And so our family adventure begins on January 1, 2009.  In the meantime, a little preparation is due.  Started this morning with a search for productivity tips; will apply some of these ideas to our adventure when I have a few more minutes…

Take good care,

Kim

From Leo Babauta at zenhabits.net:

After promising this awhile back, I’m finally ready to share my secrets to making time for family and still producing a ton.

Here’s how I do it:

1. Morning ritual. I like to write in the early morning, before anyone gets up. I wake at 4:30 a.m., and this allows me to get some exercise in too before I have to wake everyone up.
2. Use free time wisely. I write in between tasks at work. My boss knows this. I still produce a lot at work, and I’m really good at what I do, so there aren’t any problems with that.
3. Evenings for the kids. When I get home from work, I don’t do any writing. I spend the evening with my family. But when they all go to bed, I might do a little more, if I’m not too tired. I generally sleep about 2-3 hours less than the rest of my family, but it doesn’t usually bother me. If it does, I’ll take a short nap or wake a little later.
4. Weekends are for family. I don’t write on weekends, usually. That’s reserved for family. I do my weekend posts for my blog during the week. This post, for example, was written on Friday. And Sundays are definitely our Family Days.
5. Bursts. When I work, I do it in bursts. I break my tasks down to smaller bits, do one task at a time, and when I do that task, I really focus. And do nothing else. And brook no interruptions. I just crank.
6. Fast fingers. The key, for me, is that I write very fast. I give thought to what I’m going to write during drive times, or during exercise, or I’ll take a walk, or when I’m reading other stuff. And when I write, I just crank it out. That allows me to get a lot done in a shorter amount of time. I’ve been writing professionally for 17 years, so it comes naturally for me. Plus, I love what I do – that makes it so much easier!
7. Fight procrastination. I procrastinate, like everyone else. But I’ve been getting better at beating it. Here’s a post I wrote on that. The stuff I write on productivity isn’t just stuff I make up — it’s stuff I really use, and though I’m not perfect (I don’t always follow my own advice), I really do try to use these tips.