Monday, August 31, 2009

Double Day

I know I'm busy all the time. If I have an extra hour in the day, I tend to fill it with four activities that keep me up until late at night. I always put twice as many items on my list of things-to-do than I can possibly finish in a day (and I keep a daily Things-to-do listing, too, which is more OCD than anyone else I know)...

But I still want more time. I finished a spat of grading yesterday at around 4:30. Pretty good time. But it was too late to do a bunch of other things I wanted to do. I still managed to do dishes, clean the kitchen, tidy up the house, make dinner, read a chapter of my creative writing text, watch some TV with the hubby, read to my kids and put them to bed, and read a little of Dicken's David Copperfield (for my bookclub in September).

Ah, if only time were limitless. If only I could decide, one morning, that I just had too much to do to get it all done in 16 hours. I could just turn in my "Double Day for Free" card and add more stuff to my list. 

What would I add?

1.  Take my kids to the park.
2.  Exercise another hour.
3.  Read my sister's book in one sitting.
4.  Do piano lessons with both kids. (I haven't had time to do so since we came back from vacation!)
5.  Watch the second Lord of the Rings movie.
6.  Finish reading through my creative writing textbook.
7.  Weed the garden.
8.  Repot my indoor plants.
9.  Sew Crystal a few dresses for school.
10. Make Halloween costumes for me, Richard, and the kids (I think we might just all be vampires this year).

I could think of a ton more, but these would already take me over two days (weeks?) to do. Darn. 

What would you do if you had a Double Day?

5 comments:

  1. No darning, you're busy enough as it is. Socks are cheap enough to just get new ones. :)

    I need to finish my moon painting on the wall, try to market some short stories, clean out and organize (a) bookshelves throughout my house, (b) file cabinets downstairs, and (c) email and computer files, and find a source of "fun" money instead of trying to juggle physical vs. happiness needs in the budget. I'd LOVE to go back to martial arts.

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  2. Oh, boy. If I had a Double Day, I'd read Stephanie's book in one sitting, too! I'd also get as much done on a particularly gnarly editing project as possible, read tons of blogs, write a few posts of my own to get ahead, and read, read, read. Sounds like I might need a Quadruple Day.

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  3. sleep and do nothing but enjoy my family and freedom...

    thats is what i do every weekend, i reward myself with a free day of nothing... its great, i work 50 pluse hrs a week so i can do nothing on sunday but relax and breath..

    but if it works for you, it sounds like a rat race and full of stress. i have to have a relaxing day before it starts all over again {the work week} or my whole week is bad for me and the people around me...

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  4. I do need a day or two of sheer break once in a while, but for the most part I thrive off lists and deadlines. I find getting stuff done HIGHLY motivating, Jeff.

    And, JD, where can I get one of those Quadruple Days? Sounds like Stephanie needs one of those, too.

    I did get much of my needs done today, though, so, even if I can't read it through in one sitting, I'm going to start on Stephanie's book. Hurray!

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  5. i wish i could have that attitude sometimes, i put stuff off i should do...

    you sound like a real go getter. keep it up.

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