So I discovered that I’m really not that good at relaxing. Sure I’m lazy and can spend the whole day reading a book or binge watch an entire season on Netflix but while doing so I’m alway aware that I’m not doing any of the 112 things on my to do list. That nagging guilt follows me. So yesterday after umpteen days of being home I realized that I’m way busier that I was when I was going to the office. It’s hard to know when to stop. And I knew that to be productive the coming week I really did need to disconnect.
After a nice Sunday brunch that I cooked at home I cranked through my entire list for the day and was pretty much done mid afternoon. Something felt “off”. I tried to read but it felt as if something was missing. I thought about starting on the next day’s tasks but that seemed over the top – I knew I needed rest. Finally I realized what it was. I couldn’t relax without the specter of something unfinished looming over me. Being “done” and actually really relaxing was new and foreign. So my son poured me a glass of Vino Verde and we watched Frozen and Frozen 2. It was marvelous. The moral of this story is – relaxing when you are “done” allows you to truly get value out of that relaxing.