Managing multitasks by not multitasking

photo from Flickr by AshtonPal

A friend asked, "Ion, how do you manage your time? You have a stressful daytime job, you have 5 blogs, you are freelancing, you have a lot of communities, church, you attend events and trainings, and you are schooling? And, you have a family with a very cute little baby. How do you get all these things done?"

I replied, "I don't have problems finishing them, challenge is how to get started. I make sure the family with a very cute little baby is always on top of the list, time-wise. Then it makes it easy to get other things started. And oh, I don't do these at the same time huh. I break the tasks into smaller chunks and I work on them SLOWLY yet STEADILY. Don't ask me about the daytime job though :-) "

A lesson from the hare and the tortoise story, I'd rather work slow yet consistent, than fast but discreet. Working slowly and steadily promises better results than trying to do things in a rush.

My typical day (and night):

1. I get up between 4-4:30am. Every waking-up in the morning starts with a prayer, thankful for another day, for God's blessings, and another opportunity to live. This establishes my strength for the tough day ahead.
• Yes, I get up too early. I don't want to rush in the morning. I want to prepare my things properly, have a big, decent breakfast and at times read some inspirations for the day.
• Many times, I do my blogs in the morning as well, when the mind is fresh and free from stress.
2. I leave home at 6am, reaches office at 7 / 7:30
3. Stretched out at work til 4pm
4. I reach home by 5pm.
• Before reaching home, I make sure that my bag doesn't bring all the stress and pressures from work. What happens in the office, remains in the office. It has become easier now that the mom and the baby welcomes me with cheers.
5. From 5, I spend time with the wife and the baby until about 9pm (sleeping time). Playing, watching Disney, playing and playing and playing. I also does some meaningful conversations with the wife, almost every time.
6. When they're asleep, I get up around 10pm to do my other stuffs. Only from 10? Yes indeed, because when I start, I don't want a momentum breaker. 
7. I sleep around 12 - 1230am.

My typical weekends:

1. Our weekend starts Thursday nights with a household prayer gathering with my Couples for Christ group - a great way to launch the weekend in fact.
2. Fridays (daytime) are exclusive for my family and household.  We either stay at home or go somewhere. At home, we switch looking out for the baby and doing the house chores.
3. At times, lately, I get to play basketball in the morning with my CFC brothers - to keep up and try to stay fit.
4. Then I start doing my other stuffs at night until Saturday.

Notice how I address it: My family and my OTHER STUFFS.

It's not easy at the beginning to keep up with my kind of day. But since I got the pace, it's rhythmic. Lovely! Having too much of things on my plate is a good problem I'd always take. As my friend, Emsie says, it's a blessing to be busy. I love life!