Time, time, time...

[serene]

Around the beginning of the year, I started an experiment: One Thing a Day. If I've got one thing scheduled for a particular day (including my day job), I don't schedule anything else, with very rare exceptions.

Oh, my gosh. This has been such a help in getting enough rest and down time. I wondered if I'd be able to do it, I really did, but so far, I've said no to tons of stuff, and the world hasn't come crashing down on my head. I mean, I do sometimes miss the amount of social contact I can have when I'm doing lots more, but it's much better for me to have this level of peace and solitude and quiet.

Sometimes, two things are happening on a particular day, and I want to do them both. I schedule one, only one, and note that the other is happening. If I have the energy, I am free to do the second thing (a baby shower this Sunday immediately before a women's open mic I like is a good example). Rarely have I had the social energy to do the second thing, so it feels to me like this arbitrary one-thing-a-day boundary also really reflects my own natural social-energy boundaries. Maybe that's why it's working so well.

I was talking with dryadgrl about this the other day, and one thing that helps me to respect my own boundaries is to think of how many things there are to do in the Bay Area, even if I only did things my friends are attending -- there is *no way* I could do them all, even if I tried, so every day of my life is about choosing what to do and what not to do. One thing a day is enough. More than enough, some days.

This next three weeks is going to be about resting and packing and getting ready for Tokyo. In Tokyo, it will be about letting everything go and following the group around, without any obligations or appointments except to roll with what comes every day. I'm liking that idea.

And when I get back, more of the same.

It feels really good to say that I'm happy with where my life is now, and I want it to stay this way.

Comments

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

I'm flirting with the 'one thing a day' rule on the basis of limits to physical rather than social energy. I'm starting to realise just how madly I tend to rush about otherwise - no wonder I never get anything finished. And the world hasn't crashed around my ears, either :-)

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

Hey! that's kind of like what I do except I've got you beat by one, I don't schedule anything every day.

Oddly enough, I wind up not getting anywhere near enough rest or as much done as it might seem I could but I generally have a bunch of fun along the way. So it's similar. heh.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

One thing a day -- that's a thought. Or maybe, for me, one thing a weekend. I tend to run out of social energy early.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, something like a concert, movie, or party I figure I can generally deal with about one a week. On the other end I see people who seem to flip out if it looks like a night is about to go by *without* about three things to go to.