Hey Reader,

It turns out I’ve been lying to myself.

I’ve been telling myself that I’m “barely working” right now.

Which feels believable when you have a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old and your brain has 47 tabs open at all times.

But instead of trusting the feeling, I decided to check.

Last week, I tracked every single hour of my time.

All 168 of them.

Pink = time with my kids
​Blue = work
​Orange = house stuff/cleaning/errands
​Light pink = "free time"
​Purple = sleep

If you want to see the full 168-hour breakdown, I uploaded a larger version here.​

Here’s what I learned:

• I’m working more than I think I am.

I had 41.5 hours of blue at the end of the week.
I would’ve guessed 20.

• I’m sleeping less than I think I am.

This sheet actually looks generous. It doesn’t show the 2am–5am wakeups.
(👋 Hi, 3-month-old.)

• Interruptions are eating up a lot of my focus.

• The day I thought was my most productive (Monday)? Wasn’t!

Thursday was the day I got the most done.

• I was counting showers as “free time.”

All of that forced me to realize something BIG.

My week feels chaotic not because I’m not doing enough, but because my time is all fragmented up into crazy bits and pieces.

I don’t actually need more hours in the day.

I need cleaner ones.

So instead of trying to “do more,” here’s what I’m focusing on to make my weeks smoother:

1. Protecting Thursdays and Fridays​
Those are the days I naturally have more momentum and a lot less interruptions so I’m moving my deep work to those days.

2. Reducing interruptions (where I can)
​This won’t be perfect in this season. The kids are home, and interruptions happen. But I can still protect my focus better than I have been.

3. Try to get a little more sleep
​I can’t control middle-of-the-night wakeups, but I can go to bed earlier and scroll less.
​
​4. STOP COUNTING SHOWERING AS FREE TIME
​And maybe actually get a real hobby.
​
If you zoom in, you’ll also see I logged “couldn’t sleep” as free time too.

That alone says a lot.

The biggest surprise wasn’t the 41.5 hours.

It was realizing how unreliable my perception is.

So if your weeks feel chaotic, don’t assume you need more hours.

Try tracking your week.

You might be surprised what you find.

❤️ Mara

P.S. - Want the exact spreadsheet I used? Hit reply with “168” and I’ll send it over.