Yesterday was my first full day of living out my "perfect day" schedule. I didn't follow it exactly, but it still worked pretty well. I know there will be times when I am traveling or have too much office work to fit into the two blocks of time I've scheduled -- but when that's not the case this schedule seems to promise a day that I can look forward to, and that will ensure I am living out the purposes God has for me.
This schedule takes fuller advantage of the flexibility offered by working from home (and by my kids' homeschooling). However, to be able to stick to it consistently, I need to learn to work more efficiently ... once upon a time I regularly worked 10 hours a day, and this schedule calls for only working 5 hours a day! When you like the work you do, it's very easy to burn through 2-3 hours at a time and not get very far down your to-do list.
But when I switched to self-employment five years ago, a primary goal was to have more time for my family. I achieved that goal on average in 2004 and 2007. In 2005 and 2006, I worked a ton (which was bad for family time, but at least we made extra money toward paying off our mortgage). The jury is out on 2008 ... I traveled more than ever before, and though while home I generally didn't overwork on paying projects, I had home/barn projects and ministry projects that consumed enough of my remaining time to put me past my joyful-living threshold.
So since the main reason I felt God wanted me to switch to self-employment was to focus more on my family, this score of two years good and three years not-so-good means I should take action to change. After all, it has been three years since Erin and I defined our five-year vision (which I recorded in this blog entry two years ago), and we need to keep making progress! Designing my "perfect day" schedule is an action step to be proactive with my life, and I think it might work.
This is what my daily schedule looks like so far:
Timeslot Start
Timeslot End
Alone time / reading / writing
6
7
Pray, read Bible, study Bible
7
8
Exercise, shower, breakfast
8
9
Work session 1 (generally billable)
9
12
Lunch
12
12:30
Focus on Erin
12:30
1:30
Focus on kids
1:30
3
Work session 2 (half NB/B)
3
5
Home projects
5
5:30
Dinner
5:30
6
Alone time / guitar / reading
6
6:30
Ministry / volunteering work
6:30
7:30
Focus on kids / lay with kids
7:30
9:30
Get ready for bed and stretch
9:30
10
Sleep
10
6
It's primarily a weekday schedule, but I'm considering following it for Saturdays too ... especially for the many weeks when an extra 5 hours of office time will help me keep up with my workload. But those "work sessions" could also be used for other types of projects, like ministry or the second-half of our horse barn that I've promised to build for Erin this summer
Journal of a father very interested in seeing his four children walk in truth. While my wonderful wife is our school's main teacher and curriculum planner, my role is critical as well ... so I'm always interested in learning and sharing with other homeschool parents. I own a small consulting firm (see www.blackwater-consulting.com) that I love because the work is interesting and I get to work from home.
