What I Learned When I Kept a Time Log, Part 2

I learned a lot about myself and my time from keeping a time log for a week. Before I elaborate any more, here are a few details that people have asked me about:

1. Here is where I first heard of the idea. I don’t think I’ve ever had an original idea in my life. This one was no exception.

2. Here is where I downloaded and printed off my time log. I tracked my time with pen and paper. My husband told me there’s probably an app for it, but I don’t need another reason to hop on and off my iPad all day. (I decided on an iPad).

3. I tracked what I did in 30 minute increments. I recorded things like “outside with kids” or “blogs/fb/email”. I didn’t write down what I did outside with the kids, or that I texted off and on while we were outside. I just went for the main activity of that time frame and recorded that. And I have RescueTimeif I want to see where my interwebs time is going, so I didn’t feel the need to track all of that.

I didn’t do this time log so I could fit more in my day. It probably sounds like I’m trying to be more productive or something. I’m really not. I don’t have much interest in adding more to our days. But I do like to be aware of where I am spending my time and energy. And I know I’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to keep our home life simple, so I wanted to see if that has actually paid off at all.

Anyway.

The week that I did the time log, I recorded about 5 hours spent cooking or preparing food. This particular week I was sick one of the days, and Mothers Day was another day. So that was two days where I didn’t do much cooking or preparing meals at all. The rest of the week was a lazy-cooking week. I pulled meals out of the freezer most nights, thawed them in the fridge overnight, and just had to chop up some vegetables to go along with whatever was in the oven.

So here’s what I noticed about cooking for the week:

1. I didn’t spend much time cooking. But we still ate good, healthy meals, and didn’t necessarily fall back on eating out. Freezer meals saved the day.

(I’m a part of a freezer meal exchange with 6-8 other families. We make meals in multiples of 6 or 8, depending on how many are participating, and get together about every 6 weeks to exchange all of the food. I LOVE THIS. It totally works for me.)

I am also slightly addicted to doubling every single recipe I try and freezing half of it. It has become a compulsion and I won’t stop.

2. Dinners are very simple. We have our main dish (say- burritos), and a vegetable on the side. No fruit or bread or whatever other thing might round out the meal. Just two things on the plate. My kids eat enough bread/starch and fruit throughout the day for snacks, that I don’t see the need to have them again at dinner.

3. We repeat certain meals and snacks that work for us, over and over. It definitely makes grocery shopping easier and more efficient, and cooking or preparing those things becomes a no-brainer.

Bananas. Apples. And oatmeal. (Repeat weekly).

For example, my kids eat oatmeal almost every morning, Monday through Friday. Without fail. On the weekends we do pancakes or waffles and eggs. But the oatmeal system works for us during the week. I soak the rolled oats (the old fashioned kind) and a little ground flaxseed in milk overnight in the fridge and heat them up the next day. The Monkey likes his with raisins, Chicken does not. Lately they’ve learned how much better it tastes when you add cinnamon and honey. (Their dad taught them that. He lives life on the edge).

No decision-making in the morning about which type of cereal they want or whatever. Keeps the mornings that much easier.

4. I have gotten in a food rut. See number 3.

After I looked at my time log and noticed I only spent 5 hours dealing with food, first I gave myself a high five for feeding my family well, with little time involved. Then I thought about how I was bored with our food staples and needed to change things up a little. I noticed that our ripe bananas were really collecting in the freezer because EVERYONE WAS SICK OF BANANAS AND NO ONE WAS EATING THEM ANYMORE.

The following week I made these for snacks and had the kids pick out some new fruits at the store. They tore up some apricots and plums. Turns out they like fruit a lot- they were just bored to tears by apples and bananas. It’s been good to change things up a little bit.

So there you have it.

I’m curious- does 5 hours seem like a lot of time, or not much at all for the week? When I think about providing 21 meals over the course of 7 days, it seems like a pretty minimal amount of time to me. What do you think?

Moore

I had a witty, insightful post all typed up. It was a follow-up about the time log I kept, with a few more details and reflections. Then I lost it.

Just as well. It will be fine to return to these day-to-day reflections at some point, but today my thoughts are toward Moore, Oklahoma.

I’ve mentioned before that my husband went to the University of Oklahoma. Were it not for that, I’m not sure I ever would have had the chance to visit the great state of Oklahoma. But he did, and I have.

The people there took him in and were family to him in the best way. I have friends there- friends who are not too far from Moore, and friends who have family in Moore.

So that is where my thoughts are today. With families who are still hoping they’ll hear good news about a loved one, and families who have heard what they were afraid to hear. People who lost their homes. People who don’t know what happens next.

Praying for comfort for these people. Praying they will feel love and support, even from those of us far away. Praying they will know that they are seen and cared for, deeply.

To donate $10 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief, text “redcross” to 90999. Other ways to help are here.

What I Learned When I Kept a Time Log

This Monday I finished up a week of tracking my time. For seven days I wrote down what I did throughout the day in half hour increments. Yes, it was tedious. But I knew it would be, and my curiousity about where my times goes outweighed the tedium.

Part of what motivated me is that we may homeschool Chicken for kindergarten next year. I know that will be add something significant to our schedule and I want to know where our time goes now before I just lump something else in there. I like having juuuust the right amount of activities to keep us out of the house, but not too many where I am CONSTANTLY YELLING AT THE KIDS TO HURRY UP SO WE’RE NOT LATE FOR YET ANOTHER ENRICHING SOMETHING OR OTHER. Being too busy brings out the yeller in me.

So, like I said, I tracked my time for a week and discovered a few really valuable things. I think they’ll be helpful to know, whether we homeschool or I send everyone away to boarding school.

I spend a pretty minimal amount of time cleaning. I recorded five hours of cleaning over the course of the week.

My house will never pass a white glove inspection, but you won’t get skeeved out by the filth, either. I like to keep it clean enough that I’m not embarrassed when people stop by. And apparently I attained that level of cleanliness with five hours of effort last week.

Because I know I would be curious if someone else wrote this, here is what those five hours includes: picking up toys with the kids, laundry, sweeping, cleaning bathrooms, sorting and organizing the kids’ toy closet, vacuuming the upstairs, and a big clean of our bedroom that I do on the first Monday of the month. (That means I pick the stuff up off the floor, vacuum, clear the clutter off our bedside tables, and dust).

The majority of the cleaning happens when my kids are awake, and playing nearby or helping me. This is a shift from a couple of years ago, and I didn’t notice it until I was doing the time log. I used to save up the cleaning until the kids were asleep- either napping or down for the night. At some point I wised up and realized I don’t want to spend my quiet hours of the day cleaning. And it feels weird that my kids would just wake up and see that the magic cleaning fairy has struck again. I’d rather they participate with me and not just think the house cleans itself.

I’m pretty happy with five hours of cleaning a week, give or take. That works for me. Having a few well-loved toys means clean-up goes faster at the end of the day. Having fewer clothes means less laundry to stay on top of.

I have more thoughts and reflections from my week keeping a time log, but I know I just lost at least four out of my five subscribers because I talked about cleaning for so long.

Sorry suckers! There’s more where that came from!!