When my middle child was about a year old, I hired a sitter to watch him a few hours a week so I could concentrate on my fledgling writing career.

At first, having all that time was exhilarating. After more than a year of squeezing in writing late at night, during naps and in any fifteen-minute nugget of time I could scrape up, I realized that with a few uninterrupted hours, I could accomplish what felt like an entire week’s worth of work.

But I soon experienced the flip side of all that promise: when you’re used to cramming things into teeny bits of time, suddenly being handed several hours to fill can feel overwhelming instead of freeing.

So how do you use time well without spinning your wheels?

This week is about helping you take control of those minutes and hours:

You're going to make a to-dream list and a to-do list

I started separating out my “to do” and “to dream” lists a few years back, when I realized that my to-do lists were often cluttered with long-range goals that I wasn’t in a position to start working on yet…but that when I tried to take time to dream, the “to do” details of my life kept getting in the way.

Separating out those big, sometimes pie-in-the-sky projects into a separate list helped me clarify which tasks were the things I need to work on today to meet my deadlines or keep the household running, and which ones could stand to percolate for a while.

Another way to think of these two lists is a “do now” and a “do later” list. The “do later” list can always be edited, and you may find as time goes on that “later” becomes “never” for some of the items.

Create two lists – one of the “must do” items that you’re working on this week, and one made up of those long-term, big-picture goals that you can’t necessarily get started on right away.

Keep the “to dream” or “do later” list in a central place where you can keep an eye on it, but make sure it’s very clearly delineated from your “to do” list. I keep mine on a whiteboard above my desk.

The idea is to allow your To Dream list to energize you, without it feeling like something you’re obligated to “check off.” You can edit it at will, because none of these items are must-dos.

Over time, some elements of your To Dream list might make it to your To Do list...or maybe, over time, your dreams will change. That's fine! Remember, there's no pressure with a To Dream list.

Don't forget to share your To do and To Dream lists with the Beyond Baby community. If you'd like to read more to help you with this assignment, I've selected a post on the importance of doing fewer things, better.

Want to share your To Dream and To Do lists? Just hit "reply" to send me an email. I'd love to see what you're working on.

- Meagan