I am learning about buckets: how to use them and how to live in them. It’s better than it sounds.
This new lifestyle of mine is glorious and a bit confusing. I am working 24 hours a week, which translates into three eight-hour days. Or does it?
I thought I would have a schedule: Work Monday through Wednesday and then not work the rest of the week, using the time for play, art, writing. (Have you seen me posting here? No? Me neither!) Instead, I have been working around business and other needs, so that meant working different days on different weeks. This is Week Four, looking at Week Five, and no two are alike.
It has become clear to me that I will not have a set schedule, but will continue to work around varying needs.
Then I started working partial days, thinking that a morning here would free up an afternoon there. Before I knew it, I was working parts of many days.
So this is what I’ve learned: I need to compartmentalize, first with ON/OFF entire days. Sometimes they will be determined by my job, sometimes by my travel or other priorities.
Then, I am learning to break those days into sections so that I am not wandering around aimlessly or spending my day in front of the computer. For example, yesterday I dedicated an entire morning to work around our race and fundraising. With those targeted hours, I could check off a huge list of activities that were hanging over me. Then I had the afternoon for a series of errands that all involved driving around town. Then I was done.
You’ll know this is working if you start seeing Lessons posted regularly! Wish me luck!
What are your buckets?
Jane's Lessons Learned 
Good luck! I’ve found that after years of similar life parameters, my buckets tend to start out solid and develop leaks (there’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza…). I’m in the process of getting new buckets and fixing old ones (where’s dear Henry when you need him?) The “sit in front of computer” bucket is one that tends to get leaky very quickly.
so fix it?