A few observations…maybe for 2025 I will do more real-time analysis so I don’t have to do it all at the end of the year. Any given week doesn’t take that much time, but doing 52 weeks (plus 2 days) takes a lot of time. Theoretically using spreadsheets means you can just sum the cells with a certain entry but…due to some choices I made early on in time tracking that are now habits this doesn’t really work. So there was a lot of manual tallying. Oh well.

I do not work that much. Well, on some days I do. On a “normal” workday I’m at my desk at 7:45 a.m. and end the work day at 5 p.m., or later, and often do 30-60 minutes at night. But for various reasons I don’t get a lot of normal workdays. On Monday this week, for instance, I stopped at 3:30 to pick up the 10-year-old and take him to the pediatrician. Then he really wanted to go to his ninja class, so I drove him out there to meet B (nanny), who was there with the 5-year-old for an earlier class. I got home at 5:30. Those would have been work hours — I had childcare — but with 5 kids there is often something. It is what it is, but I need to be careful about protecting longer stretches of deep work time when I can get it. I averaged about 32 hours/week for the year. For what it’s worth, Tuesday was my longest average workday, but I think this is skewed by Monday being more likely to be a holiday.

My sleep was absolutely consistent with what it has been for the last decade. 7.33 hours/day. Every year I’ve tracked has been 7.3-7.4. Guess this is my set point! No surprise that I slept more on weekends than weekdays, but curiously Sat and Sun were both 7.68 hours apiece. (Tuesday was my lowest — 7.08.)

Choir, as a hobby, turns out to be very seasonal. I was in choir practices, or practicing music on my own, for 31.5 hours in December, and did about 6 hours of performances that month. My total for July was 0!

I spent 128.25 hours on puzzles. I worked out with my trainer 44 times. I ran 122 times. That feels a little low, but my logs reminded me that there were 7 weeks of 0s there after my back incident. I biked 9 times as an actual bike ride (there were a lot of other “bikes with kids in driveway” kind of rides). I did yoga exactly once — on the beach as part of BLP live. That may be all I do it in 2025 too. Oh well!

Since I posted last night, I worked on my puzzle from 7:30-8. I decided to take a bubble bath since the 5-year-old was occupied. However, he was not as occupied as I thought, and I wound up getting out fairly quickly when he was yelling outside the door. Then eventually I went outside from about 9:15-9:55 p.m. to shovel snow on the driveway. I was doing this with my 15-year-old (he and my husband did a shift earlier) and we managed to get it all clear. I came back in, read the 5-year-old a story and got him down by 10:30 (hey, no school the next morning). I scrolled and relaxed for 30 minutes and was in bed at 11.

I printed out my log from last week as I do most Monday mornings. I also looked up the corresponding log from the last time that January 13th was a Monday (2020). My life looked a little different then, as I had a 3-week old baby. Obviously a lot of time was spent caring for him, but with four other kids, there’s still a lot of other stuff too. For instance, I went to a middle school choir concert…

Anyway, this past week was pretty good, and fairly typical as these things go. I worked 37 hours, which is right in the 35-40 I tend to average. I did not count my Monday driving as work (except for the hour in the car I practiced my talk on the way to the talk) — I recognize that this is debatable, but to me, listening to music in the car is not work, even if I was on my way to/from work. I do see that my work days often get a bit chopped up, and this is something I’m working on, especially as I’m entering crunch time for my book manuscript. I need long stretches to work. It is somewhat within my power to make that happen, so I should when I can. But hey, 37 hours was enough time to give a speech, turn in my Author Questionnaire (with stuff like the “flap copy” for my next book), run this challenge, record 4 BB podcasts plus 4 longer interviews for that show, write my newsletters, do final edits on a piece in the WSJ, etc.

I slept 51.5 hours, which comes out to approximately 7.4 hours per day. This will surprise no one who has been following my time tracking saga for lo these many years.

I ran about 11 miles, spread over 4 workouts. Two of my treadmill running sessions also featured my resistance training (I’d run for 5 minutes, do some weights, run for 5 minutes, do some weights). I did a 5 mile long run outside on Saturday. I worked out with my trainer on Tuesday. On the other days, I did some short walks. According to my phone, I averaged 11,759 steps per day over the last 7 days.

I spent 3 hours practicing singing (2 choir practices, plus one on my own). I spent only 15 minutes playing the piano. That’s something I might try to increase.

However, I did not lack for leisure time. I spent 4.5 hours doing puzzles! Some of this was while simultaneously supervising children, but hey. I spent 1.25 hours doing Legos with my 5-year-old.

In terms of little adventures, I went to the art museum on Saturday. I took 4 children out to Olive Garden on Wednesday.

I hope you had an excellent week! Let me know how it went.

Photo: Snow this morning…the hammock looks a little less appealing in this state! 

Anyway, if you have made it this far in the 2025 Time Tracking Challenge, congrats. The week is close to over. I hope you have found the experience enlightening.

