Comments on: Day 1 thread (2025)

By: Yukun Wu

Yukun Wu — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 16:34:46 +0000

Yes, I made a few notes on my time log, Ms. Laura Vanderkam.
In the past, I tracked time in 1-hour intervals. Starting this year I made the change to track time in half-hour intervals.

By: Rebecca Plasters

Rebecca Plasters — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 21:48:04 +0000

In reply to Laura Vanderkam. Thanks! I'm still keeping close track and loving it (Day 4 as I write this) so will submit my log and thoughts at the end of our week.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 14:30:55 +0000

In reply to Rebecca Plasters. @Rebecca- yep, there are no typical weeks! Sure, I'd love to see your log and see an example of retirement time!

By: Rebecca Plasters

Rebecca Plasters — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 02:49:39 +0000

My week is a bit unusual but I’m still keeping track. I’m building a new place so there is time meeting with the builder, shopping for the house, painting trim, etc. I’m also starting a business so there is time spent busy with that. Also though, I’m retired (from the decades of “real” work / employment) and so, all of my weeks are unique! I find it interesting that the fact that I’m keeping track of my time makes me more mindful of choosing how to spend my time. That seems to make this exercise helpful in and of itself. We’ll see how it goes and Laura, I don’t know if you want any examples of retired people doing random things but I saw that you’ll be looking for some volunteers to “study” / help – that would be great fun!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:58:07 +0000

In reply to Nikki.

@Nikki – a lot of time can disappear! Let us know if you figure out where it goes 🙂

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:57:49 +0000

In reply to Amanda. @Amanda - I think that happens to a lot of people!

By: Nikki

Nikki — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:08:40 +0000

Love this! I appreciate the honesty about having a Nanny
I feel like there’s a lot of stigma around support. Hopefully that changes over time
I work in a school. The day is divided into 4 periods.
Period 1 always disappears- hoping to solve the mystery;)

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 11:46:20 +0000

It’s really obvious I have ADHD after one day of doing this- I almost never single task. I’m doing 5 minutes of life admin, 20 minutes of work, 10 minutes of laundry, 5 more minutes of social media, etc. All my slots have multiple things in them!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 11:19:07 +0000

In reply to Lee.

@Lee- categorizing can be tricky. That’s one reason I only tend to tally up more obvious categories these days (work and sleep). If you’re driving kids somewhere, that could be its own category. I know I spend a lot of time on that and I am guessing you do too! The American Time Use Survey distinguishes between primary childcare (feeding, diapering, bathing, playing, etc.) vs. secondary childcare — when you are doing something else and you have your kids with you. I would probably categorize the volunteer work as just that – volunteer work. But if you were totaling up all time spent with your kids you might include that in that tally if they were with you. All of this is just a judgement call!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 11:16:43 +0000

In reply to Amanda. @Amanda- great observations. And yes, working from home does allow for a lot of tidying distractions! I try to stay in my office except when I'm taking a real break.