Scheduling Priorities Quotes

Be ruthless about protecting writing days.

Balancing family and work is a top priority for me, and I treat it as such. Meaning, I actually put specific family time and events in my calendar so that precious time is dedicated and properly blocked off from any work that may try to sneak its way into my schedule.

You can have it all, just not all at the same time.

Think of the effect it would have if 2,000 of our best friends in the District had personal notes from you written at the rate of 25 a day for 60 days. I don’t know how you are going to find time to do all this and still take the people to lunch that I want you to take, and see the people in the evening that you must see, but I guess with your methodical planning you can work it out.

My only day off is the day I pitch.

A person with a flexible schedule and average resources will be happier than a rich person who has everything except a flexible schedule. Step one in your search for happiness is to continually work toward having control of your schedule.

I'm working seven days a week in the fall. I couldn't possibly keep that up. This is only for the fall. In the last couple of years I've tended to do most of my serious writing in the winter, when there's nothing going on with football.

I always do my firing in the morning because that's when I'm fresh.

It's healthy to have two or three weeks' gap between big releases.

If your priorities don't get scheduled into your planner, other people's priorities will get put into your planner.

I do just a film a year and so have a lot of time.

My goal is to get home every day in time for dinner with the family - and then we play with the kids for a while, and then I go to bed around the time they do and sleep from nine to three or nine to four. It's the same six hours everyone else gets. I'd just rather do my e-mails and my reading in the morning rather than late at night, that's all.

As a working mom, I struggle to find time to work out and go for runs. I usually run two to three times a week and work out with a trainer once a week. I try to go for a longer run on Sundays.

When I go on location, we have a schedule. And when you have a schedule, you know when you're not working, so I train very well on location. But I also train three or four times a week at home, but today I train differently than before.

I also watched a lot of football and sports. I haven't had much time to watch too much TV lately.

I am at home with my kids from 6 to 8. If I have a work dinner, I'll schedule to have dinner after 8. But we're working at night. You'll get plenty of emails from me post-8 P.M. when my kids go to bed.

The busyness of your life leaves little room for the source of your life.

The basic work schedule for me is whenever I'm not doing anything more important, like taking care of my kids or something. So, it's most of the day, five days a week, most evenings and sometimes on the weekends.

Don't sacrifice alone time with your spouse just because the kids seem needy. A united front requires adult time alone, so put it in the calendar and make it a priority. A house cannot stand on a shaky foundation.

I'm extremely bad at not missing TV shows, but I'd like not to miss '24.'

A President doesn't have a terribly long time to talk to people who are not really on the agenda.

The very success of the modern American family - where kids get punctually to SAT-tutoring classes, the mortgage gets paid, the second-story remodel stays on budget - surely depends on spouses' not being in love.

With two kids it's hard to find down time to write so I often write during their nap time.

My writing day follows my family's day. I get a good few hours in the mornings when the kids are out of the house. And I don't work at night any more. I like to see my family.

I enjoy watching England but I won't rearrange my schedule just to make sure I'm in to see the game.