The past 24 hours have been fairly low key. After posting my blog yesterday, I read my daily chapter in Anna Karenina, then played with the 3D printing pen the 10-year-old got for his birthday. We did that for a while, then at 4:00 I went for a quick walk outside. Then I did my puzzle from about 4:20-5:00 while I was waiting for the 5-year-old to come home.

When he arrived we played with these dinosaur skeletons he had gotten at the natural history museum. We played for about 45 minutes, then I started cooking dinner with my husband (who was on grilling duty). We ate surf and turf (steak and lobster tails!) at 6:15. We were done 6:45, and cleaned up.

I gave the little boys a bath, and then it was football watching time for the next hour. We had taped the KC/Texans game and watched it, fast-forwarding through commercials. When we were done at 8:15 I did my puzzle again for an hour until I collected the 5-year-old and attempted to put him to bed. This was a slightly frustrating experience, as he was complaining about not doing something over the weekend that he had said he didn’t want to do, and then all of a sudden did want to do. We are talking psychological warfare here — at one point he told me “I’m never hugging you again!”

(Update: He has in fact hugged me several times since, so I guess he didn’t mean it.)

Around 10:00 I gave up and told my husband to go in there. I have no idea what happened because I got ready for bed and conked out at 10:30 p.m. I woke up briefly at 5:15 (and thought I might not go back to sleep because, hello, that’s already a full night) but lo and behold I did. I woke up with my alarm at 7:30. I don’t believe I needed 9 hours of sleep…but I got them.

At 7:30, I showered, got dressed, got my coffee and ate breakfast. I chatted with my husband for a while, finished getting ready, and left (by myself) at 8:45 for church. I practiced with the choir from 9-9:40, then relaxed, with some texting and emailing, until the service began at 10. This went until 11 — we sang a Jane Marshall piece and the spiritual “Every time I feel the spirit,” with our lovely alto soloist. (Nobody else in the family went. My husband was taking the little boys skiing and the youth group didn’t meet with the holiday.)

After, I went to the grocery store, which was a funny experience. Between people getting party stuff for the Eagles game, and people prepping for the snow storm, the place was packed. I meant to grab a basket inside but couldn’t find one. So I carried a cake (for the 10-year-old’s party early in the week), a plate of cupcakes, guacamole, and chips up to the counter and then carried them out to the car (we don’t get free bags in my county…and somehow there weren’t any in my car). I made it home around 11:30. I got a snack and a second cup of coffee, and consumed those while doing my puzzle. (My husband had taken the little boys skiing so only the big kids were around.)

From 12:00-12:15 I put my laundry in. Then I assisted a child with cleaning this child’s room for the next 1.25 hours. The place was a disaster and I realized it probably needed my help to get done. We loaded all the dirty clothes into the hamper and I started the laundry after mine was out. I meant to be working out by 1:30 and that didn’t happen but I did make 1:45.

From 1:45-2:20 I did my combo treadmill/weights workout. I run 2 miles or so in 5-minute chunks, with resistance exercises thrown in between the running parts. This is less boring than just running on a treadmill. And since it was starting to snow, I figured this was better than running outside! I listened to Taylor Swift to pump myself up. Then I changed clothes and was at my desk at 2:30. I did about 30 minutes of work, went to walk outside for 20 minutes, and then met my husband and the little boys, who were coming home. I got them inside, and then hung out at the kitchen table with my 5-year-old while he was doing various things (and I was on my computer… I got another 45 minutes of work done). Then we started watching the Eagles.

This was also taped and slightly delayed (so we could forward through commercials) but this meant I needed to not be on my phone where I might see the score. We watched the game through to about 6:30 (not long after it ended live). Quite the snowy scene! But at least it turned out the right way. We ate chicken wings, nachos, etc.

Not much else is likely to happen this evening. Music lessons are canceled with the snow. Kids don’t have school tomorrow so I will not be able to convince them to go down early. It could be a long night…

Here’s my past 24-ish hours in log form.

Saturday

3 work, AK, 3D print
3:30 3D print, hangout
4 walk outside, puzzle
4:30 puzzle
5 H- play dinosaurs
5:30 dinosaurs, help cook
6 cook, eat w/family
6:30 eat, clean up
7 bath, watch football
7:30 watch football
8 football, puzzle
8:30 puzzle
9 puzzle, H milk + stories
9:30 sit w/H, he’s upset
10 H, ready bed/read
10:30 sleep

Sunday

(5:15 bathroom)

7:30 up, shower, H, etc.
8 breakfast, chat M
8:30 ready, to church
9 choir practice
9:30 choir, texts, etc. prelude
10 church
10:30 church
11 to Acme, cake, home
11:30 snack/coffee, puzzle
12 laundry, clean (kid) room
12:30 clean (kid) room
1 clean (kid) room, laundry
1:30 change, run/weights
2 run/weights (2.2), laundry
2:30 work
3 walk outside, kids
3:30 work/H
4 work/H, Eagles
4:30 Eagles (etc.)

