When to Work: What to Work On

I have some well-laid times to work on the blog. I have three small boys and don't want to work on it when they are awake. I want to spend that time with them, training, loving, laughing, and gritting my teeth occasionally (#reallife). 

I know when to work if the work is doing to be done. I try to keep it to two blocks of time: quiet time and before the boys gets up. The morning work fluctuates depending on what time I go to bed and when the boys get up. But quiet time? It's like gold. I look forward to that hour of mostly quiet (one boy doesn't nap) when I can write and draw and blog. 

Having the work times isn't enough though. I have to have a plan for my work. Otherwise I waste the time deciding what to do first or surfing social media. 

I have a list of tasks to accomplish during quiet time. These include writing 500 words, drawing my daily sketch, posting to Instagram, responding to social media comments, and updating our budget. If I work in the morning I have more flexibility; I'm working on making that a habit. I also need to edit blog posts and plan for the podcast but neither of those are done every day. 

That's not a short list of work for around an hour and half every day. But it is a specific list. 

This is also true in homeschooling. We are just barely getting started but I need a plan (even if we don't always follow it). I get frustrated trying to think of ideas while the boys are doing who-knows-what waiting. That doesn't work. I have to know what I need to do. 

That's why I meal plan. I can cook and I enjoy it. But if I don't know what I'm making or at least have a list of meals to choose from (which is really what my meal plan turns into) then I just stare into the cabinets and the refrigerator and think "there's nothing here to cook." It doesn't work for me. 

That's why I have a cleaning schedule. So that I know what needs to be done every day to keep the house in order. I know we need to make beds, start laundry, and empty the dishwasher before breakfast. I know that we need to pick up toys before we move on to the next thing. I couldn't work here in the living room at quiet time if we left the toys everywhere. The clutter and chaos would drive me crazy. 

Having a time to work is only half the battle. You have to know what you need to do. 

Know what to do. Know when to do it. Then do the work. 

Do you have settled times to work on different tasks? How do you keep yourself on track?