This morning I had a successful moment of practicing what I preach. I awakened spontaneously at 5 a.m. and instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, I turned on the light and went to work. Consequently, I’ve had five productive hours and it’s only mid-morning.
In part, I know I was eager to look at and to start work on assignments from a new client, but I’m also aware that as I move closer to where I need to be with my client base, maximizing my time is more critical than ever.
The unique characteristics of my working environment are never far from my mind, nor is the fact that I haven’t always managed those factors to my best benefit or that of my housemate.
I literally lose work time to my housemate’s emotionally unstable reaction to whatever I’m doing. As I ponder hardware updates in the coming year, I keep thinking about those two or three hours I’m nailed to my chair “watching” TV with her.
Before the term multi-tasking even existed, I did it. I have never been good at just sitting in front of the television. The netbook has helped enormously in reclaiming evening productivity for me, but it hasn’t completely solved the problem, which has me continuing to ponder the bottom-of-the-line iPad.
So when my housemate declares, in an offended tone, “I never bother you,” it’s all I can do not to just laugh. While “bother” might not be the word I would chose, every aspect of my working life is directly affected by her wants or needs — perceived and real. If I’m not actively responding to her, I’m listening. Some small corner of my mind is always tuned in her direction, to the point that I often awake at night when she coughs.
Since I stay in a state of hyper-awareness, which is extremely tiring, I’m not as receptive as I should be to fits like the one she threw at 10 o’clock last night that led to me scrubbing out her bathroom sink, which had vaulted up her OCD radar screen. It’s gotten easier to just cave in and deal with those immediate obsessions, but I can’t lie and say I’m always cheerful or gracious about it.
Increasingly I’m trying to divest myself of my preconceptions about night and day, meal times, and the like. That’s hard for a person who loves routine as much as I do, but only by embracing fluidity can I hope to get all the focused hours I need. Consequently, this morning was a real triumph.