Yesterday we gained an hour when we turned back our clocks for the ole "Fall Back" portion of the semi-annual time-shifting equation. Since that "extra hour" happened while I was sleeping, my body just absorbed it while I dreamed of hitting the bestseller lists.
I'll notice the difference when I want to fall asleep about fourteen hours earlier than usual. Or when I look outside and see that it's pitch black by mid-afternoon, and I'm forced to acknowledge it's going to be like that until we get to fiddle with the clocks again in a few months.
Yet, even without all the clock changing, time is such a fluid commodity.
The other day I was absorbed with Lord Wastrel, the story I'm working on for NaNoWriMo. My brain zipped around like a toddler on a sugar blitz, shrieking, "And then THIS happened, and then THAT. . ." and my fingers nearly set the keyboard on fire keeping up with the frenzy of words.
It was a glorious experience watching the word count rack up, the same way the numbers whiz by on the gas pump nowadays. I managed 3200 words before I fell to the ground in a heap, not knowing if an hour had passed or if it was closer to a decade. It didn't even matter. The euphoria of being totally consumed by the story made time my bitch.
Of course, there are the other days: when time gets to be the dominant one, and I'm the meek submissive.
We humans supposedly experience the same sixty seconds to every minute, the same sixty minutes to every hour. But it feels like somebody is messing with that time-honored recipe when the words aren't flowing so freely. In fact, it's easy to believe that time is not only stretching out beyond eternity, it is also erasing two words every time you type a new one.
So I'm trying to look at this gift of an extra hour in a slightly different way. I resolve to not celebrate "Daylight Wasting Time" every day. Since I know that time is going to expand and contract—essentially giving me less time when I need it and more time when I don't—I plan to use it for the things that matter most.
For me that is going to be writing, and writing-related activities. (Yes, coffee and chocolate consumption are at the top of the writing-related activity list. It would be silly to say otherwise.)
Your list of what matters will vary from mine, and it should. We all value different things, and that's what makes life so interesting. It's also what gives us plenty of stuff to write about.
And I'm not going to promise I won't waste ANY time, ever. That's impossible. I just want to make sure the time wasting I do engage in doesn't prevent me from accomplishing the things that make me the happiest.
We never get that wasted time back. It's not something that can be reclaimed, recycled, or reused. Not even when we set our clocks backwards or forwards in a vain attempt to capture those elusive moments of daylight.
The best we can hope for is that we'll get more time every single day—a minimum of twenty-four hours, one right after the other--along with the choice of how we'll use it.
So what's your favorite way to waste time? Or do you have a time-waster that you don't like? Maybe we can find you a new one!
Well, one person's wasting is another person's gold. I suppose my favorite wasting time thing to do is is start a book and read straight through to the finish.
I'm one of those odd ones who actually enjoy having more hours in the evening. I sat in Starbucks on Sunday and was there long enough to see the afternoon darken as I worked revisions. I enjoy time like that.
I like your idea about time being fluid. Maybe Q will come by and chime in on this!
Posted by: Maureen | November 08, 2010 at 12:40 AM
Maureen, you're right -- "wasting" can be different things, depending on a person's outlook. I have a hard time thinking of reading a book to the finish as "wasting time". :)
I have a harder time with the darkness starting earlier because it also comes with bitterly cold weather (we were supposed to have our first snowflakes yesterday!) I'm guessing it's different in California. :)
But more writing time is always a good thing!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 08, 2010 at 09:18 AM
Have you been looking over my shoulder? Is this a friendly wake up call to ME in the form of a blog post?
My BIGGEST time waster EVER is online Rummikub. It is like crack, well, what I would imagine crack would be like. I can't stay away from it; I am seriously considering establishing some parental controls against myself to stay away from it.
If I were to combine this post of yours with your procrastination posts and LIVE them like I was a follower of Donnatology, I might actually get something done!
So thanks, I guess, for the gentle poke in the back........
Posted by: Bren | November 08, 2010 at 09:21 AM
Bren, no, it is not a friendly wake-up call to anyone. :) Well, usually I write about things that will improve ME. LOL But I'm not as devoted a follower of Donnatology as I could be! At least if I acknowledge what needs doing I can head that direction, right? :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 08, 2010 at 09:59 AM
So! Going to take over the world with a new religion? Donnatology! Man, I need a catchy title for my cult...
I actually realized I have a different HOA than most this weekend. To avoid writing on my current WIP...or revisions...I write. I write anything but what is at the top of the list. I write blogs, shorts...etc.
