I adore Time Management From the Inside Out and use a Time Map and love it, but my work has expanded to include a lot more travel/speaking engagements, therefore one week doesn't look like another! I'm trying to create a new time map and am absolutely frustrated. Julie's "Balance Tracker" does not give a person like me enough structure, but I can't see any other alternative at this point besides creating a new time map every single week! Does anyone have ANY ideas? I'm feeling pretty defeated at this point thinking I am going to have to spend loads of time each week creating a completely new time map. :( HELP!

Is there any consistency?  Are you generally out of the office 1 day per week?  2?  3?  Even if they aren't the same days each week?

Do the travel/speaking engagements follow any sort of pattern?  Are they limited to a single day, or do they spill over into earlier days? 

There may not be consistency from week to week, but if you look at the components (in-office, in-office AM/travel PM, speaking, speaking AM/travel PM, to name some possibilities), there may be consistency within the components. 

No, there isn't consistency. One week I may not have any appointments/speaking engagements, the following I could have an all day workshop one day, 1/2 the next, then fly out that afternoon and be somewhere else for a 1/2 day engagement.

I've been thinking and thinking about what I could do. I love the, "finances Wed afternoon" or "client appts" Tues/Thurs morning", etc, but that's just not possible anymore!

I guess my only option is to create a time map for the weeks I am not traveling/speaking, but those weeks are becoming few and far between. (Which is good for business!) I'm just feeling like the important things (workouts, writing) get pushed back and that my schedule controls me. Unfortunately I am not able to say I'll only take engagements on such and such days and leave other days free. I have to take what I can get at this point.

Perhaps I could create a couple of time maps, one for 4 "regular" days, one for 3, etc. leaving x amount of days open for engagements/travel, but that seems overwhelming too.

But thanks for your reply. I'm encouraged that someone replied! I sure wish Julie would give more information somewhere for people who's schedules change every week. But perhaps there isn't an answer!

I've never even tried doing the time map for just the reasons you have stated. My inconsistencies aren't necessarily daily, but more like "seasonal", based on what sort of contract(s)  I am working on (and how much control I actually get).

My current approach is to try and establish schedules for each type of day as it comes up, so when I have an office-like day, I have a map for it.

Does that make any sense? I'm still working on it so I don't end up with days that are just a monolithic block of work from the time I wake up to the time I drop, but that does seem to be the way it goes sometimes.

Ideas?

Hmm. I like that idea. "Office" days vs. "training days" vs. "travel days." Which I think is what Angelina was suggesting in a way. Yet because I don't know how many of each type of day I'll get during any given week, it doesn't help with the items I want to make sure to get to. Say, tax paperwork. I'm self-employed so every year I say I will get all my paperwork/receipts done monthly, or even weekly, so I don't have to scramble in January every year with a YEARS worth of tax paperwork. But every year I do. So I want to set aside a time to do this weekly. It would have to be an "office" day. But if I don't want to plan that for EVERY office day, (for example, this week I'm in the office every day) it would only take an hour or two a week. Or writing. I'm trying to write a book. I want to set aside writing time each day. That works fine this week, but next week I'm scheduled out every day!

My best friend suggested planning the month instead of the week, so this week would be writing/planning/marketing heavy where the next two would be training/traveling heavy. Thing is, often workshops get plugged in with only a week or two notice.

But perhaps that's the best compromise? Julie's schedule has to be similar with her media appearances, etc. I wonder what she does?

Sari, yes, Cathy's idea of working with the type of day was where I was headed.

At a guess, it seems like travel and training times are pretty well structured.  The one question I would have is how you are travelling (driving/flying/train) and (especially for planes and trains) whether there are tasks you can do in transit.

So the "problem" hours are the office hours.  Hm.  The closest analogy I can think of in TMIO is the woman with ADD, who was typically highly functional for X number of hours, but never really knew what those hours would be.  If you could estimate the number of office hours you have during the week (take several weeks' worth and average them), that might give you a starting point. 

