Back to School
February 13, 2017

I graduated from high school over thirty years ago. Yet, I've come to discover
that going back to school, in a sense, is making me healthier and more
productive, both at work and around the house.

I had been scheduling my workflow around "days." Clean-the-kitchen day.
Clean-the-bathroom day. Vacuum-and-dust day. I'd write in the morning (since I
know I do my best work then), and spend the afternoon alternating between
writing and things that needed to be done around the house. Problem was, I'd
often spend the afternoon alternating between "research" (i.e surfing), working
on other projects and madly trying to get the "day's" housework done before my
wife got home that evening.

I also spent a lot more time than I intended sitting at the computer, not
moving, which isn't good for my bad back. Sure, I'd bought a cheap kitchen timer
and set it to go off every thirty minutes, but it always seemed to ring just as
I was getting into the thick of some work, meaning I either had to ignore it and
continue on, or get up mid-sentence.

The idea came to me when I read an online post from an acquaintance in which she
said she had started taking twenty-minutes breaks from her writing to clean the
house, and discovered she got a lot more cleaning done than she expected. For
some reason, I was reminded of those ten minute breaks to change rooms between
classes. So I decided to go back to school.

The first thing I did was set my timer for forty-five minutes. During that time,
I'm "in class," working on, well, work. When the timer dings, I reset it for
fifteen minutes and vacuum or clean the showers or fold clothes, or whatever I
can get done around the house. At the end of fifteen minutes, I go back to
"class" and work on writing. About 11:30, I go to "gym" by working out, then eat
lunch. At 1pm, I'm back in class until 5. Then I go home from "school" and start
dinner. After dinner is my time to do whatever interests me, or maybe get a
little ahead for the next day.

Errands that have to be run are bundled together on one day and treated as a
"field trip," in order to not spend too much time away from "school." 

I've been amazed by the results and really feel that I now accomplish much more
than I used to. If you're looking for a way to get more done during the day, you
may want to consider creating a "school" of your own.

(c) 2017 by Andrew Gudgel 
email: contact [at] andrewgudgel.com