A typical day for me goes something like this: I wake up, excited about all the things I am going to accomplish that day. Things like:

• Be productive during working hours on actual work I am paid to do
• Write
• Make a delicious and nutritious dinner
• Clean house
• Go to bed at a decent hour

Here’s what usually happens instead:

• Wake up, play with Lola
• Read wedding blogs at my office
• G-chat with my favorite people… again, at my office
• Come home, watch a movie off my AFI Top 100 list, like… King Kong
• Watch Property Virgins
• Watch House Hunters
• Read Money magazine
• Get lost on Facebook
• Read a GQ article about “The Situation”
• Find this article
• Start a blog post, save it as a draft for at least 8 days before getting back around to it
• Fall asleep reading the book du jour, with my contacts still in, and unfolded laundry still scattered about the bed

The focus of the article above (this one, if you’re too lazy to scroll up) is time management. Getting rid of the stuff that clutters our days, and refocusing on what’s really meaningful.

I personally do best when I can break tasks into manageable chunks, ie, I will write 5000 words a week, or fold five shirts each morning from the laundry basket, or complete three work tasks before lunch. Sure, some days I might not eat lunch til 4 PM, but when I do, at least I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

And then after all the hard work of folding FIVE WHOLE SHIRTS, it’s usually time for a glass of wine.

And then somehow I’m back on the couch, watching more Property Virgins, feeling pretty proud of gotten the best of this day at least.