For the taxes, I think I'd block out an hour or two in the First Office Day of the Week (whenever that is) to be tax paperwork time.

Not sure about the writing, since I've never tried to write a book.  From what I gather, though, persistent effort really pays off, and at that point... I'd be looking for any time that I could protect consistently, even if it was 5AM.  (And I'd invest in caffeinated shower soap.  But that's me.)  Are there any writers in the audience who can agree or disagree or offer words of wisdom?

I like the idea of mapping the month, but if you are like me, sometimes the map reveals that for a whole month, you are going to be "out-of -balance". This is discouraging, how well I know.

I agree with Angelina that staking out protected time helps (but does mean your wakeup time can be very unconventional-mine is currently 4am-and that can be another inbalance). I have given up on writing for now, but really would like to get in some time on the piano everyday.

I don't travel, but I have done so in the past and know that puts you in a whole other "zone". I agree with Angelina that there may be things you could take along and do while travelling, especially if you aren't driving or have some hotel time.

For me, the hard part can be picking up a "routine" that gets things like housekeeping and paperwork done when I am not working intensely on a contract during which I feel like I might as well be out-of-town (without room service).

I do find that putting projects into day categories at least keeps me from losing sight of them altogether. As I am writing this, I'm thinking maybe one of those multiple month calendars might be the way to go as a visualizing tool, with different types of day in different colors. This might reveal a pattern that can't be seen looking at it month by month (one of my personal issues with the computer planner I am using).

Thanks again for the replies. What I ended up doing was creating a time map for an "all office day" week. (Like this week.) I then looked at my goals and determined what was most important to me. I determined that every week I MUST create time for: workouts/budget (incl. tax paperwork)/household (laundry and grocery shopping)/workshop prep/relationships.

I then realized that my time map had household scheduled for weekends, which I never travel on, as well as relationship time (date night). I figured each week I could carve out a few hours for budget, and if that was the one thing that moved around, that's not too bad. Workshop prep would happen when I was in the office, and I would look ahead to make sure I planned for what I needed to in advance.

So then I was left with writing. If I have an all office week, great. My work time map is one hour for admin/business reading in the morning, two hours for writing, lunch and then the afternoons are for workshop prep/appointments with clients. So how do I write when I travel?

Best friend had great advice. She said instead of thinking, "I must write two hours a day" on workshop or travel days do SOME writing, like outlining a chapter or reviewing a blog post or (because I am a nonverbal communications consultant and that is the book I am writing) people watch at the airport and make notes in a notebook. Do SOME writing each day, and do serious writing when you are in the office.

So I'm going to try that and still look at my schedule by month to plug in monthly activities like brainstorming new workshop ideas, etc.

I used to get most of my writing done when I traveled. It's much harder for me "on the ground. I envy you! I'd write from the second I got checked in, pause while we boarded, picked up again while seated and didn't stop until it was my turn to get off.

I'm a performer, so I have time maps for "regular" weeks, "rehearsal" weeks and "show" weeks. Show weeks are easy because the schedule stays the same. Rehearsal weeks are nuts. I do most of my time maps in pencil, keep notes on the back as to what has to be done (day job, groceries, etc) and when I hit a snag, just rework til I get everything back in. I don't think I've ever had a time map make it through a week without getting swapped around somehow, but it always gets back in balance, or I know what I can let go til next week.

My craziness is also theatre related. I'm in production, so it is timed differently, but essentially I also have regular and "rehearsal" (in my case, "build" weeks). I free-lance at home, so the "build" weeks are mostly under my control, although subject to the vagaries of fitting, design decision and supply- I can plan, but not count on a plan.

I also sometimes have several projects at different stages going at once.

I'm wondering, Cynthia, if you have some sort of "master balance list" so you don't let things go too long. I get to a point where the inbalance gets so great that I just have to stop everything and take care of the neglected area, regardless of where I am work-wise.

It resets the balance, but mostly just shifts the inbalance to another area of life and time.