February 18, 2010

~ Julia

How to Make Today a 25-Hour Day

So, outside of the 8-hours that I am indisposed as I am earning a paycheck, I have no idea how to cram all the stuff I need to get done into my day.  A lot of the above helps (audiobooks on the commute to work, anyone?).

The following are a few techniques that I’m working into the repertoire, including (but not limited to):

Incidentally, for me, the singular thing that helps me get everything done in a day that I need to do is to write it down.  If I’m not writing it down, I’m certainly not remembering to do it.

I’m finding that I’ve grown extremely frustrated with my lack of efficiency from 5:30-7:30.  That inefficient chunk of time is sucking out my will to do anything.

The major impediment has been trying to balance my workout and my studying: I’ve been trying to cram both activities in the same/overlapping time slots.  It wasn’t working.

My new approach is to work out first thing in the morning, before I hop into the shower.  I have to get up an additional 30 minutes early so I can fit the workout into my morning routine; the upside is that I am now waking up at the same time every day of the week.  I like this.

The two downsides right now:

  1. I cannot figure out my sleep schedule.  I don’t know if I’m best served with 6.5, 7, or 8 hours of sleep, or when the best time to go to bed is.  I’m trying to listen to my body, but it’s speaking a completely different language – I’m getting tired at about 6:00 and don’t snap out of it until I fall into bed at 10.  For now, I’m doing 11-6, and we’ll see how well that works out.
  2. The side-effects of working out that early in the morning are wreaking havoc on my body.  Nausea, stomach upset, the works.  I don’t know if it’s a shock to my system, or if drinking that much water that early is getting the digestion kick-started, but it has caused some serious delays in my morning routine.

My hope is that after a few weeks of this, it will become old hat.  I’m hoping that 1) I can actually get shit done in the evenings, and 2) I’ll stop feeling like I need to ralph when I get off the treadmill at 6:30 to jump in the shower.