Anatomy of a Day: Or Why I Didn't Get Anything Done

4:30 am - up early because our upstairs a/c unit has broken and I can't stop thinking about it.

5:15 am - realize that I can't make coffee before leaving for work because The (poor) Niece is camping out in the library downstairs where it's cooler...right next to the kitchen.

5:45 am - make an ill-advised attempt to drive to Starbucks, sans coffee. Nearly take out the neighbor's trash can. Nearly.

6:15 am - drop The Boy at his office. Agree to call him when I uncover what time the repair crew will be heading to our house. Attempt to figure out who is going to serve as house sitter during the process. Give up and head to the office.

6:30 am - arrive at work. Stacks of papers and emails await after missing a day of work on Tuesday, waiting for the service technician to visit our house (and tell us that the a/c unit is broken beyond repair).

7:00 am - feel hopeful, having answered 5 emails and sorted through the stack of mail.

7:15 am - confirm with repair crew that they will call before heading to our house.

7:30 am - 9:30 am - crazy workload. Soon realize I have no idea what I have and have not accomplished.

10:00 am - meet to debrief results from conference earlier in the week. Type quick summary report to share with my team.

10:30 am - receive call from a/c repair crew. They're waiting at the house. Panic ensues as I simultaneously email my employers that I need to leave for a while, call The Boy to make a plan and head out the door.

10:45 am - meet The Boy at his office. He's won Hayley House babysitting duty.

11:00 am - arrive home, meet the work crew, sign more paperwork, head back to the office.

11:15 am - remember that I was supposed to bring treats for today's monthly staff meeting. Detour to the grocery store.

11:45 am-1:30 pm - emails, phone calls, weekly project lead research.

1:45 pm - start work on ROI (return on investment) analysis from conference. Can't find paperwork showing amount paid for registration, sponsorships, printing costs and the like. Realize it's in the stack of Things to File that haven't been filed since January.

2:00 pm - finally uncover the paperwork for the ROI, but now can't reach the keyboard because of all of the papers scattered. Decide to file.

2:00-2:30 pm - filing.

2:30 pm - discover last year's holiday gift list. Realize that it's already the end of August. Add "discuss 2010 holiday gifts and holiday card mail list" to agenda for next week's team call

2:45-3:15 pm - filing

3:15 pm - while retrieving filing supplies from the storeroom, notice that the company has changed printing vendors. Email new print vendor to say hi.

3:30 pm - while emailing, receive call asking for information about a current project. Research answer and return call.

4:00 pm - why did I need to file? Oh yeah...I was working on an ROI analysis. Back to the spreadsheet.

4:30 pm - The Boy calls. What time are you leaving? Me: I'm not sure. Maybe 15 minutes.

5:30 pm - power down computer, filing done but not the ROI.

6:00 pm - home to The Boy, The Niece, the furbabies and the a/c repair crew.