The answer is…dun, dun, derrrrrrr…survey says…drum roll, please…(Okay, I’ll stop now. We all know it’s not that interesting!)
YES! You can!
So, if you’ll remember from last weeks’s post, with the kids on half term, time wasn’t my own and I was finding it increasingly frustrating. Even while they were in school my progress with my to-do list was incredibly slow, so half term was causing my stress levels to go through the roof.
I decided to give myself three or four shorter tasks every day so I could still feel like I was making headway. The larger tasks, like starting my next draft were going to have to wait, but I could research small elements for it, in preparation for starting NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for those who don’t know).
By setting myself those smaller tasks every day, I was still able to tick things off my to-do list. Okay, some things I thought were small tasks ended up being bigger than expected and weren’t completely achieved, but I did manage to submit my novel to a publisher, thanks to their amazing and super easy online submission process!
The best thing is, I was still able to spend time with the kids, playing and having snuggles on the sofa, and still feel like I’ve achieved something. Work didn’t just go on hold and I actually feel ready for the NaNoWriMo challenge of writing 50,000 words in November. Bring it on, first draft!
I’m going back to the normal routine of school feeling really positive and I’ll definitely use this tactic for other school holidays!
If you have kids, how has your half term gone? Did you make any progress? Has anyone got any time management tips they’d like to share? Please stop by the comments and let me know!