So things have been slightly crazy the past week or so, and such I’m behind on my writing/editing/imaging/posting schedule.

I’ve realized a couple of things this week–while I don’t have a normal 9-5 job, what routine I have, I don’t like disturbed. There were several disruptions over the past two weeks (and they’re not finished for a few days), to the point that the only thing I managed to really accomplish on those days were my workouts.

While I knew that I could get a few things done while waiting for my brother to show up–I didn’t because a) I wasn’t sure how long the tasks would last (reading/taking notes/posting articles to twitter and LinkedIn); and b) we weren’t entirely sure of his arrival time.

I also know that in theory I can get things done in the evenings (and for the most part I do)–but I can get more done if I also make use of some of the time before dinner (instead of reading or doing a color-by-number picture).

I also need to dedicate just a little bit of time daily on the task of organizing files on my computer–I spent an entire morning this week after my workout trying to clear out files and I only made a very small dent. While it was a small accomplishment, I felt afterwards like I could have used some of the time for another small project (such as reading articles and sharing them).

Therefore:

It is looking like the science recap could be a biweekly occurrence (at least for January).

In addition, I’m hoping for a Wednesday (probably biweekly) post over a research paper, and this may start next Wednesday (January 27th).

I’m hoping to start adding more to the hawk/eagles/kites group under the birding section over the next week as well.

So I know that there is a problem–the solutions?

Waking up early (at least twice a week)–this will be possibly the most difficult solution to try, mainly because the pup is still getting me up once a night (usually somewhere between 11 and 3), and it takes me awhile to fall back to sleep. But a goal will be to see if I can get up before seven without an alarm this week.

Use time-management apps to block access to different sites, so I don’t spend a good chunk of my day aimlessly scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. While I should probably add LinkedIn to the list–I do need to try to be more active on it (but in all honesty–I should be saying that for the other sites as well).

Limit the amount of time I’m spending on the color-by-number picture app on my kindle. I know that I manage to color at least three to five pictures a day–and if you account for the time per picture–it’s probably 3-4 hours total throughout the day (an hour is fine–but how far in excess I am–I need to change that).

Have a very short and specific to-do (or to-be-accomplished) list for the day and a slightly longer one for the week.

Also be semi-specific in terms of what I’m going to do when I take my mini-breaks (instead of wandering, grabbing some chocolate, and heading back to the computer).

So to sum up–I don’t like having my routine (such as it is) disrupted continuously. Also I know that having unstructured time is important in the day (we really shouldn’t be trying to be busy all day)–having too much is just as bad as trying to accomplish too much in the day. I seem to be going back and forth between the extremes. Hopefully over the next few weeks I can find a good balance between the two. Also I think that the ‘first’ day of 2021 is probably going to be the 21st of the month.