Western View

A few days ago, I posted an article about “Writing Free from Clutter”. In that article, I talked about how it is necessary to get rid of distractions in order to be a serious writer. After writing the post, I took a close look at the distractions in my own writing and decided to make some changes. I found that I spend most of time between eight primary activities — working, spending time with family, sleeping, eating, video games, watching television/movies, writing and reading.

Working — I can’t do much about that one. Somebody has to pay rent and bills and put food on the table. Spending time with family — I’m not willing to give up much time here, but what I am willing to do is set aside specific times to read and write and to communicate those times. Sleeping — currently, I am only sleeping 5-6 hours a night, so doing with any less would probably be detrimental and would degrade the quality of my writing. Eating — I’m already a fast eater, so I can’t really save any time in this area. Video games — Between Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2, I have spent at least 20 hours a week, if not more, playing these games. I have decided to set limits to my playing time. One hour a day during the week and two hours on Saturday and Sunday, so no more than 9-10 hours a week on video games. Net savings: 10-20 hours a week. Television & Movies — I will show my before and after viewing schedules below. I have saved several hours a week here as well. Writing — Well, the goal is to have more time to write, so MORE time here would be good. Reading — I don’t do nearly enough of it and considering the best writers are also avid readers, it is important to me to have more time to read as well.

TV Viewing Schedule (before):
Monday: Chuck, The Event, Chase, Monday Night Football (DVR)
Tuesday: NCIS, Glee (DVR), NCIS: Los Angeles, The Colony
Wednesday: Survivor: Nicaragua, Top Chef, Top Chef: Just Desserts
Thursday: Fringe, Project Runway, The Mentalist
Friday: Supernatural
Saturday: College Football
Sunday: NFL Football, Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, NFL Football Primetime

TV Viewing Schedule (after):
Monday: Chuck, Monday Night Football — only if Colts are playing (no DVR — come in late)
Tuesday: NCIS, Glee (DVR) (The Colony is over, so that freed up that time slot)
Wednesday: Nothing (Top Chef is over)
Thursday: Fringe, Project Runway (DVR)
Friday: Supernatural
Saturday: College Football — only actively watch IU, else all games are in the background only
Sunday: NFL Football (Colts only), Amazing Race, NFL Football Primetime (Colts only)

As you can see, the schedule before equated to roughly 34-35 hours a week in TV viewing time — WAY too much. Afterwards, the schedule was pared down to 13.5 hours, so that saves 20 hours a week. Between the time savings in video games and television viewing, I have added 30 – 40 hours a week to my schedule. That’s practically a full-time job! I figure I can add an extra hour of sleep and an extra hour of quality time with my wife and children, and an extra hour and a half each for reading and writing. That sounds really good! Wish me luck! I urge you to look at your own schedules and see where you can find more time to do the things that you love.

Cheers!
~ Peter West