“We choose what we do with our time. What are you doing with yours?” asks Chris Brogan in his blog about finding and using an extra 30 minutes in each day.
Oh, my Chris! Only an extra half hour? I need more than that. With an extra 30 minutes, I can only conger up more stress: Clean out my inbox, make sure all my calendars are synced, make a to-do list (which would really elevate the stress level!) A 30-minute walk is just 15 minutes one way and turn around, no time to lolly-gag or window shop. I like to lolly-gag, to stop and stare at the river or help a lost tourist. A flat-out exercise walk precludes those options.
But if I had an extra hour, a 25-hour day, now that I’d enjoy. With an hour, my options could include:
- Get a massage;
- Add yoga to my day;
- Walk along the HudsonRiver and sit for awhile to watch the boats;
- Brew a pot of tea and catch-up with a friend;
- Take a bike ride in Central Park;
- Read a book that is unrelated to work
- Swim (that getting dry and dressed takes 30 minutes by itself but, oh, the soothing effects of water!);
- Thoroughly explore one gallery of any museum
As to the work I could do in an extra hour: Tidy up; write a blog or read an instructive book. Not what I want to do that with my extra hour! My work would fare better from letting my mind recharge and reboot. All those things in the list above will help me work smarter when I get back to the keyboard.
Of course, work would find a way to encroach on any added time. Happily, there are extensions, apps and gizmos that can be installed on your computer to sound alarms and put up big red boxes on your computer screen to remind you to “Take your hands off the keyboard. Release the mouse. Walk away from the computer .. and LIVE A LITTLE!
An extra hour a day? That’s what I’d do.
How would you spend an extra hour each day? Work or play?
Flickr photo by Riebart