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Courtesy of my friend, Cindy, I’m reading a new book called The Power of Full Engagement. One of the primary theories of the book is that energy, rather than time, is more important to accomplishing your goals. Since I’ve been treading water the past few months, I thought I’d give some of the strategies a try at home. One of the main theories is that performing in short bursts of activity followed by a time of rest helps maximize energy. I thought I’d try a short burst of energy to see what happened.
Keep in mind, this isn’t in any way scientific because I haven’t finished the book, but here’s what happened when I put ninety minutes on the timer, determined to put my full force into cleaning the kitchen:
90:00 Throw myself into unloading the dishwasher
89:23 Arbitrate dispute between children over the rightful owner of the recliner
87:45 Go back to recliner because children appealed my first decision. Take the offending preschooler from the chair
87:13 Go to couch where Her Majesty is unceremoniously tossing things from the couch to the floor without regard to the condition of said items
78:33 Finish unloading dishwasher under state of relative peace. Begin loading the dishwasher
77:12 Instruct girl child not to sled from couch to floor in a box. She informs me that it’s “not a sled; it’s a canoe.” Tell her to get out of the box, whatever it is.
73:59 Get snack for each of the children. Find a spill on hardwood floor. Lecture child responsible for said spill
69:35 Dishwasher is half loaded! Kids are watching TV! We are cooking with gas!
69:34 Phone rings. Proceed to have hour long conversation with Anna about conference stuff, Nationals, and Hawaii.
67:13 Girl child tries to steal dry erase marker
65:55 Boy child wants something to eat
57:23 Finish loading dishwasher while talking on the phone—hopefully Anna is still speaking to me after all of the banging of pots and pans
48:43 Give up on time business and bribe kids: if they will be good while I finish my conversation, then I’ll take them to Dunkin Donuts afterward. Boy child disappears. Girl child continues her usual antics including, but not limited to: playing in water, trying once again to steal the dry erase marker, trying to take the sprayer, and drawing a green exoskeleton on the back of her hand. Handle all of the above while continuing conversation
Reset time for 30 minutes so I won’t talk too, too long and, subsequently, miss donut time
27:43 Anna shares her brilliance about how I should start Beulah Land. Not so idle chatter continues
Timer goes off! Good-byes are said, and I start the arduous process of getting clothes on the girl child for afore-mentioned donut run.
Now, here’s what I learned from this little experiment:
- Corporate America and housewifery don’t exactly work the same way.
- You can bribe children with donuts.
- Hey, I did get the dishes done….but it’s going to take longer than 90 minutes to clean MY kitchen.
- Always take a phone call from Anna Steffl.
How about you? What do you think you can get accomplished in 90 minutes if you set the timer?
by Sally Kilpatrick
27 comments
Sally,
Your posts always make me laugh….I’ve had my day at raising children…and I also bribed, on occasion. (what do you think a paycheck is, after all?)
Ninety minutes…write first draft of a chapter? Put away everything I’ve left out of place? (shoes, sweater, books, empty dishes in the living room, that sort of thing)
OR, go to bed early and read a couple chapters of a good book and relax…or snuggle with hubby, sending up a silent prayer to thank God for giving me a man who would rather snuggle than have the house spotless.
What can I accomplish in 90 minutes? Probably take a good nap. I’m tired after reading your post, Sally.
And my respect for you has gone up several notches. Uh, when does school start???
I can accomplish a lot if I’ve made a list and turn off the TV. I don’t have a same distractions you do (young kids) but others needs do still get in the way. Sleeping well at night makes a difference in the amount. Cute post.
Hi Sally: I remember small child days. Now it’s big child days. When both are in school all day, you’ll have huge chunks of time to play with and you’ll find yourself letting it slide. It happens. I set a timer on writing and cleaning days with built in rests/breaks. Works like a charm for me. I only set for 60 minutes.
Enjoyed my daily smile from your post!
I’m with Linsey. I’m already exhausted reading about your day. Yikes. I don’t have those distractions any more but it doesn’t make me any more productive. I think the more you have to accomplish, the more you can accomplish.
LOL! This is hilarious. I stand by my comment about just waiting to see how Her Majesty is as a teenager. This will be hilarious…grin… I’ll be there to hold the hand you the Margarita glass…
I can actually get a LOT done in 90 minutes as long as I stay off the computer (which is hard if I want to use that time to write), stay away from the TV (also hard because if I’m not in the computer room, I’m in the living room), ignore the housecleaning and laundry (these are my excuses to get up and walk away from my WIP more often than not), and keep my guys from interrupting me (honestly, they think because I’m not published, all this time is a waste. The think they are not really interrupting anything because I don’t REALLY have a deadline).
