Fitting in Blogging

It has become apparent to me that keeping up with Singlutionary and with my writing projects, while working full time is going to be difficult, even after I quit match.com.

Soooooo. I have come up with a few ideas.

1. I only go to the gym Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, Friday. I leave off on Wednesdays to catch up on blogging. And I have Saturday mornings free to blog as I sit around my house being heck lazy and eating breakfast. 

I'll be a two-day-per-week blogger. It'll be great.

Now I've gotta go do a yoga video before its time for lunch. 

Unemployment Timeline

Today is the first day that I did any job-seeking activities since Sunday. Today is Thursday. Today, I have totally fallen off the wagon in regards to my unemployment schedule. Something needed to give. I needed to sleep and catch up on things and also just be lazy. But I made it through three days and I do feel that I am a little bit closer to being able to handle this intense/tight schedule. 

In other words: I'm getting used to it. Maybe next week I can get through the entire week (M-F) without falling apart!

But I've been noticing the things which I do that take up a lot of time and space but don't offer a huge reward or do offer a huge reward but could be done more efficiently. 

Watering the Garden: Once I get my first paycheck, I need to invest in some timers so I can do some of the watering without even being present. I really enjoy watering the garden and I find it incredibly soothing but I don't want to worry about it NOT getting done if something comes up. There will always be things that I do NEED to do myself but if I can get a few things on timers or on drips then the time I spend with the rest of the garden will be shorter (but still therapeutic) and I can still enjoy checking on its progress as often as I want.

Match.com: I am so OVER match.com on so many levels. I have written about this in more detail on my other blog, Singlutionary. But I have decided to keep going until my pre-paid, three month term expires on 5/8/09. It seems that the moment I quit being interested in meeting men, the men started to wink and email me like crazy. I find it both entertaining and annoying at the same time. But since I know that I'm not interested in a serious/intense relationship at this point in time, I've kinda loosened up and I am looking for potential friends. For that reason, I am staying on. I am going to filter all the match.com emails to a folder and deal with them at once in one big chunk when I am in the right mood.

Volunteering: I have spend HOURS volunteering this past year to the point where it was almost a full time job. But its just not as rewarding as I used to be and these little tasks which seem like no big deal can be very disruptive to my day. So I've basically quit. I'd like to help out again the future when I have time. 

Ahhhh. But that brings me to my point (sorry, this post is a little scattered which I think is reflective of my mind right now):

5/8/09 is my date for going back to work! I put it on my calendar. Its actually a Friday which seems a little silly but really its one of those symbolic law-of-attraction kinds of things.

The match.com thing made me realize that a) this past year wasn't a waste but a time to do things I can't get done while working (like starting Singlutionary and my garden) and that I am not *quite* done yet. I still have to iron out a few things in my life before I make the leap back into full time employment. So I've given myself a few weeks. I think that the deadline will also serve to light a little bit more of a fire under me. 

My Expanding Bedtime

For the past year my waistline has been expanding. But now my bedtime is expanding too.

I've only slept a little over 4 hours the past three nights (basically since I started this unemployment schedule thingie). Things unravel after my "rush hour" and there is always a wrench being thrown in somewhere.

I am hopeful, however. I am doing this NOW so that I can have a smooth transition later. 

But one thing I am really seeing is how my time is spent. The past year I've just done stuff because it needed to be done and I didn't really pay attention to what time was going where because it was all important and it all fit. I also had a lot of spare time. There were things to do it was up to me to do them or up to me to blow them off. 

But when time gets scarce, I notice that 4 hours goes to running around town looking for the razor blade refills that go in the recycled plastic razor and swim goggles and Biolage shampoo that doesn't cost too much. I also notice the 30 seconds it takes everytime I walk from the kitchen to move the sprinkler. 

Phew! But I am getting more efficient. This new life is going to force me to cut out the things which aren't essential. And after living a life of non-essential/non-income-producing activity for the past year, I think I'll welcome that right along with the structure.

But it requires a change in my thinking.

For example email (and my sudden and shocking popularity on Match.com) takes up WAY too much of my time. I'm going to start automatically filtering match.com emails and blog subscriptions/comment updates to folders where I can check them at a designated time instead of having to plough through them all day long. 

My Rush Hour

In my post yesterday, I wrote about my unemployment schedule. From 5:30-6:45, I hope to be able to do ALL of the following on a regular basis:

Make Dinner including setting aside a portion for the next day's lunch

Eat Dinner

Cleanup after dinner

Water the Garden

Do My Daily Chore

I know that this can be done but it will take some getting used to and I'll have to be super efficient.

I didn't start my rush hour until 5:45. By 6:15 I had watered half the garden (I just move two or three sprinklers from spot to spot but there are lot of spots) and prepared dinner, putting aside a portion for the next day's lunch.

Watering was made easier because I had already watered the back patio earlier in the day when I found a spare moment. So I guess I cheated a little.

