Time to Think About Time

Pixabay

One afternoon a few weeks back, I hit the wall. Hard. I wasn't entirely surprised as I'd been zooming toward it at full speed for quite some time. Arriving home after teaching, I made myself a sandwich and settled down to take a little break before digging into writing and planning and everything else on my to do list.

And I got up two hours later.

That same morning, I'd been talking with my students about the evils of "should," so I won't go into what I should or should not have done. I just knew I was nursing a headache and there was not a single thing on my to-do list that held any appeal whatsoever, so a break seemed like the reset I needed. 

When I re-joined the world after lunch and a nap, my motivation was still at a low ebb, but my headache had subsided. Slowly, I baby-stepped my way back into my day and, more rested, I actually managed to get a few things accomplished. My day ended much later than I'd anticipated, but that flexibility is one of the wonderful advantages of working from home. 

Or is it?

That's what I tell myself when I take a break mid-afternoon, then work until 9 PM to make up for it. Maybe, though, I should be asking myself why I need a mid-afternoon break so badly that it turns into a two-hour nap.

Last Friday, I wrote about a book I'm reading called Time Smart. I flew through the early pages but, as I continue on, I've begun savoring it, pausing here and there to let the information about time poverty and time affluence sink in. Some of the strategies are things I already do, as are some of the mindsets. Others lead me to step back and consider -- and sometimes re-consider -- not only my schedule but also the way I look at time.

Ironically, I'm reading this book because I discovered it right around the time I'd promised myself to make more time to read for fun. This effort was part of a larger goal to restore some balance to a schedule that leads me to (figuratively) run into walls and (literally) nap for two hours. Though I know (and preach) that self-care is important, experiencing the sense of having more time when I create leisure time is a whole different feeling. 

Paying closer attention to how I use my time has led me to the realization that even my leisure time is often spent in pursuits I'd describe as productive more than relaxing. Although part of that is simply how I'm wired, it also explains why I (figuratively) hit the wall more often than I'd like. 

It's fascinating, this consideration of time -- something both finite and elastic. My hope is that actively contemplating both time itself and how I spend it will lead me to spend my time more wisely.

And keep me from crashing into walls -- literally and figuratively.

Friday Feature: Some Days are Like That

I've had a very productive January, something that pleases me on many levels but, yesterday, it all inexplicably caught up to me. Last night, despite a good day, I felt grumpy and, even though I all-but fell asleep on the sofa in the family room, I could not manage to string together more than 30 consecutive minutes of sleep until after dawn. 

The other night, I was talking to my dad, who's a generally good-natured guy. I noticed that things that don't usually get to him were bugging him and I asked him if he was okay. He said he was fine, but he remarked that he's tired -- we're all tired -- and worn down from nearly a year of a life that's far from normal. It was simultaneously so obvious and so insightful and it struck a chord.

While I can typically pinpoint what's bugging me, last night, I couldn't. And my dad's explanation pretty much summed it up. On Fridays, in this space, I typically try to post something interesting or helpful but, last night, as I searched for an article, everything annoyed me. Everything somehow came back to COVID and I was sick of COVID. And politics. And a life that's far from normal.

So, I looked up funny stories and good old reliable Reader's Digest came through. If you're looking for blessedly mindless entertainment (as I was last night), check them out.

But this morning, as I was procrastinating by checking out every app on my iPad, I came across a photo someone had posted on Twitter of a little boy curled up in a chair with a blanket. His mom had posted that he was over virtual learning and she was giving him a mental health day.

Bingo.

I'd already decided that I needed an unstructured day today, so I was on the right track, yet the obvious answer still eluded me. Thanks to that mom on Twitter, I knew exactly what I needed for today's post.

My dad was right. This is a lot. And it's been a lot for almost a year. Obvious, I know, but it hits each of us on different days in different ways and the solution to it is not one-size-fits-all. We've all heard that self-care is important, especially now, but what does that mean?

Stephen Covey writes about sharpening the saw -- physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually. And, in a really accessible way, so, too, does Verywell Mind. Their post on "5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life" is skimmable and practical -- just what the pandemic-tired mind and body needs.

kropekk_pl via Pixabay

Last night's grouchiness notwithstanding, I'm typically an incurable optimist, and I do believe there's a light at the end of this tunnel. But, on those days when we need to take a bridge to get to the tunnel, it's nice to know we're not traveling alone, and it's really nice to know there are resources to make the trip easier.

Take care of yourself. Brighter days are coming.