One thing at a time

This is the post that I started writing a few days ago and then decided was not worthwhile because we might be on the verge of WW III. But I grew up expecting WW III and although the last half of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century have not been exactly peaceful, the world also did not come to an end. I’m not going to prognosticate about the possible fate of the world. That is not my job. I’m not qualified. I’m just going to continue living as if life goes on because it does. 

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Do you know what people should do more often? One thing at a time. Do you know what’s way overrated? Multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is a plague and a scourge, and we should all rise up as one and flatly refuse to try to accomplish three 15-minute tasks in one single five-minute span of time. 

This is what I thought to myself as I worked on two computers simultaneously; connected to a Teams call on one computer and trying to figure out what is wrong with my SharePoint site on another, while also responding to text messages from my boss (who knew I was on the Teams call because she was on the very same call so why is she also texting me) and trying not to tear my hair out and trying really really hard not to lose my composure and tell all of the people who were talking in my ear and filling up my inbox to for crying out loud shut up for five gosh dang minutes. 

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That day finally ended, and I had just enough time to walk outside. There was a 20-degree temperature differential in the wrong direction from the previous day, and I was unprepared for the cold. The shock of the arctic wind, its sharpness, forced me to walk fast, as though I had to get somewhere in a hurry. The sun was shining, and higher in the sky at 5:15 PM than it was a month ago and it looked for all the world like a balmy spring day but it was just so cold. The transition from winter to spring is just beginning, and a cold spring day always feels colder than a cold winter day. 

Yes, that was a day, I tell you what. It’s Saturday now, Saturday of a blessed three-day weekend and even though I will need to do some work this weekend, I don’t have to answer the phone or respond to email or plug myself into my laptop for Teams or Zoom or WebEx calls. 

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What do you call a three-day weekend when you spend the second day of it working? Well, not the whole second day, but a good part of it. It’s not really a three-day weekend anymore and it’s also not a two-day weekend either, if you like your weekends to consist of two consecutive days. I could have worked on Monday rather than Sunday but Sunday was cold and Monday was warm. Of those two days, Sunday was the better day to be inside working. 

My niece and nephew spent the afternoon with us. They are very easy children. My nephew likes to play basketball and watch football and play “Madden,” and so my sons can easily entertain him. My niece is five. She likes to draw pictures and write stories and play with dolls and stuffed animals. She occupied herself for most of the afternoon, stopping by my desk every 20 minutes or so to tell me what her stuffed animals were up to, or to show me a drawing or a story, or to request candy. When it comes to candy, the girl knows that Aunt Claire is an easy mark. She nods her head solemnly when I tell her that the piece of candy that I am handing her is the very last piece she’s getting, but she knows and I know and she knows that I know that she’ll probably ask for another piece and that she’ll very likely get it. 

When my brother-in-law came to pick the children up, he told me that on the 100th day of school, my niece’s  kindergarten teacher had asked the class to think about what they wanted to do when they were 100 years old. Odd assignment for a gang of five-year-olds, no? My niece’s answer to this question was this: “I want to sit on the couch with hot chocolate and watch my shows.” And I thought, damn right. You’re 100 gosh dang years old and by golly, you have earned the right to park yourself on the couch, sip hot chocolate, and enjoy your shows. Get up out of Memaw’s seat, you know what I mean? Get up out of Memaw’s seat, hand her the remote, and keep the noise down. Maybe get her a pillow or a footstool. Pour some nice hot chocolate. Make yourself useful. 

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I keep thinking about this and not because it’s hilarious, although it is. It’s because I’m tired and I need a rest and I’m not sure that I want to wait until I’m 100. I mean, I don’t want to retire or anything. I don’t want to spend my days on the couch just yet. But I would like a day or so when I don’t have to be on the clock, literally or metaphorically. I’d like a day or so when I don’t have to do anything. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that sort of day. Even weekends aren’t really weekends anymore. Even vacations aren’t really vacations. I read and respond to emails at all hours of the day. My to-do lists have their own to-do lists. I am always scheming about how to cram multiple tasks into the same five-minute span of time. I’m always multi-tasking. 

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So it’s a week since I first started writing this, and today, Friday February 25, was exactly the same kind of too-busy, multi-tasking, hair-pulling day as last Friday, even down to the multiple phones and computers. Add a password reset issue and I’m absolutely charming right now. It’s almost 4:30 and I have one more very short call and then I’m going to go outside. The cherry trees were bare yesterday, but they started to bloom overnight. Cherry tree season only lasts for a few weeks and I don’t want to multi-task my way through it. I don’t want to miss it.