjoy the activities for what they are. A celebration, etc. I should be fully present. Not worried about getting extra work done.

Either this is my default setting, or living life so long as an entrepreneur has trained me to believe that there is always something that needs to get done.

During this holiday season, I need to enjoy the holiday season. My kids are all home with me. My family is healthy. I need to make the most of this.

Just as I am judging how much work I am getting done during “work days” I should probably track how present I am during family days.

This is the first day of holiday activities, which got me thinking about how I am going to spend this time.

Main Takeaways

• Traffic is unpredictable, always be there early. Saved me today. If I would have left at “normal” time I would have missed my daughters Christmas show.
• Maximizing your time isn’t only about your time working. I should also be thinking about how I am maximizing my time with my family.