Have you ever said “if only I had an extra hour in the day!”? Well, this Sunday is your chance. Daylight Savings Time ends. If you are generally well-rested, there is a good chance you will pop up an hour earlier this Sunday, without having to give up an hour of sleep. This week has 169 hours as the clocks fall back. Sunday has 25 hours.
So what do you intend to do with the extra hour?
It’s kind of a facetious question, since I know most of us will do absolutely nothing different. That’s why I tend to think the excuse “if only I had another hour in the day!” has a few holes in it (I’m quoted saying that in Martha Stewart Living this month; check out the Healthy Living section on p. 175). If we normally putter around the house on Sunday, we’ll putter for an hour longer. We may feel just a bit more chipper at church or doing whatever we normally do on Sunday mornings.
But still, if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and busy these days, it’s worth pondering. What could you do with an extra hour? Go for a walk? Read a good book? Sit in the hammock? Just be sure to ask the second part of the question: So how do I fit that into the 168 hours I usually have? I’m sure there’s a way. Turn off the TV an hour earlier at night and read instead. Go to bed an hour earlier and wake up earlier so you can go for a walk before work. Make a weekend hour in the hammock non-negotiable. None of this requires an extra hour. Just a commitment to building the lives we want in the 168 hours we’ve got.
What about when you travel somewhere and gain 3 hours?
Course when you head back you usually also “Loose” the time… But still
Reading, exercise, all on my list!
@Cara – one reason I love flying to the west coast (without kids, that is) – you get in at night, then pop awake the next morning at 6AM full of energy, and with several free hours. With kids is another story. They wake up at like 4AM.
I’m going to the field trip of a photography class — meeting at 7am. I will be very grateful that it will feel like 8am!
@Joy – now that sounds like a fun way to spend the extra hour!
I wound up sleeping. Went to bed at 9pm last night, which meant I slept 5 hours straight. Very nice. I needed it.