The 5-year-old came home at 5 yesterday, so I grabbed my laptop and finished a few things while hanging out with him. Then my husband and he played video games together (I am not thrilled about all these games but they do enjoy spending the time together), so I hung out for a bit and started cooking around 5:45. This was the 10-year-old’s birthday dinner: make-your-own-pizza and mac and cheese. We ate around 6:15 as a family. I mostly cleaned up after and then I played the piano for 15 minutes or so, sight-reading from a book I got for Christmas, until we did cake and presents at 7:30.

The 10-year-old got a few video games, some art canvases, a customized figure from Funko Pop, and a 3D printing pen from his cousins. He quite liked the last one and made me a thing that says “I [heart] mom.” Very cute!

I then escaped to my room to read the Economist for an hour (I assume more video games were happening at this time). This time I was able to focus on the special report on economics in Africa — a task which had eluded me on previous nights. At about 9:15 I finally managed to get the 5-year-old into his room. We did some more of those 4+ Legos (as in, I did the set and he mostly watched) and then I sat with him as he fell asleep. I chatted with the older kids, made sure the older boys were ready for an early morning, and was in my bed by 10:30.

I briefly got up at 5:15, went back to bed, and was up for good at 6. I went to make sure the two older boys got up, and helped them get out the door in their dress clothes (with ties!) by 6:30. They are off at a technology competition all day.

I slowly then got myself ready, hanging around the quiet house, until I got in the car around 7:10. I met a friend to run on a nearby trail. It wasn’t that cold (like 33 degrees) but the air was really damp, which made it feel a lot chillier. We ran 5 miles, chatted for a bit, then I drove home, stopping to get gas on the way.

I was home around 9:15, and ate a bigger breakfast. I took my shower, watched my husband and 5-year-old win a video game together, and helped the 5-year-old get dressed (he is better at video games than dressing himself). Then (10 a.m.) he went off with his Saturday sitter for a few hours. My husband took the 10-year-old to go try on his diving equipment at a dive shop around 30 minutes away. He will be getting certified over the next few weeks. I tried to convince the 13-year-old to go to the art museum with me but she was…not excited. So I went on my own!

This is probably something I should do more often because it was so easy. I was in the car at 10:40. I parked at the art museum at 11:05, and was in looking at exhibits by 11:10 (we’re members). I enjoyed lots of impressionist works and a few other things that caught my eye. I will admit that I partly did this in order to have a little adventure to write about during my tracking week but…I was glad I went! I was back to the car by 11:55, thus getting free parking (first hour is free for members) and home by 12:20.

I ate lunch, then at 12:45 I drove my daughter to Old Navy (she found this more interesting than the art museum) and we shopped for a bit. We got a few things, stopped at Starbucks, and were home by 2. Then she and I stuffed goodie bags for the 10-year-old’s party on Monday. I did a tiny bit of work, sent out the family schedule for the week, and now I am typing this.

It looks like we’ll be getting snow tomorrow but the good news is I don’t have to drive around too much! Most things are local for me at least. There is a swim meet but my husband is covering that. I’ll likely be watching the Eagles at 3.

Hope your weekend is going well!

Friday

4:30 pm work
5 work (watching H)
5:30 hangout, start cooking
6 cook, eat dinner w/family
6:30 eat w/family, clean up
7 piano, hangout
7:30 cake + presents
8 kids, read Economist
8:30 read Economist
9 read, H Legos
9:30 H into bed, kids, etc.
10 A, ready bed
10:30 in bed/sleep

Saturday

5 5:15 bathroom, sleep
5:30 sleep
6 up, boys up, coffee
6:30 boys go, ready, hangout
7 ready, drive/Beethoven (listen)
7:30 run w/friend
8 run (5 miles), chat
8:30 chat, drive, gas
9 home, breakfast
9:30 shower, dress, H video game, dress him
10 G here, R chat, ready
10:30 to car, drive downtown
11 park, art museum
11:30 art museum, to car
12 drive, home, lunch
12:30 lunch, drive w/R
1 Old Navy shop
1:30 Starbucks, home
2 gift bags, work
2:30 admin, work

Photo: Wintry trail. I will admit it looks a little bleak. But thanks to yesterday’s 40 degree temps at least most of the snow/ice was gone so it was passable.

Tracking weekends can be a little more challenging, but it is doable and I think it is worthwhile. After all, weekends are real time too. This time really counts. Why treat it as an afterthought?

Anyway, I worked until 5 p.m. yesterday, went outside for a brief walk (there was still a little light almost a month after the solstice!), worked another 30 minutes, then commenced cooking dinner. This was “breakfast for dinner” night. Theoretically the big kids could be helping me with this one, but I didn’t really feel like tracking them down. So I cooked bacon, pancakes, eggs, and fruit (B was driving the 10-year-old to art class — if I had been on driving detail, she would have cooked, we often swap this night). I ate with the big kids around 6:15 (and the 5-year-old was in and out). The 10-year-old had a plate as well when he came home at 6:30. I cleaned up, got ready, cleaned off my car (it was snowing!) and drove in the snow to choir.

