Peek Over My Highly Efficient Shoulder {Craft Your Blog}

I’ve had more than one person on Facebook (come join us, will ya?) comment about the large amount of stuff I am occasionally able to do in a day and that they’d like to watch me work or see what I do to be able to do that much.

I will start this by saying that not every day is great. This “day in a life” is from last Sunday, when my husband and daughter were gone from the house for a few hours, but it feels like I haven’t gotten as much done all week as I did that day (not entirely true, but focus has definitely been a problem).

Anyway, for those people who are interested in knowing how I structure a focused work day and what I actually do, I present the following diary.

9:45 a.m. Husband and the Bit go into the garage. I start loading the dishwasher. I have a bit of a headache so I’m not sure how much I’ll actually get done today.

10:08 Dishwasher and washing machine are running. Handwash dishes are done. I’m grabbing the last cup of coffee and heading upstairs to work.

10:17 Planning is always the first step for me, so I took a few minutes to write down my posts for the week for two of my blogs and a list of what I’d like to get done today.

10:21 Quick check of email and Facebook, then turned them off. I’m trying a new system that involves 50 minutes of focus and with a 20 minute break in between. I’ll see you on the other side!

11:12 Man, my timer is loud! I actually got a little more done than I expected: a short book review and newsletter, an adorable photo shoot for a pattern and a start on the intro for that pattern. Nice. Time for a quick break.

11:36 Spent my break cleaning out a long-neglected corner of the playroom. It feels nice to make my “break” productive, too. Took some pictures for the post I’m writing next (it was this one) and am ready to get back to it.

12:34 p.m. Wrote two blog post drafts (about 1,000 words) and watched a video for a course I’m taking. Not bad at all! It’s time for a longer break, and maybe some lunch.

12:50 Yeah, I’m still here. My browser gave me a scare and made me think I hadn’t saved something I was working on earlier, but I found it. Ah, technology. Now it really is time for a break.

1:29 Just got word the family is coming home so I probably have about 45 minutes to work. I have one site I haven’t touched yet today, so that’s what I’m working on next.

2:11 There’s the garage door. Got a nice little bit of work done and feel good about where I’m ending. Will get some things finished up tonight after the Bit’s bedtime.

Later that Same Day

8:33 p.m. I think the Bit is asleep, though the dogs outside her window just started barking, so we’ll see. My goal is to work about another hour, tying up loose ends from earlier in the day.

9:41 I finished the last thing I’m getting to, which was almost the last thing on my list. I got all my blog posts set up for Monday — as well as one for Tuesday — which will leave me plenty of time tomorrow for the big project I didn’t get to today.

In all I wrote a book review, a newsletter, a knitting pattern, two long blog posts and six short ones. It was roughly 3,150 words all told (not counting this summary, which I wrote on paper, or some notes I wrote about a yarn I’m planning to review this week).

I feel like it was all pretty good work, too. I don’t feel overtired and I never felt stressed while I was working. Most of the time I was effortlessly focused and happy. Was I in a state of flow? I don’t know.

Can you force flow? Probably not, but all in all today felt pretty good. And know all that work is done I’ll bet I rest easier tonight, too.

Epilogue

That “big project” I had to do Monday took more than all my work time that day (though technological problems played a part in that). And I want to reiterate that this is a lot more than I typically write in a day, because I don’t always stay away from Facebook, and sometimes I’m cleaning and crafting and doing other things.

I want to explore on a more basic level how I’m able to do this some days and not others. Is it just because I know Sundays are stolen time? I’d like to figure it out so I can share it with you and have that focus every day!

Do you have any productivity secrets, or anything you’d like to know about how I work? Please let me know!

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing.