You Should Sweat the Small Stuff

I work two jobs: I work as a freelance web designer and software programmer in the evenings and on weekends, and to make sure I'm making ends meet, I keep a second full-time job, which I don't hate, but I don't particularly enjoy, either.

As you can imagine, the hours have a tendency to run long, and I find weeks slipping away without so much as a single memory outside of work, the gym, and my apartment. And when I had a live-in girlfriend, my time was even more thinly spread, which left me going to sleep every night an hour or two later than I'd wanted to and waking up feeling like I'd spent my whole REM cycle in a dead sprint.

Something had to change, but I didn't really know how to fix it. I thought my options were to quit the freelance work, which I really enjoy and which pays well (when I have a contract), or to quit the day job, which I don't really want, but which would mean I might not be able to make rent and still afford other things I need, such as, you know . . . food.

I felt stuck.

But then I found the secret, and started taking my time back. You know what I did to save my sanity? I started doing the dishes.

Sounds crazy, right?

My epiphany was this: I'm not really that short on time. Rather, I'm prone to let a couple dozen three-minute projects ball up into that boulder that chases Indiana Jones. I'll come home from my day job and think about how I need to clean my apartment, do the dishes, write an email, do laundry, check the mail, and any number of other menial tasks that I need to accomplish.

Then, instead of ignoring them and working, I just sit down and spiral out of control on YouTube until it's time to go to bed, and by then I've not only stressed myself out because I didn't get any freelance work done, but also because I didn't get any of those menial tasks that were originally stressing me out done, either.

The worst part about it is that I timed myself cleaning my apartment, checking the mail, cooking dinner, and doing my dishes. It took me an hour. Total. As in, to do all of it.

Things that take longer, things like grocery shopping, preparing meals for the week, or doing laundry, I found, can be grouped into one four-hour block on a Sunday.

Once I realized that, I had a good, hard look in the mirror and said to myself, "Where the fuck does all my time go?!"

And then I made the decision to fix it. So now, I come home from my day job or the gym, put on some music, and then I do the dishes, straighten my apartment, and take care of any bills, mail, email, or other obligations that could otherwise stress me out if not dealt with. This process, when done regularly, will only consume about twenty minutes immediately after I get home, allowing me to then concentrate on things that are really important, even if all that means is being able to really, truly relax for once.

I had this epiphany about a month or two ago, and since then I've actually found the time to be bored. I've slept in, I've spent time doing nothing with friends - I even found the time to watch the entire first season of Heroes.

I've also successfully doubled my freelance income, and I'm receiving leads on new clients at nearly three times the rate I was six months ago. Most of that comes from my increased productivity, now that I can sit down and work instead of just clicking around my computer and wishing my projects would somehow code themselves.

So, yeah; sweat the small stuff. Get it the hell out of your way so you can do the shit that's really important, like beating up on children.

How do you keep your free time free?

Let me know in the comments!

This blog originally ran on March 21st, 2008, when I guest posted on Nate Green's blog.

Tags: productivity, time management, lifestyle