Remember the days when, “If I had more time, I would…” was a good excuse?
Because if I’ve learned anything from having to work from home the past two months it’s that needing more time to be able to do something is just a lie.
But it may just be me.
Texas is currently in the process of reopening, and I think I have about a week left of at-home working, so I thought I’d look back and see what I thought I’d spend my extra time doing…but didn’t.
1. Writing
More writing, that is. I mentioned this in a previous post as well. With all the bad happening, I figured the one good thing that could come out of a pandemic is that I’d have a chance to really dig into my writing…and maybe, just maybe finally get back into fiction.
Yeah, that’s not what happened. Instead my writing time has been consistent with before the stay-at-home order.
2. Reading
The last half of March I did find myself reading much more. Then April hit and I don’t think I’ve pick up a physical book since. I have read a few kindle books, but those are just easy-breezy, get-my-mind-off-of-things kind of books.
I intended to take this time to read some of the books I’ve had in my to-read pile for years.
Hah.
3. Cooking
I can cook basic meals, like spaghetti or tacos, but I’d really like to learn to cook well.
I never had much time to practice cooking, which always frustrated me. So, these last few months I was really going to stop just trying to cook and actually practice certain techniques.
But I quickly realized to do that, grocery shopping is kind of a have-to. And with a lot of stuff missing from the shelves, this intention just kind of slipped my mind.
I did do a lot of baking at first. I’m much more comfortable in this realm. I make some pretty good homemade biscuits.
4. Eating better
I just want to laugh. I’ve probably never ate worse in my life than I have these weeks stuck at home. Not only am I in constant reach of snacks, we’ve ordered out quite a bit.
5. Hone a new hobby
I’ve been wanting to pick up crocheting for a while, and I finally did. For awhile I did do some basic crochet patterns for a baby blanket and bibs for the newest edition to my family (who was actually born yesterday!)
But I wanted to spend time learning different crochets and practicing making different things.
I give this intention a 50%.
My Excuse:
I live next door to my brother and his family of six. With three nephews and a niece so close by, I don’t think I’ve spent a day not doing something with them.
It’s like I have kids without having kids.
(Honestly, if you have kids, how do you accomplish anything? I need to know for future reference.)
But this excuse isn’t actually an excuse either, it’s just what a did instead: built bonds with the little ones, explored our local reservoir and enjoyed the simplicity of life.
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So, how did you intend to spend your time but didn’t? Or did you actually meet your intentions?
I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself, the only real-time you gained by staying at home to work was commuting time. 🙂
Warmest regards, Ed
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Plus extra sleep 🤣
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It almost feels like there’s more pressure now because you are expected to be productive. I am still working but not doing my regular job; however, I set about to write more (which I have), get back to learning Japanese (which I have), and play the drums more (which I also have after buying an electronic kit to make it peaceful for my wife who is also home a lot more). I think as long as you’re not bored, you’re making progress, and learning a bit every day is productive. I suspect your “opening” won’t last too long.
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Yeah despite not really doing what I planned, I’ve still been busy. I’ve spent a lot of time outside and bonding with my nephews and niece. It’s a different kind of productive, but it’s been good.
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Wow: Image when your niece and nephews are talking to their kids about living through phase one of this pandemic. I bet they’re going to say something about how cool it was to have Aunt Zarah next door.
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I hope!
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It’s like the whole thing backfired.
Fat, dumb and lazy — that’s me in this pandemic.
I did manage to get some words on paper though. Shame on you Zarah, sit the hell down and write a short story about armored grocery story trips and cooking in hardtack biscuits for long term storage — in case, you know.
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Hahaha thanks for the motivation. I’ll keep your story idea in mind 😂
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Can totally relate! It took me 6 weeks to finish an online course I could have completed in 2 weeks… And I’ve been doing a 30day yoga challenge for 50 days now hah! But this is a pandemic, not a competition, so we’re fine! 😉
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Getting things planned done – maybe 60-70 per cent. Disclaimer. I’m a freelance writer, editor and writing instructor and so work mostly from home. I decided to tackle all four business projects at once – doing some one day and another next day, etc.. Didn’t work. So, I decided to do one project at a time, based on deadlines. Two are done, and I’m working on the third, finishing the big rewrite of my memoir for my publisher, and the fourth is finishing a heavy edit of a novel for a client. But I was going crazy and realized it was my way of distracting myself from all the COVID-90 stuff which I was keeping on top of by following news reports and talking to other writers via Zoom, Because all public libraries were closed I decided to sort out the unread books scattered in a bedroom bookshelf i and read some. The sorting went better than the reading but I did still had two library books to read. Cooking, gardening and walking were also therapeutic especially after the stress and time taken to do grocery shopping with masks, line-ups and social distancing, Didn’t post to my blogs often or get enough sleep.. But a big highlight is I spent more time with my son (he doesn’t live with me) than I would otherwise – once a week chats – sometimes long – on the phone or via Zoom with quick Facebook messages in-between.
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Two accomplishments: wiring and posting (short_ chapter every day on the fiction blog, and eating better. The latter was easy for me, since my worst habit was hitting the coffee shop for a cup and pastry. Hard to do when the shops are closed.
On the “well, that sucked up more time than I expected,” I’ve been teaching two adult ed. courses, one on witch hunting in early modern Europe, the other on the history of the Supreme Court, and because they were moved to online, had a bit more work than expected.
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Hello there. With kids, they take priority over every thing else. My wife and I have three boys, six grandchildren and one great-grandson. They are our every day priority. Every day. I don’t think you should be so hard on yourself. You have a full time job being a mom. Love your website. Great writing. Take care.
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