How to Launch a Teen: Examine Routines

If you've been keeping track of your Actual Days, you should have information on 3-4 days.  Using the categories you've devised to describe predominant activities, you can use this tool to play with your numbers. 

Compare your Actual Days with your Average Day estimates.  How are these the same and how are they different?  Did you engage in the amount of each activity you estimated but at different times than you expected? 

Now compare your Actual Days with your Ideal Day.  How are these the same and how are they different?  Are there any activities on your Ideal Day that are absent from your Actual Days?  That you do more or less of than you'd like?  That don't seem to happen at the time of day you would like?

Ongoing time management usually involves a comparison of the Actual Day to the Planned Day.  Continuing to record your Actual Days can simplify the identification and management of time stressors as these occur.  (Bring me a receipt for a page-a-day diary of your choice and I'll reimburse you.)  Having a recent record of your Actual Days can also help when you need to incorporate new roles and responsibilities into a working routine, when your priorities change, or when unforeseen events require alterations in your routine. 

I used the word routine twice in the last sentence.  Routines are built of recurring tasks that are done in a particular order, often in a particular place or at a particular time of day.  Repetition of routines helps form habits, and moving from one task to another in a smooth fashion is more time efficient than wondering what to do next. 

When we looked at my Average Day, what you couldn't see were daily routines built in to the categories I used.  If we were to break down what I do during Desk Time, my morning Desk Time on an Ideal Day would include multiple cups of coffee, several conversations with Dad, waking Jason up at 6:30am and prodding him to get ready for school until he leaves at 7:20am, plus:

• Check email
• Check Facebook
• Read my favorite blogs
• Check in with my online book club (LibraryThing's 75 in 2011)
• Play a few rounds of Wordscraper (Scrabble on Facebook)
• Write book reviews or a blog post
• Pay bills online

Desk Time later in the day might involve daily administrative tasks for work, filing, making phone calls, tweaking my schedule or routines, planning projects, online research or shopping, clearing and organizing my desk, or making shopping lists.  Having Desk Time routines helps me do these things more efficiently.

I have routines for planning dinner, doing housework, gardening, and going to bed.  Some work better than others.  What routines do you have?  Are there routines missing from your Average Day that would help you study / plan / create / work more efficiently?  What might those routines look like?