So, I think my best bet is to jump in the car and drive to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble and just write. That would be the best way for me to get any quality writing time in.
Like Sandy said above, I always leave with a laugh when I read your posts…
Thanks!!!
Tami
Sandy, I do have a hubby who prefers snuggles to spotless–and thank goodness!
I just found the theory (90 quick, productive minutes) to be far different from the reality. ; )
Linsey, school starts August 15th, and I need to practice my “no” so I don’t get caught up in anything new that would distract me from writing!
Sorry I made you tired, there. I guess that explains how I can feel exhausted and still feel as though I haven’t done that much.
Susan, I think you’re right about sleep. Unfortunately, I’m in the habit of staying up late, but I think I’m going to have to try to shift my schedule to mornings. *shudders*
Christine, you may officially be in charge of keeping me on my toes! If you catch me on Twitter during the middle of the day after August 15th, you may call me out. : )
Marilyn, you are absolutely right about accomplishing more if you have a lot to accomplish. It’s so hard to motivate yourself sometimes, if you only have one or two things to do. At this point, though, I think I have an entire houseful of things to do….and then some.
Tami, you are on to something with leaving the house. When I was in grad school, I wrote at Gabriel’s just around the corner from Her Majesty’s preschool–it was amazing how much I could write in 3 hours.
As to Her Majesty as a teenager? I can’t think about that right now!
Funny I just sat down to write, after running errands this morning and loading the washing machine. Fortunately my older Kidlet does the dishes now. So that’s on e chore off the list. (I still feel you pain)
PS Can you tell I forgot to spell check!
Whew! Have some TNT MonsterEnergyREdBull Sally!
I think you need more than just your own energy to conquer your day — you need an army of MaryPoppins to corral your gal!
Hope you’re writing THIS stuff down too!
Hi Sally,
Loved the post! I must meet your kids one day.
Ninty minutes? Walk around for 80 minutes to see what I need to do. Spend 10 minutes working and wonder where the time went.
Sally – I should know better than to read your posts while drinking anything.
I can do an amazing amount of work in 90 min – business work that is. However, I bow to all of you mothers who manage to do SO much in one day. I’m not joking. I have no idea how you do it and would never even suggest how to do all that on any timed schedule. I watched my nieces when they were little and thought I could at least do paperwork while they were here and quickly realized that was never going to happen.
Maxine, you’re so funny. I have those days sometimes…walk around for 80 minutes, work 10 and wonder where the time went. Too true and too funny.
Okay. We may need to try some alternate strategies…
Bit if nothing else you made me laugh and smile.
Chudney, I’ve got to get these kids to work! Hope your writing was more productive than my attempts at unloading the dishwasher!
Pamela, if you ever see an army of Mary Poppins, please let me know. As to keeping my thoughts, I need to catch up on Her Majesty’s baby book (yes, she just turned 5) and all of my blogs are saved as word docs for their future humiliation.
Maxine, I usually have days more like that. Or better yet I walk around for 80 minutes headed in one direction, get distracted, forget what I was doing, remember, go back to original task, get distracted, …. Oh you get the idea.
As to meeting my babies, I’ll drop them off in a few hours so y’all can commune….jk
I made Dianna spew! My work here is done!
In all seriousness, the boy child was easy. He napped as a baby, and now he finds a corner and reads. The girl child, on the other hand, is into anything and everything. Still. And I’m going to tell her that when she asks why her baby book isn’t as full. No naps, no riveting descriptions of your babyhood–that’s how it works.
LOL. Sally I think the one take away from the day is that you figured out something super important about your wip (with the help of a friend) AND you kept relative peace in the house without losing control. Some days that’s way more than we can ask for.
Ditto what Susan said, right down to the ‘cute post’ comment.
Darcy, you are right. Always take a call from Anna Steffl.
Carol, thanks!
Cindy! I missed you up there! That’s what I get for trying to do this on my phone, isn’t it? No need for a new strategy–normally I give up completely. I did get the kitchen cleaned. Oh, and I was good–I just got coffee then got a healthier snack when we got back.
Seriously, unless you have a Her Majesty, this strategy is very effective!