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A day in my life | 2016

I’ve been working on tracking my time this month, so I thought I’d share one of my days with you all, since I haven’t done that in a while.

clock face

At first I thought, oh, I should pick a more typical day, but then I looked over my week and realized that none of my days are “typical” and I was reminded that “typical” is something that kind of doesn’t exist.

So.

This is from two weeks ago, when the husband was doing some training, so our schedule was running earlier than usual.

5:30-the alarm goes off, we  curse the day we were born (how did we get up this early for so long before??), and we get up. He showers and gets dressed, I sleepily make him some coffee, and he heads out the door at 6:00.

I didn’t keep good records for the next few hours, but I know that by 9:30, I:

-got dressed and did my hair and makeup
-checked email and social media
-made my bed
-started laundry
-wrote and published a blog post
-shared my post on social media
-responded to blog comments
-had breakfast
-made bread dough
-did Zoe’s hair
-made tea

tazo chai tea bag

Then I started writing things down again.   😉

9:30- cut up cantaloupe, started chicken broth, switched laundry loads

9:45- math checking/correcting

10:00- I sauteed onion in the broth pot, added water, and left my broth to simmer.   I also shaped my risen bread dough into loaves.

how to make tasty chicken broth

10:15- more math checking, and I found a new math notebook for Joshua.

10:30- math correcting

10:45- math correcting

11:00- I sorted and folded laundry, put in a new load, and put my bread in the oven.

11:15- I helped Zoe with her math investigation

11:30- more laundry switching, and I sorted through a sibling fight or two.

11:45- I took my bread out of the oven and took a small Instagram/email break

12:00- 12:45 lunch break!

whole wheat bread

12:45- I ironed the husband’s work clothes and a shirt of mine. Sometimes I listen to a podcast while I do this, but I opted for silence this time, which is good for, you know, thinking.

1:00- I did some kitchen cleanup and took out the compost.

1:15- I checked emails, responded to blog comments, and started writing some blog posts.

1:30- blogging

1:45- blogging (writing this post, which is kind of meta, I suppose. Ha.)

2:00- blogging

2:15- Zoe needed the computer for schoolwork, so I strained my chicken broth, checked Instagram, and rounded up my grocery receipts.

2:30- blogging

2:45- blogging

3:00- algebra help with Lisey

3:15- Lisey needed the computer for schoolwork, so I headed to the kitchen, where I:

-organized the fridge
-made banana bread
-poured my chicken broth into jars for freezing
-cooked and cut up corn for dinner
-cut up some apples with bad spots and put them out for snacking
-froze some leafy greens and fruit for future smoothie use
-texted with a friend 😉

chicken broth

4:45- back to blogging while my banana bread bakes

5:00- blogging (with a break to take banana bread out and photograph it)

banana bread

5:15- blogging

5:30- blogging

5:45-6:30– dinner prep

6:30- dinnertime

And after this, my time tracking gets fuzzy.   Before 9:00 I:

-ate dinner
-went out to run a few errands
-cleaned up dinner (the kid who usually does the dishes was gone.)
-made a cup of tea for the husband
-made a second panini for a child who came home from rehearsal (teenagers. So hungry.)

9:00- I don’t like doing math at night, but I corrected Lisey’s algebra and went over it with her.   It was a super fast session….15 minutes! Yay.

I hung out with the kids and husband after this, and we hit the hay around 10:30.

A Few Thoughts

Tracking my time has reminded me that one day is never representative of someone’s life.

For instance, this day was one of those rare ones that required no leaving of the house!   I didn’t have to take anyone to school, we had no appointments, dance is over for the year, and nothing else was going on.

adoramapix calendar review

So, this day had a lot more household tasks than other days do.

But the day before, I was barely home…I took a kid to school, went out to breakfast with my mom and sister for a belated Mother’s Day breakfast, picked a kid up from school, dropped the kid off at home, and took the girls to go hang out with friends for the afternoon.

And the day after this one, I took a kid to and from school, I had a mid-morning appointment, I had to take Lisey to her pre-op tonsillectomy appointment, and then I took her to see a friend’s dance rehearsal before I came home and made dinner.

potatoes with chorizo

 

Plus, this is a day at the end of the school year, so I spent less time doing school-related stuff than I would on an average school day.

And while it seems like I spent a lot of time blogging that day (2 hours and 45 minutes), I spent very little time blogging other days that week (I’ve been trying to get more blogging done all at once, rather than spreading it out all over the place.)

So, I can see the value in tracking time for a week, or a month, so that you get a better idea of how time use averages out.

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Rhonda Grice

Tuesday 2nd of January 2018

Whew! I got tired just reading your post but enjoyed it very much. I too am a blogger, but at 69 years of age, I'm not quite as energetic as you.

I do take breaks from blogging and marketing to cook, do laundry, etc. With no children in the house, it does give me more "rest" time. Thanks for sharing what you do. Makes me realize I'm not the only person with a busy schedule from home.

Sometimes friends and family think if you work from home you don't do anything. That is so far from the truth! Thanks again.

Rose

Sunday 19th of June 2016

Loved this post. I no longer homeschool my littles, (they are all grown up), but it brought me so many memories.

Question: Do you bake bread year round? Even in the summer?

Kristen

Sunday 19th of June 2016

I do, but in the summertime I do try to limit it a bit more. Or I try to do it on days when the weather is not QUITE so hot

Stephanie

Wednesday 25th of May 2016

Thanks for this post! I need to do this very soon. :)

Lena

Wednesday 25th of May 2016

Wow! I am impressed with what you accomplished. It's kinda inspiring. I want to track my day and see how much I do :)

JD

Wednesday 25th of May 2016

A group of us at church who were taking a Bible course from a seminary all had to track our time for one 24 hour day. About half of us (me included) held 8 to 5 jobs, some having kids and some without; half of our group stayed at home with young kids or were retired with no kids at home. Out of nine of us, I had the absolutely busiest day, but I didn't feel like bragging. I felt dismayed -- there was no time for me, for quiet time and devotions, for just spending fun time with my kids.... it was awful, and unfortunately, that day wasn't an exception to the norm. I was also the only one who watched zero TV on any day-- I never had time. No time to read for pleasure, no time for hobbies, either. Ever since then, I've tried to be more conscious of the time I spend outside of my job in my "free time". I've come to recognize that some time with God is essential to me, and time just for me is also very, very necessary, as I'm an introvert. I'm still too busy, but I carve out at least a little time each day. I think tracking our time is a great -- and eye opening -- exercise for all of us!

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