The tyranny of free time

“Have a nice break.”

I know students and other mean well, but “breaks” are very stressful for me.

I’m sure I’ve complained about this before, but work rarely stops. Before classes start up again, I have a conference (SICB in New Orleans), potentially an NSF pre-proposal to write, and two projects where data collection ends on 1 January that I can start writing up.

Second, and increasingly so, I feel pressure to make the best use of my time on things other than work.

“Hey, I have nothing slated for today! Should I do my laundry? Go shopping? Write a blog post? Play a video game? Read a book? Watch those DVD bonus features? Netflix binge on that show I’ve been meaning to catch up on? Work out at the wellness center? Clear all the crap out of my office? Clear all the crap out of my apartment?”

At least with work, I know what I am supposed to be doing. With my time, things are not so clear.