And cooking was made very simple due to some excellent grocery shopping (how am I doing to find time to get to the grocery store in this new life????) and preparation I had done earlier (I had a container of mixed rice and beans in the fridge waiting to be heated up). I even had time to take a few pictures of my quick handywork.

I sat down, ate a couple bites and then went a moved the sprinklers again. I repeated this several times. I know its good to sit down for a full meal, but I also know its good to wait a little bit between bites. I am willing to sacrifice a leisurely dinner so that I can workout later on or write this blog! Also, this only works for me because I'm not afraid of organic dirt. So I don't feel the need to wash my hands after moving the sprinkler.

By 6:45 I had almost finished the watering. All that was left was to turn the spigot off in the backyard. I had cleaned the kitchen and washed all but a few token dishes. All that was left was my chores. Chores for Monday are: pay bills, run errands, laundry, put out recycling.

I had put a load of laundry in before going to Bosslady's and my roommate had moved it to the dryer so all that was left was to put it away. I had also put the recycling out at the curb when I left for bosslady's and the same roommate had pulled the bin in. 

So, I had 15 minutes to: put away laundry and pay bills.

Running errands on Monday will be tricky once I get my full time job. Usually these errands consist of going to the bank/grocerystore/gas station, etc. I could do them on my lunch break but then I wouldn't have the serenity of walking my dog. I could try and do them on the way home from work but that would put me in rush hour traffic (and would cut into my domestic rush hour). Hmmm. Maybe the errands can just be spread out through the week. That is what usually happens anyways.

So, all-in-all, my Rush Hour was a success! YAY. 

Paying bills will be SO MUCH LESS STRESSFUL when I have the income from a full-time job again! Gosh it will be wonderful to just pay bills when they come in and not hold onto them as long as I can and then hope I get my deposits to clear in time. 

Unabashed Unemployment Day 1: The Schedule

Over the weekend, I decided that I need to put myself on a schedule which mimics what my life would be like when I get a full time job. Basically, I'll get up every morning and to to bed every night and take my lunch break and get dressed just like I would if I had my ideal work schedule. 

I am going to do this until I get a full time job.

There are two reasons for doing this:

1. When I get a full time job, it will be in addition to working for Bosslady once she recovers from her car accident (get well soon Bosslady!!) so I will be working about 60 hours a week. Its also important to me that I keep up all my projects, including Singlutionary, and have time for some personal peace. I also want to continue to observe my secular sabbath and keep up my vegetable garden (my new favorite project). SO, I'm going to have to become very efficient-- like raising-six-kids-in-a-studio-apartment efficient-- in order to be able to work, have peace and do the things that are most important to me (writing, homemaking, gardening, hanging with my dog, etc, etc, etc). And because this is a tall order, I figure I better start practicing now so that I don't want to die when I finally do get the job of my dreams.

2. I figure its a good thing to do in that "law of attraction"/The SECRET kind of way. You know, I dress in the clothes I'd like to wear at my ideal job and FEEL like I've already got my ideal job and waddaya know? I suddenly HAVE my ideal job. Poof!

So. Here is my Schedule:

5-5:40AM: Getup, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc

5:40-8AM: Bosslady Stuff (I am still helping Bosslady with some stuff while she is in the hospital which is great because it forces me to get up early!)

8-12PM: Work (during this time, since I don't actually HAVE a job, I can work on projects, look for jobs, apply for jobs or shop for interview clothes. I can NOT sit at home watching Big Love on DVD. I have to be actively engaged in a) things that will help me get a job or b) important projects that I will be pissed off about not having any time to do once I get a job. 

12-1PM: Lunctime (eat a meal that I prepared and packed up the previous night), walk the dog M-W, go to Bosslady's Th-F.

1-5PM: Work (this week its on my yard or getting "ahead on the blogs" although I am not sure how the heck I am going to be able to keep up blogging. Today I went to an acting class.

5:30-6:45PM: Dinner. Put a portion aside for lunch tomorrow. Clean up. Water the yard while things are cooking. Daily chore (I've broken up housework into 4 parts done M-Th). This is going to be the hard part because that is a lot to cram into that period of time, but I know that with practice and preparation, I can do it!

6:45-8PM: Blogging (or grad school applications or other writing project)

8-9:15PM: Swimming at the Gym with my new Gym membership. I choose to go in the evenings because that is when my roommate goes and she motivates me. Also, I plan to shower and get ready for bed directly after swimming (and leave the gym in my pjs) so there is less time wasted on costume changes. 

9:30-10PM: Get ready for bed (I'll have already showered, etc at the gym and I'll have already prepared my lunch for tomorrow so I'll pretty much just need to brush my teeth).

The above is the IDEAL. I am trying to stick to it as closely as possible so I can get into the swing of things. Today I did pretty well until about 3pm (universal siesta time). Right not its 5:48 and I shouldn't be blogging (I have time for that later). I should be in my watering/cooking/cleaning mode. Oops.

Until tomorrow!