Choir rehearsal is 7-9 p.m. every Thursday. It was tracking my time continuously many years ago that convinced me I did have time for this. My eldest has been singing with me the last 1.5 years but he is taking a brief sabbatical through February due to illness and midterms. We had light attendance last night with the snow, but I always enjoy singing. We got out a few minutes early, so I was back home at 9. I said goodbye to B (she worked late since my husband wasn’t back until late) and went upstairs to go sit with the 5-year-old (he was in bed but not asleep so as soon as I got home he popped back up). I sat with him and scrolled until he was down, then talked with the other kids, shut the house, and enjoyed an hour of me time before I crashed too. I just looked at random stuff online. My brain was fried!

I went to sleep at 11. I know I woke up at 2 and found my husband back home (he’d been in San Francisco all week; I guess I was sleeping deeply enough that I didn’t hear him). I fell back asleep until 5 minutes before my alarm, which was set for 7.

I got the 13-year-old up (20 minutes later this morning because Daddy could drive her). I made my coffee then took my turn in the shower, then got the 15-year-old up (7:30) then had my breakfast. I woke the 17-year-old up and let him know he was the adult on duty for the youngest two, and then drove the 15-year-old to school (7:55-8:15 more or less). When I got home I made sure the little boys were up, and I got their breakfasts and made their lunches. My husband came home from the middle school run, and he and the 17-year-old went to an 8:45 doctor appointment. I drove the little boys to school from 8:45-9:15.

Once home, I got my coffee and went to my office while our house manager (G) met the HVAC contractor and then another contractor dealing with a door issue. This is exactly why we have a house manager! I worked pretty much straight through 9:15-2:15. During this time I did two BB podcast interviews, talked to my virtual assistant, talked with someone who’d tracked her time for 8 years (!) for Big Time, and did assorted other things.

The big kids had a half day, and my daughter had gone home from school to a friend’s house. That friend’s dad had then brought the crew of 5 to the district’s Martin Luther King Jr. day of service event that was running in the afternoon. He had then dropped all their backpacks and instruments at my house, since I was picking them up. The plan was 3:00 but then my daughter started texting at 2 that the event had kind of run its course (it was so well-attended that a lot of the projects were done a short while in…) so I left at 2:20, and got them at 2:30. Since it was earlier than expected the girls suggested coming back to our house instead of me driving them all home, so I brought them back for an impromptu 5-person hangout. The backpacks and instruments came back out of the van. Parents picked them up at various points, but they had all left by 4:15 p.m.

I then went for a 15-minute walk and now I am writing this. We’ll do the 10-year-old’s family birthday celebration tonight.

I hope you have a fun weekend planned! I have a few events though there’s also a lot of random kid stuff (like a full day tech tournament, and a swim meet…) so we shall see how many adventures I actually have. I did a lot last weekend and next weekend will also be a full one so this may be more low key for me. So it goes.

I hope your time tracking is going well! Here’s my time in log form:

Thursday

4 pm work
4:30 work
5 walk outside, work
5:30 work, cook dinner
6 cook, eat w/kids, clean
6:30 ready, clear car, to choir
7 choir rehearsal
7:30 choir rehearsal
8 choir rehearsal
8:30 choir, drive home
9 kids, B, sit w/H
9:30 sit w/H, other kids, shut house
10 relax/scroll/etc.
10:30 relax/scroll/etc.
11 sleep

2 (bathroom, back to sleep)

Friday

6:30 6:55 up, R up
7 coffee, shower, make-up
7:30 R, S, b-fast, talk J, drive
8 drive S, home, little boys
8:30 little boys, drive, A
9 drop H, home, coffee, email
9:30 work
10 work (BB)
10:30 work
11 work (VA), snack
11:30 work
12 work
12:30 work
1 work (BB)
1:30 work
2 work/call, go get girls
2:30 girls, home, work/girls
3 work (also girls here)
3:30 work (also girls here)
4 all go, walk outside

Anyway, I worked until 5:30 p.m. yesterday, then worked on my puzzle for 30 minutes, serenaded by the 15-year-old’s alto sax lesson. B left at 6 p.m., so I went and hung out with the 5-year-old while he played Roblox. The lesson ended at 6:30, and then I got the kids organized and took 4/5ths of them (minus the 17-year-old) out to Olive Garden to celebrate the 10-year-old’s birthday. This was about a 15 minute drive. We ate from 7-8:15 (it took me a while to figure out that we were supposed to pay at the little tablet at the table; what can I say, it’s been a while since I’ve been to an Olive Garden! But the kids could all get something they liked and my salad and pasta were just fine so yay). Then I drove them all home, arriving 8:30 p.m.

This is normally “in room with no devices” time. But since we had been out to dinner so long I allowed everyone extra time. The 10-year-old called his video gaming friend in CA, and they played together for a bit. I had to help the 17-year-old print something for a competition in a very exact way. Eventually I got the 5-year-old to go to his room, and I read him a story (Bear Snores On) and sat with him until he conked out (at which point he snored on…). I got the 10-year-old into his bed. It was an exciting night because we changed from our old goodnight ritual, which involved 9 quick hugs, 9 quick kisses, a bonus hug, and a bonus kiss. Now we are up to 10! I think we started this when he was 6 or 7. So that was cute…and then I remembered the trash.

