Trying To Find Time.

At work yesterday morning, I was part of a workshop where we were discussing what we would need in order to do a better job that we already do. The answer from almost everyone was that we need more time.

I won't go into details about how we would use that time at work, but it made me think about what I would do if I had more time, particularly when it comes to writing creatively. I've been playing around with ideas for different schedules, they work well for me as long as I have the set up to stick to them, and with my ADHD I need to find something that will be realistic in the long run. So here is a blog about the different thought processes that I've had about building a schedule that suits me.

What I do in a day

I am fortunate that my job allows some flexibility when it comes to my work hours. Some of the little jobs I do are time sensitive but as long as I'm mindful of that I can start and finish when it suits me. However, I have a morning call with my manager at 830am and generally work through until 5pm - I only finish later than that if I have to have a little 3pm break.

I go to the gym four days a week, one of which is a PT session (starting this week) and one is a group class I've been going to for a couple months - both start at 7pm. I'm definitely someone who benefits going to the gym in the evening. Though I have about three hours of being wired after, once that burns off I crash. When the crash happens, I need to go to bed and do a big long sleep. I have tried and failed to become a morning gym goer. I gave up.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I also now need to factor in some writing time. I want to keep this to week days for now, as I like having my weekends to relax and reset, and I'm often doing social things, especially on the run up to Halloween (and then Christmas). I've figured out that about two hours a day should be enough, that's ten hours a week.

There's also all the other things that are really important, but don't take up so much time. Personal hygiene, eating/hydrating, cuddling the cats, spending quality time with Frazer, slipping into the void for a little bit to soothe the goblin in my brain.

The first schedule

When I was still working at the call centre last year, I got in a really good habit of waking up at around 5/530am and immediately working on my business (which no longer exists), then I would work from 9am-6pm and the evenings would be my own. That worked really well for me at the time, so I thought it would be a good idea to replicate it now and work on my creative projects before I started work. I even thought it would work better now that I mostly work from home. But this week I have not been able to wake up on time, for multiple reasons:

• I no longer live alone, and it's inconsiderate at best to set several alarms to go off between 430 and 530 in the morning when Frazer needs more sleep than I do.

• Last year, I wasn't going to the gym (or making time for exercise - I cycled or walked instead) so my evenings could be spent getting the rest I needed from waking up so early.

• I was struggling with insomnia so I was often restless and regularly stayed up all night tossing and turning, so when 5am rolled around it was a relief to do something else instead. I was not, in fact, having a good time.

The second schedule

The last time I worked consistently on creative projects was the 18 months between leaving my job at Exeter Uni in May 2019 and starting my job at the call centre in July 2020. For over a year, I developed a great routine (after another bought of serious insomnia that may have caused chaos for a few months) that I have not been able to emulate since.

I would wake up at 8-ish, make a coffee and eat a banana, go to my [home] office and start organising what I would work on that day, then I would do a blog post or writing exercise or research until about 10 when I would go for a run (!!) for about 40-45 minutes. Then I'd shower and have breakfast, then settle in for a couple hours writing, have lunch around 1-130, and then write until 430/5 when I went for a walk. After that I'd usually have time with Elle, or my parents once it was lockdown and do whatever was needed round the house and have dinner. Then the evening would be spent watching a movie relevant to my project, or reading.

This would be ideal if I didn't have to factor in a job that, though flexible, often has meetings mid-morning, or if I could fit an ordinary work day into that time as well as the writing. But it is something I can use as a blueprint.

The third schedule

I think the main thing I have to do is to be considerate of everyone in the house. And what I have noticed this week is that when I go to bed at the same time as Frazer, I lie awake for about three hours before I get tired enough to sleep. I do it because if I stay in the living room watching TV I'll lose track of time, and then I won't get enough sleep to focus the next day.

However, I think that the easiest way to incorporate this new writing project into my schedule is to do it when I'm already awake and wasting time trying to relax and get sleepy.

If I naturally fall asleep at 12, I could go to bed at 1130 and use the 2+ hours more wisely. That way I still wake up at 8am to start work at 830am, and I don't have to worry about moving my favourite time to go to the gym. Also I know a lot of people discourage screen time before bed but having something for me to focus on actually helps me get sleepy, whereas letting my brain sit in the dark with nothing to focus on is really stressful for me.

One thing I want to carry over from my 2019/2020 routine is making time every day to walk. I want to do it on my lunch break, so I can have a proper brain break and get some fresh air and sunshine - especially important on the run up to winter. Walking also gets my creative ideas bouncing about my noggin, even if I walk the same route every time. There's loads of places I can walk near my house, though it does kind of make me wish I had a dog I could walk with.

When I put all that together, it looks like this:

• Wake up at 8am and get ready for work

• Work starts at 830 and finishes at 5

• During the work day I'll go for a walk at 1230 and have lunch when I get home

• Between 5 and 645 I need to eat tea, and have some relax time/catch up on housework if necessary

• 7-8 in the gym

• 815-930 is shower followed by quality time

• 930-1130 writing time

• 1130pm bedtime.

Final thoughts

What I've actually done here is go the long way round to a really simple solution. I love the idea of being a morning person who can get up and exercise, or work on my writing, but the truth is that before 8am I'm completely useless, even if I'm properly awake. I think 8am is a perfectly reasonable time to be awake anyway, it's early enough for me to start work on time. I get a second wind after the gym, so it seems like it could be beneficial to put that to good use instead of swiping through social media for hours on end.

This week will be a good week for a trial run. It's the start of a new month, I'm starting PT classes, my first full week after annual leave, and my manager is back after two weeks of her being on annual leave. It's also my favourite month of the year (autumn, halloween, generally good weather in my opinion). So we shall see how it goes.

Don't tread on the flowers. F x