Gah!

I don’t know why I thought that reorganizing my files would be a straightforward job this afternoon.

I only have two file drawers but I have so many projects and ideas that it’s hard to sort stuff into broad categories.

I may have to sleep under some papers tonight, I’m not sure I can find my bed under all that stuff.

Tonight, the weather was warmer and the dark felt far less unfriendly.

Do I just need to dress more warmly for other walks?

We shall see.

I took Khalee for a walk at 5 PM today and it was dark of course because it’s November and I just noticed how it felt unfriendly out.

I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t nervous. I wasn’t apprehensive. I didn’t feel threatened.

It was just unfriendly.

And I started thinking about the darkness of summertime and how it’s more enjoyable to be outside then.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s dark at a different time of day or the fact that it’s cold out that’s creating that on friendliness?

Or maybe it’s my perception of the cold that’s making it unfriendly?

Obviously, this will require some more observation.

Further updates as events warrant.

My plan to rearrange my day so I have a chunk of work time late in the day worked really well yesterday.

I did some focused work in the morning then took a longer break in the middle of the day to have lunch, run a couple of errands, walk the dog, and take some leaves before going back to my desk to do more work.

It felt really great AND…

After supper, I returned to one of my creative projects and worked on it for ages without feeling resentful or frustrated or like ai should be doing something else.

I think that doing a work session from 4-5:30 not only gives some needed time constraints to my afternoon work but it also gives my evening a bit of structure.

My experiment continues!

I’ve seen lots of advice about how time management is related to energy management, to trying to find the best time of day for you to do specific tasks.

I usually try to avoid that kind of thinking because once I start trying to optimize, I can fall into a thinking loop and be unable to do anything because I’m not sure it’s the ‘best’ time to do it.

That being said, I’ve noticed recently that I get a lot done on Friday afternoons.

And I can focus pretty well between 4:30 and 5:30.

Interestingly, those are the times that I am usually trying to be done for the day or for the week.

Clearly that has to change.

Maybe it’s the feeling of a deadline – the end of the work day, the end of the work week – that makes those times so effective for me.

It would make sense – part of the reason I have trouble starting things is because they feel like they are going to go on forever

I’m not going to extend my work day though. I definitely don’t need more work hours, I need work hours that are more effective.

So perhaps I can do some of the things I usually do in the latter part of the day/week at other times and free myself up to work at those focused times.

Let’s see how that goes.