Not Bloody Sundays
Sunday is typically a day of rest (thanks religion) and as such it is the lazy, wasted day we spend loafing around waiting for the brick machine of Monday to come and crush us. The less we actually do the slower the time may pass.
The last couple weeks we’ve had Sundays off and a little routine is starting to form. It is broken down into 3, natural phases that all complement each other.
While I don’t look forward to many things, Sundays are slowly becoming my favorite part of the week.
PHASE 1 : The Work
I know I said we’ve had Sundays off. But that just means we haven’t been running any shoots. There is still a mountain of admin and editing that helps round out our 80 hour work weeks. And while most people try to put work off on Sunday I like to spend the first 3 hours of the day getting it done.
Since no one else is working I can count on 3 hours of uninterrupted, productive work. Emails aren’t coming in. Phone isn’t ringing. Just me and a short list of things that I need to do in order to have a light transition into Monday – which is the greatest gift you can give yourself.
When I’m working for a shorter cycle – say 3 hours instead of 8 – I get a sense of excitement at the thought of being done with my work. Makes me work harder and with more ease.
PHASE 2 : Activity Break
After 3 hours of concentrated work I need to give my eyes and brain a rest. Two weekends ago we went swimming in the ocean. Last week we went to Little Italy Food Hall to have lunch and listen to music. And then Salt & Straw J. This is the time I like to insert any leisure activity that makes me feel like a kid who is free without care.
I’ve always been a fan of the swing work day. Few hours on, few hours off. Enough time away from the machines to let your mind and body process other things. After a few hours of this I usually feel some eagerness to get back to the computer to push through another work cycle.
PHASE 3 : Housekeeping
We’ve recently been rearranging our apartment. Moving the office into the bedroom and the bedroom into the office. Every few months we like to change a piece of furniture around. We’ve even redone our floors and put subway tile into the kitchen. We are renting and someone might call it a waste of money but we love where we live and we love our apartment every second we are in it. I can’t think of money better spent.
The last few hours of Sunday we like to dedicate to cleaning, rearranging, and spending time putting work into the place we live. If we’ve been talking about wanting a mirror in the hallway for a while, Sunday is the day the mirror happens. A rule I like to live by is that if I’ve been thinking about something for more than a week and continue to say things like, “I wish I…” then I just do the thing I’ve been thinking about.
In the last two weekends we have moved in a new dining table, rearranged two rooms, put together a futon for guests (come visit us please), installed shelves in the living room, and ordered the frames and artwork from our Ireland trip to hang in our bedroom.
By the end of the evening we might sit down and watch Glow or just take the Woodson for a walk.
It’s the only time I feel like I’m doing it right.
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I understand the appeal to veg out or lounge around or have a lazy Sunday. But that just leads to a fucked Monday. And putting things off doesn’t create a sense of lightness, it causes stress and anxiety and prevents people from spending time on things they want to do
The best way to relax is to stay on top of your life and to feel in control. Sunday is the perfect day to be productive and still enjoy a bit of freedom.
