Mathematical realities

At the start of this week, we had four weeks until we leave for France on the 29th. That's 27 days, to be exact.

By the time we'd counted down to day 25, I had this growing sense of unease about everything that needed doing before the big departure. I'm not even talking about trip preparation, packing, cleaning the house for the dog-sitters - I'm talking about work.

I believe that most sources of anxiety and fear become less scary when you detail them out as precisely as possible, and stare them in the face. Uncertainty adds to anxiety. Plus, it's generally true that the things you make up in your head are much worse than reality.

So, I sat down and calculated exactly how many billable consulting hours I have contracted to complete before March 29, as well as all unavoidable unbillable hours (for example, filing the business taxes, interviewing for a new gig, some pro-bono work). And of course I have a half-time job. Here are the totals:

Billable hours contracted: 96
Unavoidable non-billable hours: 17
Half-time job: 80
Total commitments: 193

You do the math (well ok, I'll do it for you) - over 4 weeks? That's 48.25 hours per week. And in the middle there, I have a second surgery to take the metal pins out of my finger. Until then, I have major written deliverables, and I can't type properly with my left hand.

Now lest you say, well, people work 50-hour weeks, what's the big deal? I must remind you that as a self-employed person, my week is filled with hours for which I do not get paid. Checking my email. Billing my clients. Driving between my billable appointments. Eating lunch and going to the bathroom, which you salaried people generally get to count toward your total. So usually your billable hours constitute, at most, 80% of of your total work hours.

But fear not. It will all get done. I have already knocked off 25 billable hours! I have put the running tally, by client, up on my white board so I am constantly aware of the remaining days and hours. But you will understand if I do not spend a whole lot of my scarce hours blogging.

So, taking just the consulting side of the house (setting aside my job), here is the scorecard, as summarized on my handy white board:
Hours committed: 113
Hours completed: 25
Hours remaining: 88
Days remaining: 24

Tick, tock.