Everyone has their own definitions of "productive" and their own definitions of "priority" when it comes to organising their time, schedule and activities. I'm going to share the one I'll live with for the upcoming semester.
I'm living alone in a foreign country, family at a faraway home, no husband nor kids. If you have any of these your social priority would probably be much higher than mine.
As it is, my priorities in life are arranged in the following manner, the top of the list being the most important. The number of hours in parenthesis refer to the number of hours I will spend on each activity in a week. I find a weekly count more stable and reliable than a daily count since our timetables vary much more from day to day than from week to week.
- Studies (51 hours: 25.5 hours of classes + 25.5 hours of self-study)
It has been recommended that at university level, a student spends an equal amount of time outside class on preparatory and revision work related to the course. That is to say, if you're taking a class that meets 8 hours a week, you have to spend at least another 8 hours outside class time for things like readings, homework, research, practices, etc)
- Sleep (49 hours: 7 hours per night x 7 nights)
Sleep is important. For an adult it takes up almost a third of our lives. Some people can go with less sleep, some people need more sleep, the needs are personal. In my case, as I live alone, unless the neighbours decide to have an all-night party, I can almost get 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. People living with babies or young children in the same house may not have the same advantage and may have to prioritise sleep in a different way. It is a social norm in the provinces of Argentina for people to continue with "siesta", or afternoon nap. These naps usually take place during the hottest moments of the day, around 3p.m. to 6p.m. Work hours wrap around siesta time. People go to work in the morning, commute home for lunch and a siesta, then return to work in the evening. Higher education, however, does not include siesta break. Unless you happen to not have a class on certain afternoons, you usually go to the university in the morning and stay there till the evening, with an hour or two in the middle for lunch. Not enough time to commute, eat, AND sleep.
- Work (20 hours)
Public education is free in Argentina up till graduate level (that is, your first bachelor's degree). Notwithstanding, I still have to work to pay rent and to eat. I rent a little one room apartment in the outskirts of the city, about 45 minutes walk to the university campus. It costs me $4800 (Argentine pesos, all further mention of money refer to the same currency unless specified) a month, plus about $500 a month in expenses (gas, water, electricity) and $1000 a month in internet. That makes a minimum of $6300 that I have to earn to keep the roof over my head.
I work freelance as a private teacher. I go to my students' places to teach them, or they can choose to come to my place for classes. Rates vary. I try to take enough classes a month to sustain the fixed monthly expenditure. A conservative count requires me to work 20 hours a week to fully pay up the housing expense, eat normally, live normally, travel on public transport, and restock school supplies. To also be able to afford a little more (clothes, dine-out, etc) I will have to increase my work hours to 25 a week.
- Travel (20 hours)
A conservative estimate would be to travel an equal number of hours as working hours. As I work freelance, travelling to and from the student's place takes up quite a chunk of time. Unlike people who work at a fixed location, whose commute times may be once in the morning and once in the evening, I'm pretty much on the move from place to place all the time. No, I do not get paid for travel time. I may have a student who lives at about 20km (90 minutes by bus with transfer) from my place who takes a 1.5 hour class with me. I get paid for 1.5 hours, but really I spend 4.5 hours on him.
Back in Singapore I used to arrange my timetable around student's addresses, trying to fit lessons on the same day in the same zone, with half an hour between end times and start times to allow for delays, conversations with parents, and the little walk from one house to the next. Here in Argentina, it is not a societal norm to take classes every week at a fixed time. Cancellations are common, so are reschedules. This disables my plan of teaching 2 or more students in the same zone on the same day. Essentially this also means the fee charged per hour should be higher to compensate for the extra time spent commuting (this isn't the case).
- Miscellaneous (28 hours)
Keeping in mind that there are 168 hours a week for everyone, me being no exception at all unless I live on a different planet, I have 28 hours left in the week to do any other random things. That makes it 4 hours a day. Let's take a look at the random things that didn't make it into the top four time guzzling activities.
a) Cook: 3 meals a day on average, although the invention of the refrigerator, the takeaway box and the microwave will simplify matters a little.
b) Clean: Myself, my room, and everything from plates to clothes.
c) Shop: At the very least, a trip to the grocer's, fishmonger's, greengrocer's, bakery, etc once a week.
Do you spend 4 hours or more on these activities daily? I certainly can no longer afford to do so once the semester starts. Once again I repeat the priorities differ. You may spend a lot of time on cooking because you live with your family and you cook for everyone, but perhaps someone else does the shopping or someone else brings home the money. You may spend a lot of time cleaning up because you live with many people, probably young children, but you're not the sole breadwinner. You may spend a lot more time studying or learning some skill, but perhaps you aren't the one who cooks at home. My schedule is just that, mine.
Does anyone notice that "social", broadly classified as time spent with the family, with friends, on knowing people, on social activities, does not exist on my weekly timetable? I have chosen to prioritise things like studies, sleep and work over socialising. At least during semester time. I cannot imagine how students who study in other countries without free public education get by. They have to pay tuition on top of rent (work more hours than I do), yet they have the time to go to parties from time to time, and not neglect their studies nor live in a filth hole. Amazing.
How about you? Are you a working professional? Are you a student? Are you in charge of domestic affairs? All of the above? Do leave a breakdown of your week in the comments section. Let's see what we have in common and how we differ.