Debra Salonen: Wasting Time

I don't know about you, but I'm terrible at wasting time. Just awful. I keep thinking about all the things I should be doing. Books I could be reading. Books I should be writing. Chores that won't get done by themselves. Dust bunnies that are breeding as I sit there trying to do nothing. This makes doing nothing counterproductive because I'm all stressed out about not doing something productive.

I'm going to make a really bad retiree when the day comes.

But the day will come.

So, lately, I've been thinking about creative time wasting--or, how to waste time in a way that doesn't feel so wasteful. Yes, I see the irony, but...baby steps, people. I'm thinking I need to ease into this. 

So...here's what I've got:

1. Step away from the phone.

Gulp.

Already, I can hear my brain generating a million reasons why this is a bad idea. But, if you think about it, there was a time, not long ago, in fact, when you weren't accessible 24-7. Pre-answering machines. Pre-pagers. Pre-cellphones. If people couldn't reach you, they accepted that you "weren't available." This needing to be available at all times, makes doing nothing very difficult.

2. Accept that walking without a destination or purpose is okay.  If you must, take along a dog. That will allow you to pretend you're doing something useful (and maybe in your dog's opinion, you are). Normally, when I'm walking, I carry my phone so I call family members and catch up on news--something I feel guilty about not doing when I'm working. But, talking is still doing something. So...glancing back at #1...leave the phone at home. Just walk.

3. Practice sitting--without a laptop on your lap. This may require you to sit as far away from your  desk or laptop or electronic device as possible. Even though Facebook is a huge time suck, and, thereby, technically, a waste of time, it's also part of the bigger problem for me: it's work. If there's a computer in range of my hands and eyes, I will be writing...something.

I'd like to share a meme from a book I'm writing for my family called: The Wisdom of Milt. It's based on the sayings of my late father-in-law, Milt Salonen. I love the Zen of this one, and I aspire to reach this time wasting plateau.

 

4. When weather allows, cloud gaze. I live in a part of the world where clouds can feel like a gift, and on those rare days when blue skies are dotted with puffy white orbs, I highly advise assuming a comfy position with appropriate SPF and eye protection, then let your imagination play. Perhaps, you'll get lucky and a dragon will drop by for a visit, as this fellow did a few weeks ago when I was on the coast. If I hadn't been standing outside doing nothing, I wouldn't have noticed.

So, um, that's all I've got. It's going to be an uphill battle, I know, because I come from a long line of busy women. My mother was still cracking walnuts for pay in her nineties.

How do you waste time--and not feel guilty about it? And, since I firmly believe reading is NOT a waste of time, you can't count that. But you can tell me what you're reading because I'm not giving that up EVER. I will pick one name from the comments to receive a $5 Starbucks gift card, because, for me, doing nothing is easier with coffee/or tea.

Deb

You will find Debra Salonen: Amazon  Facebook  Twitter  Website Blog

Winner of Romantic Times Reviewer's Career Achievement "Series Storyteller of the Year" award in 2006, Debra Salonen's 26 titles for Harlequin Publishing have sold more than 2.3 million copies, worldwide.
A six-time nominee for RT's Best Superromance of the Year award, UNTIL HE MET RACHEL (May 2010), took home that honor with Debra's most unlikely hero and a never-say-die heroine.

Montana comes alive with bold heroes and modern heroines in Debra's Big Sky Mavericks series from Tule Publishing, check them out on Goodreads:
`MONTANA COWGIRL - "Cowgirl, you can go home--and love--again."
`MONTANA COWBOY - "He's nobody's cowboy until his new neighbor rocks his world."
`MONTANA DARLING - "Her land. His tent. And this is Montana, where property disputes can lead to a range war...or love."
`MONTANA MAVERICK - "A lone wolf PhD rescues a rancher--and gains a life."
`HER FOREVER GIFT (a FREE holiday novella) - "The system failed him, but she never would."