Uberchronology: Working with what you’ve got

I’ve tried to be a "good blogger" about having normal-ish post titles that at least don’t actively obscure the post’s content…but when it comes to the simple "update" posts that I don’t expect people to be searching for, the gloves are still off as far as I’m concerned.  ;)

First, if you’re interested in Uber Time Management, you should know that my opinions ought to barely even count as such, considering what’s going on with me right now.  (This is a much better source, if you want more details on the concept.)  I can’t really elaborate because it’s ALL still way up in the air, and that’s precisely why any attempts at "scheduling" I make during this time should be–I think–viewed as successful or not relative to the complete and total holy crap chaos that everything is TRYING really hard to be.

Details below that there cut.  ;)

So.  Monday and Tuesday, I had to work, but had a lot of free-time due to the PD-pocalypse taking away significant chunks of my usual duties.  So I tried the "Uber Time-Management" schedule I found a few posts ago, and lo, during both of those days I got several pages written or edited on two different stories, plus stayed ahead of my mountain of "administrative" obligations. 

I’m dividing my days into four:  A morning admin period, morning writing block, break for nap & lunch; then afternoon admin period and afternoon writing block. 

On Monday and Tuesday all of these "blocks" were adhered to, but often broken up by work demanding that I Do Things.  Cal over at Study Hacks talks about how important it is to keep those blocks of time sacrosanct and uninterrupted, and I think he’s right; but even with the interruptions, having distinct blocks of time for specific things was really helpful.

On Wednesday I had no such interruptions.  I was mentally and emotionally exhausted from Monday and Tuesday (yes, I had a two-day work-week that wiped me out worse than most five-day ones), so I spent the time before my day started at 8:30, in the 12 – 1:30 break, and after 5:30 playing video games and being basically inert.  In spite of that, though, I still got a lot done on my big story "Fangboner Street", my short-story "Good Morning, Bert & Ernie", and my Secret Project, all of which advanced several pages that day — a day when, to be honest, without that schedule I doubt I’d have accomplished anything at all.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and though my family got it out of the way last week and I had no plans, I decided to take a "break" from my schedule.  Actually nothing got done on Thursday, in spite of my firm intention to write anyway.  This is an important lesson, I think:  Intentions are nice, but even the firmest needs support from some kind of schedule or dedicated block of time.

Friday I decided I’d learned my lesson, but also that I was still on vacation, so I’d continue to be lenient.  Then an interesting effect kicked in:  Because I’d been writing on the current fiction projects for several days straight, the bug bit me.  Ignoring the various alarms that told me to switch tasks, on Friday I wrote for about ten hours straight.  It was fabulous; I won’t lie.

Saturday I got back on the schedule and again, got a lot done.  (I started actually tracking pages written & edited on Friday, as part of the morning admin time before I got sucked into Fangboner; but those notes are at home.  I’ll post the numbers later.)  Not only did I write on my projects, but I cleaned my desk and paid the bills and wrote several critiques for other writers, and it wasn’t really hard at all.  By 5:30 I was playing video games again, feeling like an Uberman again.  (This in spite of my sleep-schedule being all kinds of screwed up…I’m still "on" Everyman if I’m on anything, but I’ve been getting poor sleep due to all the stress, so I don’t think I’ve had a perfect day in two weeks.  Ugh!)

Sunday I kept my momentum up with Fangboner, but without the schedule again, I didn’t get much else accomplished.

Today I’m back at work with the attendant interruptions.  I actually have no idea how many days this week I’m working, or how much there’ll be to do while I’m here (oh yes, it’s that crazy), but I’m planning on nailing my life together with this schedule:  I’ll follow the blocks of time if I’m at work, and just deal with the interruptions.  If I’m at home, I’ll be as firm as I can about not being interrupted.  I have a mostly-finished novel (I’ve been calling it a novella, but I suspect it’ll turn out to be a smallish novel), a finished short-story to submit, two short-stories that need editing, and a Secret Project or two.  I’d like to see them all get done before next summer, when things get REALLY crazy again and I suspect I won’t have time to write any more for a while.

*sigh*  So, maybe I can turn this ridiculous time of my life into something useful, eh?   It’d be nice if all time-management was about what to do with stable situations and good work environments, but you know me…I’m a big believer in working with what you’ve got!