Time keeps on tickin' tickin' tickin'...

Ed, loved your post about time.  It caused me to start thinking about what it would look like if I logged everything that I did for a week or two.  The inconsistency of my life from week to week (or so it seems) means that it may look completely different from week to week, but I think the key is to gain some consistency in the stuff that is at the top of the priority list.

How long is your commute now?  I'm not sure how much time I spend in the car, but I don't think it's close to 16 hours.  My commuting time, depending on whether I drive all the way to work or take the ferry, is roughly 4-6 hours a week.  We do drive to church, the grocery store, birding, etc. and I'm not sure how many more hours that would add, but my guess would be no more than five.

I'm not sure that I could call anything purely TV time.  I'd probably have to call it multi-media time
instead.  I tend to multi-task so I'm usually tinkering on my computer if the TV is on.  It's not very often anymore that I give my full attention to TV, unless we happen to watch a movie.  When I'm on the computer like I am right now, I'm usually doing something else as well.  For example, I'm digitizing some cassette tapes as I type this.

I think five hours per week for working out is pretty good.  I'm not much higher than that, perhaps at six or seven.  I'd love to be at eight on a weekly basis, but I'm working on it.  By the way, my scale says I'm down to 186.  I haven't been weighing myself regularly, so all that I know for sure is that a couple of months ago I was at 196, so I'm pretty stoked about that.  Okay, so it was 186 butt naked, butt I'll take it! (Pun intended)

Well, there's no avoiding the rap on the work hours.  I'm VERY fortunate to be able to work out as part of my work day.  Not counting those work out hours, I'm probably right around 35 hours a week at work.  I've never put it in those terms, and when I think about how the tax-paying public compensates me, I'm a pretty lucky guy!  I'll console myself with that fact after my six months of at-sea 14-hour days next year.  I have NO DOUBT that both of you guys work a lot more than I do on a regular basis.

Family time is another sector that I'd have to do some figuring to get the right formula.  Tonight is not unlike many nights in our house.  I'm doing stuff on the computer, and Jennifer is sitting nearby doing stuff on her computer.  We chat about stuff here and there, laugh at stuff on the TV, etc.  Does that count as family time?  When I'm not at work, I would venture a guess that over 90% of my time is spent with Jennifer.  We may not necessarily be doing the same thing, or it might be sitting together at church or small group, etc., but we are almost always together.

I just might try journaling my time for awhile.  It might be an eye opener!