This is a Wednesday night thing, and is normally my husband’s chore, but he was gone, so I got the 15-year-old and the two of us dragged three trash cans and two recycling bins (“comingled” week) down to the curb. It was very very cold, but it was nice to have company. I made it back in around 10:15 p.m., worked on the puzzle for 30 minutes and finished (see photo), then got ready for bed 10:45. I was in my bed 11/11:10 and asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

I woke up at 4:30 but managed to get back to sleep. So then I was up with the alarm at 6:40. I got the 13-year-old up, took my shower, and got her in the van and down to the bus stop. 19 degrees! I came back, woke up the 15-year-old, ate, chatted with B when she showed up, then worked for about 15-20 minutes until it was time to drive the 15-year-old to school. Normally the 17-year-old does this, but he has a “free” first period on “A” days – the upshot is that he goes in an hour later every fourth day. Meaning his brother has to get to school in some other fashion. Since he had to take his alto sax back to school today, I agreed to drive him. We left at 8, and I made it back at 8:22. I got the 17-year-old up and worked in my husband’s office because the cleaners were here doing mine.

I worked straight through from 8:30-12:30, more or less. One fun hour of this was spent looking back through my entire 2024 logs for something I’m writing. The one interruption was a call to the pediatrician’s office (they never did call me back yesterday) to the nurse’s line. I left a message for them with a live person this time and a promise that I would be called back.

I practiced choir music from 12:30-1. My church choir is singing Howells’ An English Mass and it is a beast. I do like Howells, so I guess I’ll be spending a lot of time with him! (A note: I would like “Take Him Earth, for Cherishing” sung at my funeral, maybe with some language changes to “her,” but it needs to be sung well, so likely with a small professional chamber choir). I did some more work from 1-2 (with a small interruption to talk to the nurse- booking a visit for my kid for tomorrow, and heat up leftovers in the microwave; I ate at my desk), then did a Before Breakfast podcast interview from 2-2:30. I was really glad this one happened because it had been rescheduled from last week when this person was evacuated from her house in Los Angeles. Very scary – she and her family are back and all right. I dealt with the sound files from 2:30-2:45, then put on my exercise clothes.

I did my combo treadmill/strength workout upstairs. This involves running 2 miles on the treadmill in 4-5 minute spurts, and then doing various strength/resistance exercises in the interludes. It’s less boring than trying to run miles on a treadmill. Also, I listened to Kathleen Paley’s Minimalish Mom podcast episode on travel points hacking. At 3:25 p.m. I changed and freshened up, then chatted with B and the 5-year-old, who were in the kitchen. At 3:45 I went to my office with the intention of working, but B went to go get the 10-year-old from the bus stop, so the 5-year-old wound up with me, and so we hung out for a little bit. She was back in a few minutes and they went up to do Legos, and so I decided to post this before getting back to figuring out what people will want to know about how I spent the 8784 hours of 2024. (Normally a year has 8760 hours, but it was a leap year.) I spent more than one of those 8784 hours waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion at Disney. Good times.

I hope your time tracking is going well! Here’s the past day in log form.

Wednesday

5 pm work
5:30 puzzle
6 hangout H/video, check S
6:30 kids ready, to Olive Garden
7 Olive Garden/A’s b-day
7:30 Olive Garden/A’s b-day
8 Olive Garden, home
8:30 kids, J printing, etc.
9 kids, H ready, stories, out
9:30 A down, kids, trash!!
10 trash (S), puzzle
10:30 puzzle, ready bed
11 in bed/sleep

Thursday

4:30 up, bathroom, sleep

6:30 6:40 up, R, shower
7 get R’s stuff, van, S
7:30 b-fast, B chat, work
8 drive S, home
8:30 work (some boys)
9 work
9:30 work
10 work
10:30 snack, work
11 work (page through logs)
11:30 work (logs)
12 work
12:30 music practice
1 work, book doc visit, lunch
1:30 work
2 work (BB)
2:30 work/files, ready, run
3 weights/run (2.0), change/freshen up
3:30 chat BP/H, H entertain
4 work

Yesterday, I worked until 6, then cooked dinner (chicken and rice). The big kids and I ate this around 6:30. The 17-year-old took off for his tutoring gig at around 6:45, and the 15-year-old and 13-year-old and I hung out talking for a bit, until the 15-year-old cleaned up the dishes (his night; I helped some).

After that there were 90 minutes of amorphous 5-year-old time. He wanted me to watch him play some video game for a while, we wandered around the house, I got my laundry out at some point, etc. I gave him a 5-minute bath (we call these “world’s quickest bath” for nights when they won’t be long play baths) and he went to his room at 8:30.

