There is a thing as ‘Too Much Time’

It has been one year to the day as we sat in anticipation in front of our TV screens waiting an announcement, we knew was weeks in the making. Boris Johnson addressing the UK, and implementing a national lockdown.

Oh, what a novelty, to work from home, not have to commute and for those lucky enough to be furloughed, time off for our own activities. This was going to be three weeks of enjoying the weather, getting the garden done, eating better, DIY projects, exercising, all the activities we tell ourselves we will focus on, if only we had more time.

We all knew it wouldn’t be three weeks and as the lockdown extended to three months, we at least had the summer to enjoy it. We were able to enjoy the outdoors, leave our homes and enjoy nature and all that that offered.

The summer came to a close and everyone stopped showing off about their lives. The food they’d cooked, the walks they had been on, the online events they were invited too, it felt like everyone was trying to one up each other on social media (myself included).

Yet, as we hit the year anniversary of when lockdown was first introduced, time is doing some strange things. It also recently dawned on me that we can have too much time and it isn’t always a good thing.

If like me, you have a job and are working from home, there is a soothing routine to your week Monday – Friday, 9am to 5pm. There are meetings, calls and tasks to be completed. It is the unlimited amounts of time on weekends that have always caused me anxiety and stress.

I have my business, writing books so I factor this into my weekend, to make sure I write. Yet hours of unaccounted for time cause me to dread the day ahead of me. What to do with 48 hours where you have to be accountable to yourself?

The last few weeks it made me realise that I needed to allocate time to tasks. I wake up earlier to do Yoga (a new favourite of mine), cook and clean and then shower to get on with an afternoon of writing and/or being creative.

It has taken a long time to find some sort of rhythm where the weekend and the time ahead doesn’t fill me with dread. I do what I can to not procrastinate for hours on end. I allow myself an hour to watch a bit of telly or read a book, so it doesn’t just feel like I’m always working. I’m slowly changing toxic habits, because for the longest time, it was time itself stretching ahead of me that would scare me.

So, when people say ‘I wish I had more time’, do they really mean it? Do they really need or want so much unlimited time, as it can be quite daunting knowing what to do with it all?

Because the reality is, too much time isn’t always what it is cracked up to be.