If You Think You Have 52 Weeks Per Year, YOU ARE WRONG!
A Time Management Lesson I Learned Recently.
The other day, I was reading a blog post by Dean Wesley Smith about Writing and production goals.
One section was about calculating your word count output per hour, week and year. During calculating my word count output per year, I stumbled upon a realisation.
Smith's equation to calculate word count output per year is -
(52 weeks per year - 2 weeks for vacation) x word count per week = word count per year.
What struck me was the bracketed section.
We all have 52 weeks in a year. But the thing is, we think we have 52 weeks in a year.
Hear me out.
Let's take 2 weeks for vacation.
Many of us don't or can't take two weeks off, but we should for our sanity and health so let's count that.
Then let's keep 2 weeks buffer because we all know how Life loves giving us last-minute surprises.
Family emergence. Health scare. Car breakdown. Mental breakdown. No WiFi. Global pandemic. Stupid people. Anything can and will derail us.
And I am counting 2 weeks, for courtesy's sake. Depending on how hard Life has punched you, it may take you more than 2 weeks to get back up. I know; I have been there.
Then, ladies!, we have one week for periods per month. That's 12 weeks per year.
Some of us can go on with life as regular during this time, but most don't. And if you have the nasty version of periods, it can take more than one week per month to get into and get over the period phase.
(Plus, I believe our periods is Nature's way of giving us ladies a break to relax, eat Chinese and binge Netflix.)
Now, if we put that all together...
{(52 weeks per year - 2 weeks for vacation) - 2 weeks buffer} - 12 weeks for periods = 36 weeks per year
That final number will vary from person to person. This is why I invite you to feed in your own numbers and find your answer.
But one thing is obvious, even if you don't make your own calculations.
None of us gets 52 wholesome, complete, productive, satisfying weeks per year.
This is a revelation for me.
Now I know it's okay to have a bad week because I don't have the whole 52 weeks anyway.
So when you are having a bad day or week, remember it's one of those 16 weeks. And don't stress about them. It was never yours.
Don't let these 16 weeks stop you from enjoying the 36 weeks you do get.