We did Legos for about 30 minutes again – a Spiderman set this time. Meanwhile, the 9-year-old came home and went up to play on the Xbox for a while. He is not supposed to be on screens after 8:30, but since he didn’t get home until 8:40…I didn’t go enforce it. Anyway, after Legos and a very quick story I sat with the 5-year-old. He was asleep in about 5 minutes. Then I went and printed some things for the 17-year-old, dealt with various things (who knows what) and so forth.

Around 9:30 I was in the 9-year-old’s room because he and the 13-year-old were having a discussion about summer camp. The 9-year-old has been to sleepaway camp; the 13-year-old has not, but she just agreed to go with a friend for a week, so they were discussing what you pack, what bathrooms tend to be like, etc. I joined this conversation, then the 9-year-old announced that he wanted to take a bath instead of a shower. Since it was his birthday eve, I decided this was OK, so he went and took a bath with a bath bomb (with a glow-in-the-dark toy inside it) in my tub.

He went back to his room a little after 10. I said goodnight to all the big kids, went to my room and read/scrolled/etc. More scrolled really. I brought up a copy of the Economist, but didn’t have the energy to read it. I was asleep at 11.

I woke up, on my own again, at 5:45. I think I’m hearing the heater kick in or something. Anyway, this time I did not fall back asleep, so I got up at 6:15 and showered. This was supposed to be a quick rinse due to my haircut (with shampoo) later in the day but somehow it took as long as usual. I made coffee at 6:30, got the 13-year-old up at 6:40, then made my breakfast. As on the previous day, I took her down to the bus stop at 7:12. I was back at the house around 7:22. I got the big boys up, managed to work for about 30 minutes (hey, the little boys were still asleep!), then made birthday pancakes at 8 for my newly minted 10-year-old.

He liked his pancakes, as did the 5-year-old. I spent the next 30 minutes or so getting them ready and sorting through the growing mail pile on the counter. At least it is less big now! I drove them to school at 8:45. I stopped by the grocery store at 9:10, was back in the car and home at about 9:25. I worked for an hour, then it was back in the car to go to my 10:30 haircut.

The place is 4 minutes from the house, and I love the people and the place itself is lovely but…I wish my hair cut itself. I’m not one of those people who ever gets into a salon visit! I got home at 11:30 with fluffy blow dried hair, worked on various things (mostly email) for 30 minutes while eating lunch that I’d heated up (leftovers), then did the BOBW Patreon meet-up from 12-1. After that I did more email, then did a BB interview from 1:30-2. I did a few more tasks, then started working on something I’m writing on how I spent all 8784 hours of 2024 (because yes, I know!).

At 3:00 I went for a short walk outside. I intended to work again after, and did for a bit, but people were coming home, and the 17-year-old texted about going back to the doctor (he is still not feeling great). I tried to make a sick visit appointment online and the system wouldn’t let me. I called and was on hold for a while, and put in my number to be called back. An hour later I’m still waiting!

I walked down to get the 10-year-old (!!) from the bus stop at 3:50. We walked back together, and now I’ve been working since 4 on. I’ll probably stop by 6 again and then tonight we will have a little birthday celebration! Turning 10 is a milestone…and it’s also interesting to think that I have records of how I have spent my time since he was 3 months old.

Let me know how the time tracking is going and anything you’ve observed.

Tuesday

6 cook dinner/blogs
6:30 eat w/big kids, hangout
7 kids/clean/laundry, AK
7:30 watch H play/scroll/email
8 H bath, hangout H
8:30 Legos w/H
9 sit w/H, J papers/measure
9:30 chat camp w/A, R, then A’s bath!
10 kids down, scroll/read/relax
10:30 scroll/read/relax, ready bed
11 sleep

Wednesday

5:45 up on own
6 lie in bed, up, shower
6:30 coffee, R up, eat b-fast
7 clean, drive R/van, J, S up
7:30 work
8 make pancakes, boys, sort mail
8:30 sort mail, in car/drive boys, A
9 drop H, McCaffreys, home
9:30 work
10 work, drive
10:30 haircut
11 haircut, drive
11:30 work/lunch
12 work (BOBW Patreon)
12:30 work (BOBW Patreon)
1 work/email/etc.
1:30 work (BB)
2 work/files, work
2:30 work (printing)
3 walk outside, work
3:30 try make appoint, get A
4 back, work
4:30 work

Photo: The Christmas tree came down today, but this was not my job

After posting yesterday, I worked until 6 p.m., then cooked dinner for the older three kids and myself. I made pasta with marinara sauce, which I jazzed up with Italian sausage, mushrooms, peppers, and spinach. One child ate this sauce, the others ate plain marinara. We ate at 6:30. This was a quick dinner (about 15 minutes) and then I helped the 17-year-old (it was his dishes night) and then drove the 15-year-old to his Scouts meeting, which started at 7 p.m. (approximately 5 minutes away).

