Tweaking My Work Schedule

I’ve changed my Adobe work schedule to better accommodate the rhythms of my writing life. I used to write in the morning at home and work in the afternoon at the office. The idea was that my routine would be the same every day and that the consistency would help me work. I also reasoned that when I was working on my thesis full-time, I could only write for two to three hours a day. So why take off full days when I would probably waste half of them?

This plan worked for a while, particularly during the summer when I didn’t have the distraction of my work at Carleton. I was very excited about having time to write, and I bounded out of bed each morning, toted my laptop over to the canal, and typed up a storm.

At some point over the last year, this schedule stopped working. I had to make appointments during my mornings off, or I had to get extra sleep, or I had to finish Carleton paperwork, or I had to do laundry. Before I knew it, 11 o’clock rolled around and my morning was shot. This problem became a depressingly regular occurrence.

Then I had a few full days at home to myself (these were weekend days, but I still found myself writing). I reveled in the long hours stretching ahead of me, which removed a lot of pressure and let me work at a healthy pace. I found I had energy for a full day’s work if it was spaced out from other writing days. I also liked the feeling of working at Adobe for a full day (I did some overtime for a product release in October), when I could get really absorbed in my tasks. I was tired of always making transitions from one place to the next, not to mention all the time commuting. And I had stopped going to the company fitness centre because it didn’t fit my schedule.

Finally I decided that a change would be a useful thing. Thankfully, my manager approved my plan, and I now work at Adobe Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and write at home on Tuesdays and Fridays. I’m in the second week of the new schedule, and so far I’m really liking the results. I’m writing more, and feeling more relaxed. I can now go to the gym and schedule appointments for my Adobe days, leaving my writing days free from distraction.

I did experience one drawback today, though: we had a fire in our residence, and I had to spend an hour outside in the cold this morning, and then another half-hour listening to them test the alarm this afternoon! Luckily no one was hurt. Oh well, six more months and I won’t be living in residence any more!