I want to continue my scheduling talk from yesterday, because I feel that there is more to be said on the subject. I decided to get ‘granular’ on the calendar as I slept, and the sub-mind came up with some thoughts. Primarily, the sub-mind came up with a different way of thinking. I started by adding travel time to the calendar. If you look at my responsibilities to people other than myself (which I mark in red on my calendar) you find that I have 3hrs of responsible time (75 x 2). If you add to that the travel time the full time moves to 4 hours. There are also office hours, which I have been thinking about the wrong way for years. Office hours are about where I have to be vs. what I need to be doing. In essence, it is a form of open time. I could be grading, I could be taking meetings with students (which happens more often than not this semester), I could be prepping future classes. All of these are things on my daily to-do, so blocking off these office hours as a thing unto themself is a mistake.
So we find ourselves back at 4 hours. That time is fixed. The block time I wish to devote to being available to the Lady Talis is fixed as well on certain days. However, that time isn’t entirely accounted for, so perhaps some other things should be allowed for in that nightly space. Perhaps I should give space for blips–30 minute or less activities (one or even two) during the evening that make sense as cooperative affairs or to be done when she takes her own time during that block.
In other words, I do have time for accomplishing all things, but I need to consider looking at the calendar a bit more sternly and asking myself what I can make of particular hours. Can I write from 7-9 M-Th? What would that accomplish/what would I need to be on top of for that to become a reality? How else can I build out a day that includes what makes me hapy and time for the things I need to maintain and to grow?