A Post a Day in May #31: It's about time

I have pledged to write a new post for this blog every day in May. 

"Michelle had been setting her alarm five minutes earlier every day...She needed more time, there simply wasn't enough of it. This was the only way she could think of making it..."

This character struck me when I first read Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories more than a decade ago, and her approach to time management has remained in the back of my brain ever since. Today, I realize that I suffer the same problem and have a similar solution: not enough time and getting up earlier — and earlier — to try to rectify it. 

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash 

I used to think that 6 a.m. was early. Ha! What did I know? Not much, until I experienced 4 a.m. Man, did I get a lot of marking done between 4:15 and 6:30 a.m. I was actually ahead of the game that (one) time. I hadn’t planned to wake up that early, but once I was awake I took advantage of the opportunity to get a jump on the day. Now, I purposely set my alarm for 5:30, but often wake on my own (or with the aid of Holly, the cat and her need for breakfast) well before then. 

I love this early time in the morning: it’s quiet in the house, in the neighbourhood and, I like to imagine, in the larger world out there. Of course, I realize there’s murder and mayhem at every hour, including these early hours, but I always enjoy experiencing this special time not everyone even knows exists. While my version of Michelle’s “five minutes earlier every day” doesn’t actually manufacture more time in the day, this practice of early rising does give me a jumpstart on the same old 24 hours we all have. I use the time to scroll through my online world, continue work on a collage-in-progress, write, drink tea, move on to coffee, watch the people walk their dogs down my street...and eventually get ready to head to work. 

I’m also very partial to the special time at the end of my work day, when I’m home from school but it’s not yet time to start making supper. In our house, that’s usually tea and conversation time. I will always have a cup of tea, Val sometimes will, and we chat about our days. It’s a routine that provides a comforting ritual with which to transition from work mind to home mind. 

At the very end of the day, once I’m in bed, the equivalent ritual is reading that takes me from active engagement in the day to transitioning to sleep. It doesn’t matter how late it is or how tired I am, I always read at least a few pages of whatever book I have on the go. Partly, it relaxes me, but mostly I do this as my way of marking the close of my day. I don’t like to end the day doing things outside of myself; I prefer to quieten the external world and pull into myself through the story and the characters in my book. 

I’ll have to reread Case Histories to remind myself of how Michelle manages night time. But I already know that if she stays up later and later, I’ll have to find myself a new model to emulate. Regardless of how I spend my days, when it comes to managing my time, I’m much more rooster than I am night owl. 

Thanks for reading. 

Quote is from page 34, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (2004). New York: Back Bay Books.

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