I read a quote recently over at 43 Folders: “If you don’t know what you want, you probably need a nap.” This really hit home for me, as that aimless wandering feeling strikes me fairly often when I’m at home on the weekend. If I don’t have something actually planned, I usually waste several hours of the weekend trying to figure out what I should be doing.
Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, since vegging out is good for the soul. I’m not one of those people who can be an endless dynamo of boundless enthusiasm. It’s a pity, since I envy those people’s ability to do a whole lot more stuff than I do, hence my interest in 43 Folders and GTD in general. However, since reading that helpful little rule of thumb I’ve taken it to heart. A quick catnap here and there and I end up getting a lot more done than I would have if I’d skipped the naps.
I don’t really function well on less than 7 hours of sleep a night, which is something that I’ve just had to learn to work with. Sometimes I feel like I might be missing out on something if I don’t go to the party, or hang out with a friend, or whatever. Most of the time, though I do miss a few things, it’s not something that ends up mattering in two or three months’ time. Skipping the occasional pleasure in favour of sleep is worth it in the long run.
Which is not to say that I always succeed. This week has been one of those sleep deprived weeks that I’m glad to see the end of. At least half of it was self inflicted, so I can’t really complain, and it was indeed a lot of fun. Struggling through a fairly intense working week with black rings under your eyes isn’t a good look, though. Another lesson about knowing your own limitations, I suppose. I appear to be a very slow learner.