Sunday Scaries

Tick Tock.

I feel like Captain Hook’s crocodile is stalking me. Thanksgiving break is winding down and the Sunday scaries are creeping up.

Do you ever have days like that? Sometimes I realize I didn’t make time for something I want to do and think, “What did I do all day?” Then I start to wonder what other people do…especially those who work full time, read lots of books, train for a marathon in their spare time, and still manage time for brunch on Sundays.

Now, I don’t want to complete another marathon. That’s definitely on my unbucket list. But I also don’t want to wake up one morning and wonder, Where did my life go?

I am curious about how I am choosing to spend mine.

I get up with the intention to write but I’ll just take a quick peek at the daily Wordle first. Next thing you know, I’ve spent 20 minutes trying to figure out a five-letter word that ends in -cer.

I’m folding laundry, and I wonder if rearranging the furniture would help our tiny bedroom feel more spacious…next thing you know, I’ve spent a half hour browsing online for bed frames that I have no intention of actually buying.

I’m not knocking Wordle or online browsing. And to be honest, anyone who knows me knows that I’m very productive and organized with my time. But sometimes I’m just tired. I come home exhausted and my brain feels like it’s had a workout with a potato masher. And the potato masher won. How do other people have time to read The New Yorker and do the crossword puzzle in the evenings when all my brain can manage is remembering the Netflix password?

I recently tracked my time for a month. You know what I found? I’m way more productive than I give myself credit for. Maybe the act of tracking my minutes made me more accountable, but I learned that I work about 50 hours a week and sleep for an average of 8 hours a day. I spend about an hour a day on each of the following: chores, puppy, meals, personal care. That still leaves about 34 hours in my week! I spend about 10 of those “free” hours doing reading and writing for my graduate class, and about 15 of those hours on positive connections with others, such as a hike with my husband or delivering a birthday present to a friend. While it may seem like one more Type A task to track my time, for me it helped me realize how much I already do prioritize my time for the things that are important to me.

Thanksgiving break was amazingly unproductive. It was filled with family, friends, turkey and pie. Puppy snuggles and baby snuggles. It was just what I needed. So, there will be plenty of work to do tomorrow but I refuse to let the Sunday scaries take away this lazy afternoon. And when I climb into my pjs at 8pm, I intend to embrace my Wordle habit with no shame.

PS: I hope thinking about a five-letter word that ends in -cer didn’t give you an ulcer.




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