That pesky “in-between” time
In-between time, like the time between getting off work and arriving home, or getting off work and going to teach class, or running from one errand to the next but with extra time in between. That limbo time where you don’t need to engage in the next activity quite yet, but can’t start another activity. Waiting time. Don’t know what to do with yourself time. I feel so lost and anxious in this space. I hate the feeling of wasting time with something I don’t want to do!
Erin left an insightful comment/question on my post yesterday, where I mentioned that I’m always looking for a free “clearing” of time:
My response:
Erin knows me well and has put up with my off style of scheduling for over four years. Run a 5K then 20 miles after so that Kim can fit in her other plans on that weekend, too? Sure, why not.
I’m lucky that my friends put up with the schedule I create for myself.
Anyway.
I’m constantly planning these harebrained schemes that involve jumping from one activity to the next – keeping my schedule super full – but always with that icky in-between time. Not quite enough time to relax. But not time for the next “event,” yet.
It makes me so anxious.
Yet, I do it to myself. I make MY schedule that way.
So, do I schedule less or finally face my anxiety?
Anyone else struggle with the in-between time?
Also – what made me so dang uptight? Ha ha.
Themocracy
wth is in between/free time? If I stop for a minute, I am asleep!
Live it up is what I would say! While you can.
So you don’t have to commute from thing to thing or wait between meetings at work? Or ever wait? I guess I am WAY off base! (or… my description of the type of in-between time I was talking about didn’t make sense)
In between time? Never heard of it…
Where can I get that?
Take a nap!
LOL! 20 minutes to an hour is not enough for a nap for me, even though I know it’s supposed to be 😉 Guess I should be grateful for my “down” time? 😛
downtime isn’t in my vocabulary, but if I get a rare 20 minutes, my eyes are visiting the back of my head! <3
It sounds like everyone is much busier than me! I guess I need tips from you all on how to maximize my time!
that inbetween time I use for errands
I actually kind of love the quiet in-between time between getting off work and starting my evening. But I know the frutration of wanted to DO ALL THE THINGS but also appreciating an open, free schedule to just relax and do nothing.
What do you do during that time? I always feel like it’s wasted if I don’t rush off to the next thing, even though I know that is not the case. Sometimes, I walk Data, and that calms down those feelings 🙂
Usually I go online, check email, blogs, etc – catch up on that stuff before Robert gets home and wants all my attention 🙂 Not that I don’t check all that stuff after dinner too …
I’m not a fan of in-between time either. I like long stretches of back to back activity or long stretches of absolutely nothing. That wasted space in the middle definitely bugs me, which in some ways is odd since I’m in a fan of big stretches of nothingness too! Haha!
Exactly – all back to back or a huge chunk of nada. Yay, someone relates! LOL! I thought I was WAY off base with this one.
My mom says she has problems with those 15-30 minutes chunks of time, too. Like, it’s not enough time to start a project or something but too much time to do nothing. She says she tends to waste them playing on the computer. I don’t know if they make her anxious, though.
For me, I only get anxious if I don’t have a book to read or a magazine to flip through. Although, one day I went to order lunch at Kramer’s and forgot my phone. It took them FOREVER so I just stood there people watching and it was actually quite relaxing!
Yes! Exactly! Your mom has it under control. I doubt she is an anxious mess like me. Unless someone puts the oatmeal container back in the wrong spot 😛
People watching can be SO fun!!! I wonder if playing on the phone makes us more anxious, sometimes!
Oh, if the paper towels are on the roll backwards, watch out! High anxiety time! 🙂
Sometimes I think that refreshing Twitter or Facebook or email on my phone and having NOTHING new come up makes me anxious. Just putting down the phone and not worrying about it is better for me.
I was just talking about this a few days ago! If I had my way about it, I’d go in and work 8 hours straight and call it a day. I have an hour and a half for lunch with a 20-minute commute to and from work, so an 8-hour shift costs me a little over 10 hours a day. And YES it makes me HIGHLY anxious!
One of my students actually gave a little speech on using that in-between time to be productive–like paying some online bills or cleaning out your inbox or just having a book to read. (In short, you shouldn’t just goof off on Facebook.) I thought it was good advice!
When I was TA-ing, our coordinator did a [mandatory] workshop on time management and made us write down what out time commitments were each week, like 6 hours sleeping/day, eating and making dinner, exercise, grading, classes, etc. At the end, she was like, “Look, you actually have sa-hoooo much free time!” but it wasn’t really accurate. The free time we have is split up into weird in-between bits; it’s not like we have three whole uninterrupted hours ever! Since I don’t think I can rearrange my schedule as I see fit though, I guess I should just make the best of my in-between time….
Oops, I just started your next post and realized that I misinterpreted this post. Ahhh, disregard this comment.
No, actually, your comment is helpful. Because it made me think that wasting time screwing around on Facebook and other things actually makes me more anxious, so maybe if I had a small task that would make me feel better. Or maybe, just maybe, someday I will learn to chill 😉