Last night I watched the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy. It’s now on season 20 and over the years I’ve watched every single episode.
Why am I telling you this? Because I wondered this morning how much time I’ve spent watching that one show. Google kindly tells me 425 episodes have aired and that they are 40 minutes long each.
That means I’ve spent nearly 12 solid days watching Grey’s Anatomy.
12 days.
I’m not completely sure how I feel about that.
I do really enjoy watching Grey’s Anatomy and I always have done, so maybe it’s time well spent? But maybe not.
Time is finite. We only have a certain amount of it, and we never know exactly how much. When we’re young life feels endless, but the older I get, the more aware I am that it isn’t.
I constantly feel like I am running out of time. In the morning I drop the kids off at school, walk the dog, get the house straight, sit down to do some work and before I know it, it’s 3pm again and I’m running to pick my boys up.
My husband James jokes that I’m not great at time because I’m forever underestimating how long it will take to travel somewhere. It tends to be the time in between things that I can’t judge. I will err on the side of an optimistic ‘it’ll be fine’, but sometimes it isn’t.
I am often slightly late.
To most people I think I seem quite organised. I am an avid list maker and planner, which helps me get stuff done, feel calm and manage my poor sense of time (see above). Apparently there is a link between ‘time blindness’ and dyslexia. Maybe that’s the reason I find it so hard to gauge?
Or maybe it’s simply because I’m always trying too do too much. I’ve written before about the juggle of motherhood, work, following my dreams and being more conscious of where I put my energy.
There is so much that I still want to do with my time. So many books I want to write, places I want to explore, people I want to spend time with. My generation was lied to, it isn’t possible to have, or do, it all. At least not at the same time.
You have to make choices about how you spend your time. And who you spend it with.
So for anyone reading this who wants to write a book but feels like they don’t have time. You do. But something else will have to give. (I have a post full of writing tips here.)
I only spend 15 minutes a day on social media and actually watch very little TV (apart from Grey’s Anatomy). I make time for exercise but tend to favour 20 minute workouts that I can do from home (hello Yoga with Adrienne and Nourish Move Love).
My husband James is fascinated by successful entrepreneurs. He loves to hear how they structure their lives. So many of them wake up early and have every minute of their days planned out to maximise their time.
Just the thought of that makes me feel exhausted. It seems like a very masculine way (energetically speaking) of doing things to make sure that all your time is spent productively. Sure, I like a list, but they tend to be rewritten daily and are fairly fluid.
We are not machines and none of us can keep going at a relentless pace. Time may be short, but if we never make time to rest, we will burn out.
I learnt that the hard way a few years ago when I got very poorly for a while. I only began to heal when I worked with an Ayurvedic Practitioner and made radical changes to my lifestyle. I’ll always remember that at our first meeting she told me I had to rest or I’d never get well.
Rest? I was a mum of two boys under five. There was never any time to sit down, let alone rest.
But she was right and I was reminded of it this week when I read Nikita Gill’s post about the importance of being unproductive, of slowing down, of rest.
This week I haven’t slept well, my kids have had nightmares and have needed me between the hours of 11pm and 5am. I am tired. I have less capacity to do all the things. And do you know what, that’s ok. It’s not forever, it’s just where I’m at right now.
Sometimes, resting, or watching your favourite TV show is time well spent. Sometimes it isn’t.
I think the trick is listening to your body and your intuition. Then it’s about having the guts to follow that wisdom, whether you decide to go for a new job, or get an early night.
I think most people would benefit not from doing more with their time, but from being more conscious about the choices they make with it.
It all comes down to a question of how we choose to spend the time we do have.
I've watched Game of Thrones 4 times and 'The Wire,' three times. I consider that time well spent.
I got tired of reading about these serial entrepreneurs getting up before they go to bed to be productive. Do they have a family? Do they care? Who looks after the kids? Who picks them up from the nursery when they have banged head?
Quality down time is important: I unplug, read (fiction), have a nice cup of tea and let my eyes close when the feel like it every afternoon. I do that for days on end at Christmas (and watch old movies). That's how I keep going and enjoy life.