Yesterday, I had a real-live (paid) day off. It was fantastic. After the boys left I went back to bed for about a half hour, not to sleep, but just because I could. Then I got up and got dressed and headed to Panera to work on my novel revisions. I bought a bagel with cream cheese and a hot tea, and went to work. At about eleven, The Man called because we needed to pick out fixtures for the showers at the new house. After that was done, I came back home to a silent house, cleared off the dining table, and went to work again. It was glorious. I’m sorry there was no post yesterday, but sometimes a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do.

The reason I had the day off was because CPAs traditionally take the day after the tax deadline off. I didn’t know this until I started working there, but it’s much deserved. The past three weeks or so have been off-the-rails busy, and the CPAs work much harder and even longer hours than I do.

During that especially busy season, I have realized that I attempt to do almost everything fast. Every task is a hurried rush, I type fast, I drive (slower than I used to – it’s the South, but still) fast, and even at home, I eat too fast.  And I believe this started when I was teaching school, where you literally only had an hour to do all of your planning and prep, and only 25 minutes for lunch. Then the awful job at the boat place reinforced that with answering as many calls as you could, doing way too many tasks simultaneously, and not even taking a lunch break.

These rushing behaviors are leftover, but ingrained. I have decided to consciously slow down. Even with the tax deadline looming, I knew everything would get done, and I down-shifted my speed to a more sane level. It will take some work, but  I think it will be worth it in the end, if only for my health and well being.

My new mantra: “Be the sloth…”