how to make the best use of your time

​Ever wondered where the day went?  Feel that you never quite manage to get everything done?  Time is so precious and it disappears so quickly.  This feeling is natural in life, whether you’re a gardener or not.  The good news is that with a bit of effort, there are ways that you can maximise your productivity outdoors:
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•          Spend some time on organisation – make a task list of what needs to be done in the garden.  How do you decide what to do each day?  The short answer is to do what is most pressing and is timely for the season. This leads to the next question of how you know what to do and when.  This is perhaps the subject of another post (such is the nature of a blog, as you can’t cover everything at once).  Assuming you are either an experienced gardener or have taken the time to do a bit of research, you will have this sorted out.  I have two task lists – a monthly list which I write on a big piece of paper attached to my notice board and a notebook I keep in the garage, where I write down my tasks from day-to-day.  I’m always referring to the monthly list to remind myself of what needs to be done.  Prioritise tasks and be realistic as to how much you can achieve in a day.  You always think that you’ll be able to get through more than you actually can and it’s quite rare to exceed your expectations and do more than what’s on the list (unless the extra tasks are done instead of what’s on the list!).  Divide the list into what needs to be done today, what can be done later in the week and what can (or should) be left until later in the month.  Before I go to bed every night, I have a look at my list and plan my tasks for the next day
•          Accept that some days are more productive than others - there are days when you have more time and energy than others.  As a diabetic, I sometimes feel worn out and don’t achieve as much as I do on other days (not every day is a productive 7 hour one, despite my recent posts!).  Sometimes it’s nice to have a day off (which is admittedly something I’m not very good at!), or even just a few hours off (which I did today as mum and I went to a café in Onehunga for lunch) and you might take a holiday occasionally (believe it or not, I do actually go away, but normally only once a year for two weeks to our bach)
•          Invest some time into the next day – something I have found particularly effective for larger tasks is to spend a bit of time the day before doing some preparation so I can get straight to work the next day.  For example, a few afternoons ago, I cleared some dying calendula that was in the tomato patch, so I could start planting the next morning when the weather was cooler.  Today, I spent an hour organising my remaining tomato plants and selected a few Egmont varieties which I will plant first thing tomorrow.  If a task requires special equipment or products which you don’t have, try to get them when you’re out running errands so everything is ready to go when you start work
•          Break big tasks up – some jobs require a lot of work and are best done in stages over time.  For example, preparing the area where I want to plant melons required me to harvest the remaining cabbages and beetroot, which I did back in October.  About a week ago, I spent some time working compost and fertiliser into the soil.  Either tomorrow or on Friday, I’ll lay down some black plastic.  I also need to organise my melon seedlings into the different varieties I sowed and put the biggest, strongest plants aside for planting first, ensuring that I plant a few of each.  The others will be replacements incase the original plants die.  I’ll probably start the planting process over the weekend.  Naturally, this couldn’t all be done at once as many hours were involved.  Besides, in October the melon seedlings had only just germinated and it was way too early to put them out.  While it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to wrap a task up in a day, accept that there are times when this is just not possible, nor does it make sense to do so
•          Be flexible – I have a saying, “I garden by the weather, not the moon!” While I have my task list for the following day, I’m also influenced by the weather.  Over the weekend, it rained heavily so it was the perfect time to put in my spinach and silverbeet seedlings.  I have a routine of spraying the roses every 10 days but need a sunny day with little wind otherwise the spray ends up going everywhere, so if I need to wait awhile for that to happen, so be it.  Also, make time for diversions.  Things can crop up that are more urgent than the tasks on your list, so deal with anything pressing that catches your eye
•          Mix it up – keep yourself stimulated by doing a variety of tasks when you’re out in the garden.  In saying that, sometimes it pays to just focus on one thing so you can get the job done
•          Try to keep on top of everything – managing a garden requires you to be across a number of different things, including sowing seeds, raising and looking after seedlings, preparing the soil, planting, liquid feeding, harvesting and weeding.  As I’ve said before, accept that it’s normal to always feel that you’re a bit behind!  If you fall behind on weeding at the expense of sowing seeds and caring for seedlings, you’ll really struggle when it comes to planting them out as the garden will be a mess.  It can be tempting to skip liquid feeding because it can be time consuming (it took me 3 ½ hours to liquid feed the entire garden using my Yates products – Thrive pods, tomato and strawberry liquid plant food, with a watering can no less – but it will pay dividends in the coming months when these plants start flowering and fruiting.
•          Keep the storage shed well stocked – there’s nothing more annoying than starting a project, only to discover that you don’t have all the bits and pieces that you need to get the job done.  Do what I do and keep a supply of tools and products on hand (remember that photo from the early days of all the Yates products I stockpiled in the garage?), so you don’t need to disrupt your day with an unexpected trip to Bunnings.  I’m also a huge fan of online shopping as it saves a trip to the garden centre to pick up supplies when you’re pressed for time.  Gardn Gro are a great Auckland-based company who deliver a range of gardening products direct to your door in a timely manner.  I highly recommend their seed raising mix, which at $8 for a 15 L bag, is very affordable.  The owner, Merv Snell, is a wonderful person.

I hope these tips are helpful.  Today’s photo is of my Beretta Piacentina pumpkin seedling (Kings Seeds), which has started to creep!