Why Snowdays Are Not As Productive As You Hope

We have been snowbound for 6 days. And not, oh school is closed so we’re just going to go to the mall, snowbound. But our street was just plowed at midnight of Day 5 kind of snowbound. And we can’t even go out for a walk because there’s 2’ of snow outside kind of snowbound. So you would think that all to-do lists would be cleared by the time the snow melts. You’d think. Unless you are snowbound with your hubby and four children and a dog.

When the snow falls and its pretty clear everything is cancelled, the initial response is “ahh, no running around from here to there, imagine all the things I can get done in the house.”  You revisit the list – reading the library book that’s already overdue, staining that Pinterest-inspired cute table you found at a yard sale, finally clearing the 483 emails in your in-box, cleaning out your closets and putting away the summer clothes, starting (or finishing) the next great American novel… the list goes on. And by day 6 you would think – that list is cleared. You had 144 hours of not going nowhere.

But alas. As the snow melts, you are only on page 10 of reading the overdue book, on page 2 of writing the great novel, increased your inbox by 25 emails and pinned 72 more ideas to your Pinterest boards. How did this happen? I’ll tell you.

• You let the kids sleep in – great decision. But you so enjoyed the quiet, you actually sat down, looked at the snow and finished your coffee while it was hot. – 1 hour
• Since you usually give the kids a pop-tart and juicebox for breakfast, you decided to make french toast, sausage, potatoes, and eggs with all this un-rushed time. And eat it with them. – 2 hours
• While the kids went out in the snow, you got a few things done, but when they came back, you mopped the floor of melting snow, dried off the dog, and triaged hanging up wet coats, gloves, scarves, pants, and socks all over the house. – 1 hour
• The kids were hungry and cold when they came in so you cooked home-made chicken soup and hot chocolate. Again the mom guilt of actually fixing them hot food instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. – 1 hour
• With all this found time, surely, there’s time to catch up on How to Get Away with Murder. – 8 hours
• And you missed The Martian in the theatres. - 2.5 hours
• Hmmm… was Gone Girls the movie as good as the book? – 2.5 hours
• If you were lucky enough that your kids still like you enough (or need a big person to pull the sled) to ask you to come sledding with them, you went. – 3 hours
• Sledding is a lot more effort than your Zuumba class, so it warranted a nap. – 2 hours
• Folks who are home eat A LOT!  You are doing dishes 3 or 4 times a day. – 2 hours
• If your kids still want to hang out with you, you got wrangled into a game of charades or Monopoly or Scrabble or JustDance! – 2 hours
• You had to check on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram to see how everyone else was doing in the snow. And post your own pictures of your snow covered street, the pretty snow on the branches, and all the cookies you were baking. – 3 hours
• You were baking cookies. – 1 hour

Now add that all up. In most cases, multiply by 6. Add to it the loads of wet, cold laundry you have. And the re-inventorying grocery shopping you now have to do. And refinishing your floors. And rescheduling the doctor’s appointment, teacher conference, basketball game, and PTA meeting that you missed.  Renew your library book, continue to carry notes for your great novel (really do try to write at least 30 minutes a day), commit an hour to that closet, and keep the satin handy. You’ll eventually get those to-do items checked off. Just now during the snowstorm.

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Found Time - Days & Hours #Productive

My calendar is absolutely blank for the next three days. Nothing scribbled in pencil, nothing typed in. Three blank squares.  I think I've figured out how to clear out days of nothingness, time to catch up on all the stuff you still have to catch up on.  How to find that extra day we all need.  Cancel all your plans!

We planned to go away and then had to cancel that trip.  So while we were planning on not being here, I didn't put anything on my calendar.  Ta-da!  It's like a snow day, but without all the slush and cold.  The possibilities are endless!

I could clean my house. When you get busy, it seems like the house suffers.  All the shoes pile up, everyone running in and out, changing for the next activity. And laundry, sheesh!  And, yes, embarrassed to admit there might be a cobweb or two I could knock down.

I could bake some cookies. That's always a good idea.

I could write. I'm in the process of writing book number 2 and finding time each day is crucial to staying on schedule.  I could catch up on a few hours.

I could catch up on Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder.  Note - Do NOT tell me anything that has happened, I don't even want to know which white coat Olivia Pope is wearing.  As previously noted, such spoilers could get a friend de-friended.

I could go out to eat, grab lunch all by myself somewhere with nice table cloths.  I know some people don't like to eat out by themselves, but I do. A book, a drink, a good meal.  And movies, too - I love have the popcorn ally o myself.

I could work-out.  You know when your kinda fit a bit big jeans start to feel snug? You can deny a lot of weight-related signs, but the jean fit is a clear indicator.

I could wander around the neighborhood and walk the dog.

Hmmm... the possibilities.

But since I don't actually want to cancel too many vacations, perhaps, I will use the concept of blocking off days to do nothing. Here's a couple other ways I've found useful in finding a few extra hours.

Use waiting time.  Almost every weekday, I'm picking up/dropping off my kids to some practice or activity. I used to sit and watch them do whatever, waiting until they were done. Sometimes, I still do when I really don't have anything else to do - I can read or crochet, enjoy a quiet, non-moving few minutes. But when I do have stuff to do, I try to squeeze it in then. Someone asked me the other day if I'd have some time to meet with them. Sure, for this hour and half within a 15-minute radius from this practice location - I'm there.  It's also a good time for grocery shopping and other short errands.

Schedule outings, meetings on the same day. If I had several meetings that would take me out of my house, I used to schedule them on different days, thinking that would minimize the hours/day that I've got to be out. But what I found is that it makes my time at home less productive because I'm getting ready for and driving to those events each day. Now, I try to schedule outings as much on the same day as possible. Recently, I had some meetings at our school central office; instead of going over three days in a row, I scheduled them all on the same day. Started in the morning, went down the hall, grabbed lunch, had another - and I was done for the week.

Schedule email and online time. I read this tip in a post about getting to a zero-email inbox (only 600 more to go) - have a set time and time limit when you are going to check your email. Read it, act upon it, then move on with your life. Good point. I do check my email when I'm bored. Or trying to procrastinate. And it probably is a big time waster, so I'm working on that.

There's three quick tips. Share any others you have in the comments.  I'm off to go enjoy my found hours!

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