I have finally and begrudgingly come to the realization that in order to do what I must do during the day, I have to do my paperwork at night and on weekends. I really tried not to let the job get out of hand but it seems to me that I have no choice. In order to get my calls and appointments in, I have no choice but putting off my paperwork until after hours. Dammit.
There’s still not enough time in the day. What am I doing wrong?
How about doing paperwork first thing in the morning, as soon as you get into the office? I find that if I get into the office at 7:00am, I get more done before 8:00am than I can during any single hour of the day, since there are very few distractions at that hour.
I personally find that expense reports are easiest to do when others aren’t around. I don’t know what other paper work you may have to do, but, honestly, getting reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses should be your absolute top personal priority, since your company doesn’t pay you interest for money you lend them.
Someday I’ll talk to you about doing what you do for a company that treats (and pays) you better, and won’t weigh you down with an infinite amount of trivial paperwork.
Some people benefit from a time management course. There are techniques people have developed that you might find useful.
I have trouble imagining being in a job where you actually *expect* to only work 40 hrs/wk., although obviously a lot of people do have jobs like that.