Thursday, January 15, 2009

life block

In the time since I stopped working I have come up with hundreds of things I can spend this time at home doing: half-finished projects, hobbies I'd like to pick back up and tons of time-consuming tasks that have fallen to the wayside as life had picked up speed the last few years. But it's been weeks and I have yet to completely finish a single one.

I have NO idea where the time goes. I wake up at about 8 a.m. every morning and spend the day shuttling between looking for jobs, puttering around in the kitchen, cleaning/reorganizing something in the house that annoys me and television. Then suddenly it's 5:15 p.m. and H is home. I feel like while I was working I did more in two hours than I accomplish in eight hours here. And it's frustrating, because I'm not just sitting around eating yogurt and watching reruns of Project Runway (well, not ALL day, anyway).

The more I plan to do, the more paralyzed I get. This is not a state of mind I'd like to hang around in for very long.

7 comments:

Becky said...

geez, you make it sound like spending the day eating yogurt and watching Project Runway is BAD or something. that makes me sad, because that's kind of what i want to do when i grow up.

at least you have a good excuse to stay home during the blustery cold right now- think of all the commuters getting frostbite each morning while you are tucked away in your toasty bed.

maybe this wasn't the best "go get 'em" comment ever. oh, well.

Anonymous said...

I woke up at 8.30am today and have been parked in front of the computer ever since. It's now 1.10pm. I haven't bathed and I've lost feeling in my feet from sitting cross-legged for too long, so I'm real hungry and sticky but am afraid to get up for fear of falling and giving myself a concussion, or worse, denting the hardwood floors. I'm telling you this because your 8 hours of "minimal" productivity is probably something I would be happy to accomplish spread out over a week or two. I'm guessing that's not helpful, but hey, I hope you find something that is to cheer you up.

SupaCoo said...

Ugh. It sounds like the old summer days when we were kids when you didn't DO anything but yet, somehow, the day was over! Already?! I say enjoy it. You've worked hard, and you're STILL working hard, just towards a different goal. I can't imagine all of the work involved in trying to find a new job, alone!

Alla said...

i have a perfect solution (obviously) what you do is you add 2 hours of Workout to your routine.

a) it's a known fact that if you actually have less preceived time for something you jump on it quicker and get it done quicker.

b) doing 2 hours in the gym will give you a boost of energy, not to mention you're gonna feel hoter/sexier which will give you even more energy

c) you're in the city, you can squeeze out FREE gym visits for at least a month. most gyms will give you a week 'free trial' if you insist - tell them you just moved to the city and want to choose a gym.

you're welcome
i'm so totally awesome, i know-
that's cool thou, you're allowed to love me

Jon said...

I think society has placed too much importance on getting stuff done. Just make sure you're eating plenty of cereal.

Madelyn said...

Here's the only problem I see. You are thinking of everything you want to get done, and instead of realizing that all those things are going to take more than one day, you feel like you've done nothing all day when they don't get done. Make sense?

Here's the solution. Before you fall asleep at night, pick one thing that you really want to accomplish the next day. Then think about how long you think it will take you to do that thing, and add 6 hours to it.

You feel like you got more done when you were working, because you did, but you also had deadlines, that, if I remember correctly, stressed the hell out of you. Plus you were getting paid to do them.

I've come to realize that there's no need to freak out about things that are supposed to be considered leisure activities. It just takes the fun out of them.

And whatever you do . . . ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, make time for a little NewsRadio!

cadiz12 said...

if i could get paid for it, becky, i'd be happy with an all-day proj.runway/yogurt situation. i love yogurt and snarky fashion commentary.
and sewing.

pleasestop, those are some mad skills. i thought i was the only one who sits in one place so long she's afraid of falling whenever the time comes around to stand up.

aaaaaah summer. we used to call our mom b/c we were so bored. what i wouldn't GIVE for those days again! thanks, supacoo. apparently the best and brightest in my field are getting laid off too and they're really hard to compete with. but i probably could be trying harder.

alexandra, that's an excellent idea. kaiya is learning to teach yoga so i'm going to her first class tomorrow morning, but i should probably hit the gym more often, too. and yes, i do love you.

i do like cereal, jon. but i'm not the kind to eat big tubs of it at at time.

madelyn, that's very solid advice. my goal for tomorrow is waking up in time to get on a bus at 8 a.m. to take a train to a car to a yoga class. that'll be a big accomplishment for me. not freaking out seems impossible, however.

we just got season 4 from netflix!