Cranking Up My Work Hours

One of my most important poker goals has always been to work more hours.  At some point I think I should be working at least 50 hours every week to get things moving in the right direction.  Working at home, not having a regular schedule, managing my own business and time, and being Available Guy is a lot for someone with ADD to deal with.  But there is another issue that I'm always aware of, but haven't talked about much in my posts.  I'm still working on forming good habits, something that will probably be a lifelong process.

I tend to be lazy, distractable and distracted.  I'll take a look at the TV as I walk by, knowing that I shouldn't listen to "just one news story," and I wind up sitting on the couch for an hour.  It doesn't happen as much, but it still happens a lot.

I was diagnosed with ADD at age 40, spent several years unlearning a lot of bad habits, and now I'm in the process of developing good habits, a process that will never be complete.

A lot about me is different than five or ten years ago.  I'm more intense, much harder on myself, and always thinking about ways to make myself work both more hours and more efficiently.  I stopped watching several of my favorite TV shows.  Even with my administrative time, I think very seriously about what kind of structure I need to make myself successful.

I even have to train my wife to keep me in check.  I tell her all the time, "Don't tell me it's OK to do it later.  I'll probably forget."  Sometimes she feels like she's nagging me to do something, but at this point I probably need that.

I think a lot about time managment.  I think about it every day, and whenever I look at the hours on my spreadsheet, I almost always wonder if I could have worked more hours, or more efficiently  Last week, for the first time it all came together.

I will always be tweaking something..  I'll never be satisfied with my poker playing, my work hours, or anything else.  There is always something that I can improve.  Because of improvements in my recordkeeping that are adding to my administrative hours, I have to work more hours to get my play and study hours in.  But I don't do anything without a reason.

Most important, I put in some serious hours last week, March 3-9:


                        Play        Study     Administrative    TOTAL
Goal              25.00       15.00         as needed            40.00
Actual           29.50       11.00             8,25                   48.75

Difference   +4.50      -4.00                                        +8.75

I'll be satisfied, for now, with getting four weeks in a row with at least 40 hours. I need to know that this isn't a fluke.  But then I'll start setting my goals higher.  I have to get those study hours up, and if that means that I have to work at least 50 hours a week, that's what I have to do.  I still waste a lot of time, and I'll find the hours somewhere, whatever it takes.