I drove home just as the little boys and our nanny had gotten home. I said goodbye to her, then got the little boys dinner. As we’d already had our “sit down” dinner (as it were), I let the 5-year-old eat it while watching Caillou in the dining room (on the family computer, which is in the dining room). This meant I could work on my puzzle! I’m doing a 1000-piece puzzle of Pendleton (the blanket company) patterns. I did this from 7:15-8:15 p.m. while Caillou was playing in the background. This was not purely uninterrupted leisure time, as the 5-year-old wanted something else to eat or drink or had to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes. But it was somewhat peaceful!

I went to pick up the 15-year-old at 8:20, and got home 8:30 (the other kids were home with the 5-year-old). I brought the 5-year-old up to his room and we finished this Elsa Lego set he got for Christmas. Lego is marketing these sets as being for ages 4+. I have to say, I think my kid is pretty smart but he is not in anyway capable of doing these sets on his own. Maybe 4+ with heavy adult help. Anyway, we finished, I got him in his jammies, brushed teeth, got him into bed, and then sat there scrolling for 10 minutes while he fell asleep.

At 9:15 I went to hangout with the 9-year-old, who wanted to do art (no one is supposed to have electronics after 8:30 p.m.). We used his brand new Posca markers, and drew images from this book called something like 501 things to draw. I drew a cartoonish girl winking (see art). The 13-year-old joined us for a while. I went to say goodnight to the others, came back to say goodnight to the artists, shut the house, went to my room, entertained a few other questions from people that kept popping up and THEN shut my door and scrolled/read for a little bit. I made it into bed at 10:45 p.m.

I slept all the way through to 5:45 a.m. I lay there in bed for a bit — I thought I was awake the whole time, but since I looked at the clock next at 6:10 I must have dozed. I got up (my alarm was set for 6:40 a.m.), worked for 20 minutes, got coffee, then got the 13-year-old up (6:40). I showered, made sure she was ready, woke up the 17-year-old who needed extra time to put in his new contacts, then got in the van with her at 7:12 and drove her down to the bus stop. (For any new readers: the bus stops at the bottom of the hill and it is a big hill…so to save time in the morning we drive her down on any mornings she is taking the bus. When my husband is around in the AM he drives her to school.)

I got home around 7:22, woke the 15-year-old up at 7:25, then made and ate my breakfast. B (nanny) arrived at 7:40. We chatted through the schedule, I discovered the 5-year-old hiding in the kitchen and was very surprised. Like jumping when I saw a person under the counter. Anyway… I started working at 7:50. I assume the older boys left around 8, but this did not involve me. The 5-year-old was in and out until they left for school around 8:45, but I did “interruptible” work during this time. I kept working until 9:30, then took a 10-minute break for a snack. After that I worked more or less until noon, but there were a few small interludes where I wrapped a few presents, tried to order a pair of eyeglasses for a kid, coordinate camp sign-ups with another mom, and called a birthday party location about headcount. Then I ate lunch (leftovers from last night) and talked on the phone with my husband.

By 12:20 I was back at work, but only for about 40 minutes. I walked down to the mailbox to see how cold it was, and to hunt for our missing Wall Street Journal (I wrote a book review that’s in the paper today…and somehow it didn’t show up! B grabbed a copy at Wawa later). I decided it was too cold to run outside, so I ran on the treadmill from about 1:20-1:50. At this point I went hunting for the missing eyeglasses (whose absence was requiring ordering a new pair). I found a pair of glasses in the child’s room. Victory…though it turns out these were a pair that were lost 6 months ago, not the pair lost this week. I may be losing my mind.

Anyway, I then worked from 2-3:15. At this point, the 13-year-old came home, and I confirmed she was game for the sleepaway camp her friend’s mom suggested. She was, so I went ahead and registered. This only took 15 minutes (not any of the health forms or anything yet, just the deposit), so that was quick. Then there were more attempts to order the extra pair of eyeglasses, but we’re missing a metric and I keep getting automated emails that the picture isn’t right and…

I attempted to get back to work around 3:40, and mostly texted back and forth with an author friend who was trying to source a quote of mine (“going to bed early is how grown-ups sleep in.”) This resulted in me Googling myself and seeing how AI explains my quotes. This was all fun and games but not terribly productive. Which is fine since at 3:50 I started walking down to the bus stop to meet the 9-year-old (B was picking up the 5-year-old from an after school activity). On the way I bumped into the arborist who was walking around looking at our trees (we have a lot of old trees…that need to be trimmed or they fall on things). We chatted for long enough that the 9-year-old was walking up and sending me messages from his new Gizmo watch asking where I was. I met him halfway up the hill and we chatted about how his dad and I have a lot of typos in our text messages to him.

As you can see, the day was pretty distracted by this point. I answered a few emails, then went to my home workout area to train with my trainer (virtually). I normally do this on Mondays but I was traveling yesterday so it was rescheduled to 4:30 p.m. today. I lifted weights, did push-ups, etc for 30 minutes. Then I threw a load of my clothes in the washing machine, and started typing this around 5:15. I’ll probably cook dinner around 6 (B is off with the 9-year-old at swim and parkour, and I have the 5-year-old + older kids for the evening).

See below for what all of this looks like on my spreadsheets (well, a pasted in version of the spreadsheet).

