The hardest time to find: playtime

I made a new commitment at the beginning of this quarter: I would spend at least 20 hours a week NOT working. Sleeping wouldn’t count (thankfully I get much more than 20 hours of that). Nor would errand-running. Just 20 hours a week for myself to do whatever I like. Three weeks in and I am failing miserably. It turns out that playtime is the hardest time to find.

As I write this at 5:30 on Sunday night, I’m still seven hours short. Even if I were to stop writing and lunge for my TV remote and knitting needles RIGHT NOW, there aren’t seven more hours left in the week.

And, anyway, so much of my to-do list is still not to-done.

Schedule playtime

Once upon a time, playtime came so easily to me. I could spend all weekend curled up with needlepoint and Law & Order reruns. When I felt over-worked, I’d declare an imaginary snow day—with imaginary snow so deep that I couldn’t even make it from the bedroom to my office down the hall. (Climate change is a bitch.)

But since I started building my webinar/writing coach brand extension, my work has definitely expanded to fill the time allotted. And since the time allotted is, with the exception of sleep, fairly infinite…playtime has taken a backseat.

I’m not burned out—been there once and did not enjoy the trip. I love what I do. I just do too much of it.

Every once in a while I remember that relaxation is good for business. (Ironically, that’s one of the topics I write about a lot for my clients.) And here, this article in Inc. backs it up with actual science: “Relaxing Makes You More Creative.” And  smarter, too. Who wouldn’t want that?

So playtime goes in my book this week. Meditation in the morning; relaxation at night. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even finish that shawl I’ve been knitting since July.

  • creativity
  • mindset