Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Bookending
It’s a three-day weekend and I’m thinking about time. We all have too much to do, and yet we waste time constantly. We fritter time, but we don’t relax enough. How can we master our time so that we are efficient, and yet leave time for chilling out, reading the New York Times, taking and afternoon nap?
And before you think that I’m getting old and losing my edge, I really believe that doing those things (or whatever it is that relaxes you) is a good investment, because they are rejuvenating, and when we don’t do them we become less efficient.
I find I’m usually pretty efficient on school/work days—I have a system and a routine and I am good at sticking to it. The rub comes when I have a big chunk of unscheduled time and one part of me is saying: “You could do X! You should start Y!” and another part of me says: “Another cup of coffee and the ‘Style’ section? Do the kids really need fresh air?”
One strategy I find helpful is to bookend my day. If I decide I am going to do something early, the farmers market or the laundry for example, then I schedule something for late in the day, like having a friend over for dinner or meeting up with friends in the afternoon at the museum or the basketball courts. I find this bookend structure makes me use the unstructured part of my day better. Knowing that my chill-out time is limited makes me less likely to fritter it away on meaningless puttery work, and it also makes me savor it more: “Ooooh… I’m just reading and dozing, like a cat in the sun. Mmmm…”
Recently I read an interesting article where the author said that Buddhist monks in Tibet meditate on death, and that paradoxically this makes them happier in life. The implication was that frequently contemplating death made them more aware of the preciousness of life.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to be efficient at work, how to keep our homes and offices running smoothly, and a little guiltless downtime is my reward. I like to savor every moment of leisure, because I know it will end soon, because I planned it that way.