Take Your Time

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

"I think there's some understanding that there's an incipient and growing movement for more time here, and I think the message behind these articles is, 'See, there's not really an alternative, so shut up and work overtime,'" de Graaf says.

OF COURSE, NO ONE says the revolution can't begin at home. There are a number of things we can do as individuals to carve out a sanctuary from our busy lives:

Embrace solitude. "Loneliness is the poverty of self," poet May Sarton declared. "Solitude is the richness of self." It is only in those quiet, empty moments of repose, when we are finally, blissfully alone, that we can daydream, stare out a window, talk to ourselves, or engage in random thoughts and the luxury of being bored.

Cultivate your inner Dilbert. Use all of your vacation and sick time (even if you're not sick). Overall, American workers gave up $21 billion last year in unused vacation time. Look out for yourself, because your company won't do it for you.

Focus on the moment. Grate a radish, rub your dog's belly, or simply savor that first glorious sip of morning espresso, and you will understand what novelist Henry Miller meant when he said, "The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself."

Cancel your plans with someone. He or she will love you for it.

Reconsider your "dream job." Leisure professor Ben Hunnicutt says we have unreal expectations about fulfilling our creative urges and realizing our humanity and changing the world through our jobs. "I see very little hope for a reevaluation of leisure until our expectation that the American Dream is fulfilled by a job that is rewarding, has a good salary, and so on, begins to change," Hunnicutt says.

Engage in proactive television watching. Television, many experts say, is a big reason we feel crunched for time. We park ourselves on the couch intending to watch only one, maybe two, shows, and hours later, we're still there. But the experience of watching, in one sitting, entire seasons of television programs now available on DVD -- The Office, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City -- is one that I've found requires and rewards deep focus.

Learn to say no. Be mercenary about your engagements.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print