[Tracking Every Minute]-Day 31 – Happy End of Challenge
This post is the thirty first and last post in the #trackingeveryminute challenge. You can follow along here.
Time flies when you are having fun. For the last 31 days, I’ve tracked every minute of every day. I have learned a bunch, which I will share in a separate wrap up post.
Today is New Years Eve. We are spending it together as a family.
5:00 – 6:30. Not sure what happened, but I woke up pretty early. I got up and moved around and then sat on the couch for a while. I would have preferred to get right into reading, but I think I was trying to get some more sleep.
6:30 – 7:30. Gave up on getting more sleep and started reading.
7:30 – 8:30. Communication block, where I batched email and social media.
8:30 – 10:30. First deep work block of the day.
10:30 – 11:30. Went to the super market to finalize our menu for the evening.
11:30 – 12:30. Dropped off some clothes at the goodwill and did a few other errands.
12:30 – 1:30. Regrouped at home and had lunch with the crew.
1:30 – 3:30. Second deep work block of the day.
3:30 – 5:15. Started prepping dinner.
5:15 – 6:15. Got in a quick work out.
6:15 – 8:15. Made dinner.
8:15 – 9:15. Ate dinner.
9:15 – 9:45. Cleaned up the huge mess I made making dinner.
9:45 – 11:30. Played board games with the kids until it was time to watch the ball drop.
Interesting Revelations
As I’ve tracked and written about how I am spending all of my time I’ve had a few interesting revelations. I’ve touched on it in the past, but I enjoy baking and cooking.
I am not sure what it is about the process, but I enjoy discovering and trying new things. For tonight’s menu I decided to make Beef Wellington for the main course. I have no idea why. I think I’ve had the dish once or twice.
I probably stumbled into Beef Wellington because I’d been discussing baking with my niece. She made some croissants that impressed and frightened me. I’ve made breads but never something as complicated as a croissant.
When I came across Beef Wellington as a popular New Years Eve meal I was drawn to it as an opportunity to work on my puff pastry game. That’s what I did. I made a practice round of puff pastry, which I used to make some simple puff pastry cookies. Then I made a new batch for use in Beef Wellington.
Not sure how much more you care to read about my baking and cooking, but I promise I’ll bring it back around to time management.
I enjoy my time when I am figuring out how to make something and then learning new techniques. While I might have intuitively known that before the challenge, now it is slapping me in the face. Hey buddy, if you feel extra stressed or worn out, try a new recipe or something.
The second interesting revelation is that planning my day in advance reduces my anxiety about what I should be doing. I am not sure if anxiety is the best word. But when I look at my calendar and it has a plan laid out for me I can just start working. If you have not tried this, please give it a shot and let me know what you think.
The decision on what to do was made last night, I can just start working. It reduces procrastination significantly.
Third revelation is that I need to track my time during a normal month. I’ve gained so much, but I’ve also had built in buffers around my schedule. Several holidays and the kids home from school add a lot of slack to the schedule.
Extra revelation, I am really digging Ben Franklin lately. Here is a quote of his:
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
I expect to feature more Ben in the future.
Main Takeaways
- This challenge was amazing. I learned more than I thought I would.
- It’s not hard to track every minute, but it isn’t easy either.
- Plan your day the night before!
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