Q & A: Scheduling work and social time

A while ago, I received the following question about having social time in my weekly template:

Interesting blog, but it struck me as odd that there was no “social time” scheduled (I checked your blog on your PhD schedule and there were no social events there either). Does that mean you do not have an active social life and are ok with that, or did you simply not write it down?

I find that most of my free time goes into social events, which I like, but sometimes makes it harder to find time to do things at home. I am curious as to what your thoughts are about this.

The first thing to point out here is that my weekly template shows ideal, recurring blocks of time. So, I don’t have many recurring social events on my weekly template, besides a biweekly lunch date with my husband, and the activities of my daughter. And of course, in COVID-19 times, social life has been extremely limited.

In general, I don’t have social events daily. I’m selective about events I attend. Family gatherings are priority, and then there are other social functions, as well as social events that I select, such as going to the movies or going to see the ballet. Since these are not recurring timeblocks, I schedule them in as they come. And looking at my monthly and weekly layouts, I can easily see when a week is already booked full, or when it would be good to schedule something else in there.

How do you organize the time you invest in your social life?