summer retreat: 6.7.11

June 7, 2011


day 9
hello!! how did the auditing go if you participated? i spent at least 45 precious minutes of my time yesterday stalking the HLS website [luckily, it paid off and i will be attending for the third time]. today, our theme is a slight spin-off of the time is life topic — the idea of

work vs. leisure.

it sounds so simple, right? but i know that it’s not — at least for me. and i’m guessing i’m not alone in feeling like i’m often floating in some grey-area territory [weisure!??].

and i’d love to stop. because in blending fun + work into sort-of-working-while-kinda-trying-to-have-fun, no one wins. i can’t focus well [and the resulting work can be of questionable quality], i never make it to the coveted flow state, and distracted/hurried fun just isn’t that fun.

so today, the goal is to try to sharpen those lines that may have blurred and put work and leisure back into separate corners. to me, this means:

✔ remaining focused on work while at work — to me, this does not mean no breaks ever, but work periods should be solid and not punctuated by random email checks and the like.

✔ doing something [watching a tv show? taking a walk?] after work that is just for fun

✔ putting away work after a designated hour [again, this doesn’t mean you can’t do some work from home if needed; lately, that has been reality for me. but i can set a time to be DONE!]


government data on time use in 2009

writing
think about the ways that you tend to blend work and leisure. and ponder — just for a moment — how much time you spend doing things JUST for yourself [and for fun] during a typical work week. is it sufficient? too much?

on the flip side, consider whether your work time is as focused as it can/should be. write about changes you might implement to help sharpen the work/play dichotomy.

reading
✔ lots of fun statistics to browse through at the government’s time-use survey site

✔ an interesting take on the role of leisure in society here. my favorite quote:

“Guilt about not being “productive enough” is a manifestation of the Puritan work ethic. If you feel guilty, inadequate, or undeserving when you are “goofing off” (meaning not engaged in something productive, usually for pay), consider the fact that if there were no wage slavery, concepts such as goofing off would be meaningless. There would simply be activities, and people doing them, or not doing them. Neither would be elevated as some kind of virtue, condemned as some sort of trap, or used as reason to deny them the necessities and comforts of life.”

✔ scott young’s take on balancing work + leisure time — some useful tips

meditation
set yourself up for a focused workday by giving yourself 5 minutes to clear your mind and focus your intentions right before beginning to work [or at home before you head to work, if that’s easier!]

mini-assignment
designate a specific block of time this evening to devote to pure, unadulterated leisure time . . . and enjoy it!

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in other news:
RIP, little golf:

i’m so sorry it didn’t end well. i’ll miss you!!

buying my first car [probably] today!! i sort of can’t believe it . . .

50 mpg = let’s go!!

and, as i am rather behind on . . . everything right now, i’ll end here. regular shubox programming to return eventually 🙂

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