Monday:

5AM
5:30 5:40 hear M, up, shower
6 dress, breakfast, hair
6:30 hair, get R up, B, ready, drive
7 drive
7:30 drive
8 stop Chesapeake House, drive
8:30 drive
9 drive, park, walk around
9:30 work/drink at cafe
10 work/to event
10:30 work (speech)
11 work (speech)
11:30 work (speech)
12PM work (other talk)
12:30 to car, drive
1 drive
1:30 stop, get food, drive
2 drive
2:30 drive
3 home, unpack, R, work
3:30 work
4 walk outside
4:30 work
5 work
5:30 work
6 cook dinner
6:30 eat w/kids, help J, drive S
7 home, H dinner, puzzle/H
7:30 puzzle/H Caillou
8 puzzle/H, go get S, home
8:30 Legos w/H
9 sit w/H, art w/A, then R
9:30 art (R,A), kid chats
10 to room (R), read/relax
10:30 scroll, in bed, sleep
11

Tuesday

5:30 5:45 up on own
6 doze? up, work
6:30 coffee/read, R, shower
7 R ready, J, in van, wait, back, S
7:30 breakfast, chat B (H hidden!), work
8 work
8:30 work (AQ)
9: work (AQ)
9:30 (10 min break) work
10 wrap presents, work
10:30 work (+ admin: camp, glasses)
11 work (record BB), email
11:30 work
12 lunch/chat M (phone), work
12:30 work
1 mailbox, change, run
1:30 run (2 + walk), find glasses
2 work
2:30 work
3 work, sign R up camp
3:30 R, J measure, work (quote)
4 A, work
4:30 train with (trainer)

How have I been spending my time? I was proud of myself for getting into bed on time last night. I went to the Eagles game (go birds!) with my husband and 15-year-old. It ended around 7:45 p.m., but when thousands of people exit anything at once, nothing moves fast. The good news is that where we parked (FDR park) the exiting traffic wasn’t quite as terrible as it has been from some other places. We made it home by 9:15 p.m., which meant that everyone got into bed at more or less the normal Sunday night time.

This morning my husband and I were both up bright and early to be on the road for work. I heard him at 5:40 a.m., and my alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. I showered, dressed, got my coffee and breakfast, then fixed my hair (by doing this after breakfast, it doesn’t take that long to dry since it’s mostly dry already…). I know my husband was out the door by 6 a.m. for his trip. I woke my daughter up at 6:40 a.m., and our nanny showed up right around then. She’d normally start at 7:30, but given today’s travels, she came early and managed the morning. I was on the road around 7 a.m. I stopped briefly at a rest stop mid-trip, and arrived at my destination’s parking garage around 9:30. This was a little bit before I was scheduled to meet my hosts (I built in a buffer for traffic), so I grabbed a drink in a cafe and checked my email until I went to meet them at 10. They were mid event, so I listened to the previous part, and went on stage at 10:30.

I did my workshop from 10:30-noon. I think it went well! Then I stayed in the event until the next part ended around 12:20. I said goodbye, went to my car, and was back on the road around 12:40 p.m. I spent the next 2 hours and 20 minutes driving (with a brief stop at the same rest stop, this time grabbing an Auntie Anne’s pretzel…) and made it home right at 3 p.m.

I spent about 15 minutes transitioning — putting on my “after school clothes” as it were, saying hello to my daughter who walked in the door, and to the 17-year-old who was home sick (he has had a rough patch lately with a respiratory virus that won’t quit). Then it was back to work from 3:15-4:00 answering emails.

At 4:00 p.m. I took a break to go walk around outside, as I hadn’t really gotten any exercise during the day with all the driving. I stomped around the yard and the adjacent woods, enjoyed the sinking sun over the wintry landscape, got the mail, and got back to work at 4:30. I’m posting this and will work on a few more things before I make the big kids dinner. The little boys have back-to-back ninja warrior classes on Mondays so they won’t be home until later, making Monday my longer work day (except for Oct/Nov/Dec when I was singing with a choir that met Monday nights…).

I’ll check in mid-day tomorrow to post how the rest of today went. I hope time tracking has gone well for everyone! Feel free to let me know any of your observations on how Day 1 has gone.

Photo: OK, this is from Sunday, not today, but I loved this glimpse of the Philly skyline through the gap between sides of the stadium. 

Longtime readers know I have been tracking my time since April 2015. No one needs to do that. BUT I do think it is helpful to track a week here and there. If you’ve never tracked time before, now would be a great time to do it. If you have, maybe this week is a good time for a tune-up. Or maybe it isn’t — but some week in the near future is. I’d love to have you try it whenever!

You can sign up for motivational emails from me in the box on my homepage (LauraVanderkam.com). You can download a time tracking spreadsheet here. If you’e never tracked time before, it can be a little challenging to describe time (which often feels amorphous) in words. But it doesn’t have to be perfect. With a little practice, you’ll get it.

Thanks for joining! I’ll be back later on Monday to check in. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend.