It makes sense to reflect on time in week-long chunks instead of day by day. A span of 24 hours is dominated by sleep and childcare, but over the 168 hours of a week, I might have enough discretionary time to feel more balanced.

What makes a week satisfying? How can I prepare so that I can enjoy satisfying weeks more often?

Enough rest to engage A- with energy and responsiveness

Mostly this is about being in tune with myself and understanding my energy levels, so I can make better decisions about staying up late or being on my phone while A- nurses. It’s also good to not be distracted by other needs or desires, so I can be more present.

A couple of walks and baby activities

I prefer to stay home when it’s cold and windy, which is okay. When the weather is mild, we usually go to neighbourhood centres so that A- can play with different toys and be around other people. As the weather warms up and A- grows, we’ll expand our range.

Little stories to share with W-, especially involving close observation

Helped by energy and rest. Can encourage this by planning activities as well as following A-‘s interests. This will get even better as A- grows, of course.

Contributions to household maintenance

Sometimes cooking, if I can pull it off while W- is around. Might be better to focus on cleaning and groceries, though, since those fit better into our current routines.

Relaxed conversations with W- during evening playtime with A-

Helped by stories and finished chores.

An updated journal and weekly review

Caught up every couple of days, if needed. Helped by text notes and by doing interesting things.

Emacs News posted

Monday or Tuesday discretionary time. Pretty straightforward, but I need to spend about 45 minutes of computer time on it.

Yummy food, no mealtime scrambling

Could use a little work here. We’ll probably make this smoother as we figure out a new rhythm, especially with batch cooking.

A little consulting that helps my clients a lot

Helped by having well-defined, useful, tiny chunks. Best done late at night, maybe sleeping in a bit the next day.

Thinking through stuff using my phone, not just reading social media updates

The payoff for reading social media is mostly chatting with W- about tidbits, occasionally interacting, and sometimes hearing about interesting things. Not that much, so I don’t have to scroll down the feeds looking for more. Writing is better for me, although I sometimes get stuck if I haven’t balanced it with some discretionary time for doing things. There’s always more to write and plan, though.

Maybe even a couple of blog posts, a bit of code, or a small improvement

Helped by thinking on my phone and by having clear, motivating questions.

Stretching

Helped by doing the routine together with W-.

Last week was a satisfying week. If I put some thought into it, I might be able to have even more of them. :) Some things are outside my control, but I can probably stack the deck. Hmm…