Managing Our Many Roles: A Day in the Life of Deb

Nothing about 2019 has been normal for me. That’s partly because I didn’t spend time reviewing my year and setting new goals as I normally would have. I was getting a book ready to launch, and I dedicated what available hours I had to that.

We all have 24 hours in a day, and we control how we spend them. Yes, control of those 24 hours lies in your hands!

You might be tempted to think I have greater control over my time because I’m an entrepreneur. But I have bills to pay like everyone else. My freelance editing/book design work is primarily how I pay my bills. So essentially, I have a job like everyone else. I just have greater control over when I do the work.

The more responsibilities we have, the more critical it becomes that we create good habits that support the many roles in our lives.

Our Life Roles

• Spouse
• Parent/Caregiver
• Friend
• Employee

Each of these life roles has responsibilities and requires your time. You may find yourself in all four of these roles or just one.

I recently partnered with my friend at CrossRiver Media Group, so I’ve added a few new responsibilities to my work for CrossRiver. Just this week I met with my business mentor (a terrific lady from SCORE). Our meeting brought home the need to efficiently manage my time.

First task I must complete is to assess all my job roles.

My Job Roles

• Business Partner
• Writer
• Marketer
• Blogger
  I write 4 blog posts per month (3 for my own blog, 1 for HeartWingsBlog.com)
• Editor/Book Designer
• Webmaster/Social Media/Audio-Visual
  I manage the website and social media of the church I attend. I also edit and upload the audio and video recordings of our weekly Sunday service.
• Teacher
  I teach language arts for a class of high schoolers at the Christian school my church runs.

Each of these roles carries responsibilities and demands a certain amount of my time each week. Take a guess at which role gets put on hold most of the time.

That’s right…the writing and marketing of my own books. I expect that’s often what happens at your house, too.

Tracking Your Time

Next is to track the time I spend in each role. I created a time-tracking sheet that covers from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. incremented in half hours. I mark when I begin and end on a task. This will allow me to see how much time I’m spending in service to my church, to my business partnership, my freelance editing/design, my own writing, and relaxing.

I’m going to track my time for a week or two, and when I’m done I’ll tally the results. I plan to use this to create a more efficient work schedule.

Make a List for Yourself

Plan an hour or two on your next day off and assess your life and job roles. List them on a sheet of paper (or digitally). Seeing them written will help bring your life into greater focus. We can all feel unproductive at times, but in reality we are probably doing way more than we realize.

Next, track your daily routine for a week or so. I expect there are plenty of apps out there that can help you. Think about everything, from grocery shopping to putting the kids to bed to writing your book to watching TV.

If you feel unproductive it’s probably because you aren’t spending the kind of time you’d like to on the areas of life that are important to you.

Use this time tracking to make changes where needed, or to reassure yourself that you are being productive where it truly counts.

This means making a committed decision, one in which there is no turning back, no excuses. It also means developing new habits, but these habits will support you in achieving your dreams.

What job roles do you have? Are you scheduling time each week or several times a month to work on the tasks required? Post in the comments below.

(I’ll keep you posted on what I discover about my daily routine.)

Related posts:

Pantser, Plotter, Producer—Which One Are You?
Challenge your writing routine and discover new methods
Your productivity might be better than you think it is.

Copyright 2019 Debra L. Butterfield