I have been reading this book by author Laura Vanderkam called 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. It encourages the reader to take a serious look at how she uses her time--on a week by week basis. In one of the earliest chapters, the author prompts the reader to keep a log of all activities and time spent on each one for an entire week. I did this exercise and found I spent my 168 hours in the following ways:
I learned A LOT by doing this exercise, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in a reality check to see where your time actually goes. Vanderkam makes the argument that most people severely overestimate the time that they work and underestimate the amount of time they spend engaged in leisure activities. I will say it felt a little cumbersome to always be writing down what I was doing in any given part of my day, but overall the exercise was worthwhile. So here is what I learned:
I spent 11 hours pretty much goofing off. My "goofing off" category includes 4 hours and 45 minutes of watching TV and a whopping 6 hours and 18 minutes on my ipad at home--checking email, catching up on my favorite blogs, and playing word games. This is the area I would like to restrict further. I generally think of myself as not watching that much TV, and I certainly don't think I benefit from it at all. Even if I cut this entire "goofing off" area in half, I will create over 5 and a half hours of time I could spend on things that matter more to me, such as playing and writing music, for example.
I was pleased to see that I spend a lot of time in other areas that are important to me, such as quality time with Kate and exercise.
More relevant to this blog . . . Of the 42 hours I spent working, here's what I did:
I was surprised to learn that although I am scheduled to teach for 9 hours each week, I spend 11 hours and 45 minutes in my classroom. This accounts for time spent getting the room ready before class begins, ten minutes in between back-to-back sections I teach, and time spent lingering with students after class is over. Still, I end up spending 2 hours and 45 minutes more in my classroom than what I thought!
I was happy to see that I spent over 9 hours and 41 minutes on research. This may or may not have been a typical week (slice out of my normal life), but that seems to me a pretty hefty research load while teaching full time. I was also happy to see that I didn't spend ridiculous amounts of time on menial tasks that don't directly relate to my success--like scanning scores or tidying my office. I spent over three hours of my week on work emails alone, but I don't think I can reduce this amount of time at all. I already limit myself to checking email just a few times a day, and then responding to work emails only when I devote small chunks of time for this sole purpose so as not to let it take over my work day.
Finally, this entire exercise got me thinking more broadly about how I want to spend my time and what activities/goals/dreams I should be prioritizing over others. For example, I spent 2 hours and 14 minutes walk/running with my dog. Okay, yes, she (and I) both needed the exercise, BUT isn't it odd that I spent 2 hours and 14 minutes walk/running and ONLY 45 minutes composing music? Do I want to spend more time running than writing music? I don't think so. I would rather devote more time to developing my musical craft and honing a talent I actually possess. (I am not a talented runner; in fact, I am very slow. On the contrary, I actually have degrees in music and have committed my life [ostensibly] to music, so what gives?) After having had a few weeks to ponder questions like these, I think the solution is not necessarily cutting out running from my life (I actually had to do that for two and half months while recovering from a nasty stress fracture, so no thank you, I'll just keep running), but rather reallocate time I spend "goofing off" toward more meaningful activities, such as writing music.
I'll post more on this topic again soon. Thanks for reading.
