Of Time and the Writer

Daylight savings time started last weekend and for once I welcomed it. I’ve been on a strange sleep cycle, waking up earlier and earlier, and when I woke up on Sunday and the clock said 6:00 instead of 5:00 it was a huge relief. Doesn’t make much sense, I know, but it did feel better, and it also made me think about schedules.

• I’ve sometimes wished for one of those sensory-deprivation chambers so that without the cues of the outside world my body would find its own natural sleep-wake cycle. Will I become a napper when my day is my own?
• I’m booking speaking engagements for weekdays during next fall semester and I catch myself worrying about how I’m going to make up the missed days for my students.
• I wonder if I’ll be able to keep track of what day it is when I don’t have the rhythm of the work week to give me cues.
• I also wonder how long it will take for me to stop saying “Next year” when I mean “Next fall,” and will instead think of a year as running from January to December—the way most people do!
• I try to do my major grocery shopping on the weekends because of lack of time during the week and the crowds in the evenings. I’m curious to see what things look like during the day M-F.
• I got into the habit of writing first thing in the morning when my kids became teenagers and slept until the afternoon, leaving me in peace. They’ve been out of the house for a while and that’s still how I operate. Maybe when/if I make a treadmill desk, I’ll shake that up as well.

Time will tell . . .