Being Busy: Notes on Summer.
Tue 31 Jul 2007 – 11.55
Summer is supposed to be the time when people relax. We take days off, we go to the beach, we drink lemonade on people’s back porch and talk about nothing.
Um, yea. Not quite.
I made the foolish move a few weeks back of double-booking myself. A freelance client of mine was moving forward with a series of projects, but I made the boneheaded maneuver of agreeing to work on-site for a different client. So the past two weeks have been insane with work, often destroying weekends and night sleeps to meet the deadlines of one, and the physical requirements of the other (ie, showing up.) So if I’ve neglected the blog, please excuse me. I do that from time to time, and try to make up for it by busting out a series of posts in short succession, and back-dating them appropriately.
But my time has been split lately with the task of finding a new apartment. Initially, Mike and I were going to look together, but it seems he’s staying put, leaving me to find a new place by myself. So for the second time in less than a year, I’m looking for a shared apartment with roommates I don’t know.
Not sure if I’ve said it on this blog, but I’m training for the marathon. While most of the hours dedicated occur on Saturday or Sunday morning, I make the effort to go on short runs twice during the week. Harder than it sounds.
I haven’t been to the gym in about 3 weeks. Which sucks. I made the observation a while ago that my work-life balance is depends a great deal on my physical state. The balance of sleep, diet, and excersize has the ability to affect my mood and my energy levels to a huge degreee. When I’m in the groove, working out 4 times a week, running 3 times a week, eating home-cooked meals and sleeping 7-8 hours a night, I feel great! Absolutely brilliant and with energy to spare. Somehow, I manage to get everything done and even sneak in a night of swing dancing once a week. But when that balance goes awry, like it has lately, I find it harder and harder to accomplish normal everyday tasks, like waking up in the morning! It’s actually a pretty terrible spiral, and I’m not sure why it happens like this in the first place. Also, I find it harder and harder to get back into the routine, but that’s what everyone finds, so it’s not just me.
This Summer has been tough for a number of reasons. First off, my apartment is HOT! With no air conditioning, and limited circulation, I find myself sweating bullets while simply sitting behind my desk or trying to sleep. I hate to comment about the weather, but it has ruined more than a few nights this summer leading to bad night sleeps and unproductivity on the work front.
In addition to my silly apartment, I have found my friends to be increasingly distant this summer. Laura and Mike, my two closest friends-of-old-who-now-live-in-the-City both spend nearly every weekends down the shore at their respective houses. They flee on Friday night (or earlier) and sometimes don’t return until Monday morning (or later). And while I have seen some of my older and more obscure friends (from high school), it’s been a bit lonely.
Like many a design geek (or workaholic, or tv addict) I find myself constantly caught up in that cycle of guilt that comes from spending daylight hours indoors. After my weekend runs, I spend the entire weekend inside, often napping or catching up on work, reading, blogging, laundry, movies, and other things I can’t get to during the week. This fits right in to the point about my sweltering apartment, because I’m trapped inside the whole bloody time. But there are only so many things I can do outdoors — read books/magazines, listen to audiobooks/podcasts/music, or do sports. At least, those are the only things to do alone.
Everyone takes vacations in August. My parents have been in Puerto Rico since June, and they want me to come down, at least for a few days. Wouldn’t that be nice. But I feel that I can’t go anywhere because I’m trapped looking for an apartment (and job, but not as urgently), working to deadlines, training for the marathon, and just having other obligations on weekends. I went to Canada a few weeks back for a long weekend, and when I returned I was so behind on everything from sleep to listening to podcasts. I haven’t even been the Maplewood pool yet this summer. Jay and I had to schedule a Saturday when we can meetup in the ole ‘wood for a swim. I don’t like the beach, but the fact that I haven’t spent a weekend with friends is troubling.
Summer isn’t over yet. In fact, August is only just beginning. If I find a place to live quickly, I may very well find myself freed each weekend until October, when summer ends. Deadlines are passing and I may soon be working form home again. I plan on getting back to the gym, and to continue my marthon training with renewed fervor. So maybe I’m overreacting. Still, it’s a shame that this, my most recent busy period, had to occur during summer.
For a similar and better-written rant about summertime, check out Seasons of a Freelancer by Kristen Fischer
posted by Scott in careers, life.
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