And yup, Donna...autumn here on the Central Coast is really the best season of the year. The sunsets are to die for, the canopy opens up as leaves fall... And our rain doesn't turn ugly until Jan/Feb...and sometimes not even then!
Move to CA... ;-)
Posted by: Maureen | November 08, 2010 at 12:04 PM
LOL -- I don't want the responsibility of running a cult! So don't worry about me taking over the world. :)
I think it's good to write other things. Your brain is using that to work out solutions to other writing problems--in fact, I'm amazed how many blog posts pop into my head because I'm working on my WIP.
I love CA, but don't see me moving there anytime soon. :) I'm not really sure WHERE I'll be going next. . .still pondering that one!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 08, 2010 at 12:50 PM
I love the fall change in the clocks because I'm a morning person. Being able to rise an hour earlier and get something done before the rest of the world awakens... That's my kind of heaven.
My biggest time-waster is giving in to negative thinking. I'm working on that. :)
Posted by: Jan O'Hara | November 08, 2010 at 01:37 PM
Jan, I like those quiet morning times when you have the world to yourself. It does seem heavenly. I just want to have that AND the daylight at the end of the day. LOL
Mmm, I hadn't really thought about negative thinking as a time waster, but you are so right. A lot of wasted energy too!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 08, 2010 at 02:06 PM
I love that it's not dark when I get up in the morning and will gladly take the tradeoff of it being dark earlier. It just doesn't seem normal to get up when it's dark. LOL
Hmm, least favorite time waster is probably commuting time, the hour to and from college by car as a passenger. I feel like I should be doing something but I get car sick by reading. Either that or the road rage tendencies of the car pool driver is distracting. LOL I use to love long commutes actually by train, which didn't bother me for some reason, and it was my favorite time waster. I use to spend an hour on the train commuting to DC and read a ton of books! Good thing I was at the end of the line or I would have missed my stop. LOL
Posted by: Melissa | November 08, 2010 at 07:30 PM
Melissa, I guess I'm in the minority here, because it doesn't seem natural that it's dark at 4:30 p.m. LOL In fact, on a rainy day like today it was dark ALL day. I don't know whether it's morning or night without looking at the clock! LOL
I completely agree with you about commuting. I've spent what feels like years of my life in that time-waster. I do like riding on trains -- there is something soothing about the motion and I love watching the scenery go by. Wish you could do that now so you could do homework or reading for school. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 08, 2010 at 07:48 PM
I honestly think that I'm a throwback to a time when our ancestors lived in nice dark caves, gathered around a fire and told stories. So, for me...I totally dig the long evening and telling stories.
And if I do have to get up early, it's nice when it isn't desperately dark.
Posted by: Maureen | November 08, 2010 at 08:21 PM
Maureen, never fear -- you are in the majority! I am the one who is in need of sunshine and warmth. . .I seriously need to move to the tropics. LOL
And by the time I wake up in the morning the sun is usually up first. If only I could get it to start the coffee. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 08, 2010 at 09:45 PM
Don - I know I'm going to enjoy the Friday blog on the Revenge so much better this Friday, because it won't be pitch black when I climb out of bed! Those mornings are hell...
Posted by: Maureen | November 09, 2010 at 04:31 PM
Great blog, Donna. High on my list of favorite time-wasters is listening to my kid's impromptu guitar concert. The time-suck I hate? Uh? Walking past the teenagers' bathroom guarantees an hour of cleaning duty. Totally pointless because they are, after all, teenage boys.
Posted by: Clarissa Southwick | November 09, 2010 at 06:29 PM
Maureen, I sympathize -- I'm not a morning person and when I'm forced to get up earlier than usual the day is harder than it should be. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 09, 2010 at 06:39 PM
Clarissa, I think the impromptu guitar concert shouldn't be a time-waster. It sounds like it could be inspiration instead!
You definitely need some blinders for when you pass the teenage boys' bathroom! LOL I think I'd squeeze my eyes shut and RUN!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 09, 2010 at 06:41 PM
Favorite time waster? Facebook, definitely. Least favorite: Anything having to do with cleaning supplies and toilet brush scrubbers.
Posted by: Liz Fichera | November 10, 2010 at 08:58 AM
Liz, I have to say Twitter is probably my biggest use of "non-writing time". I tell myself it's part of the business of writing, but I know that not ALL of it qualifies as that!
And cleaning? I'm definitely with you on that!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | November 10, 2010 at 11:19 AM