User:Woozle/blog/2009-02-22 1125 how time gets wasted

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how time gets wasted
2009-02-22 1125

The worker says he'll be bringing Josh back at around 5pm. So a little before that, I stop trying to focus on anything where I'll be Vastly Annoyed if I get interrupted. (Maybe you can see where this is going already.)


Three hours later, Josh shows up, and all I've worked on is low-priority stuff, because it was the stuff I didn't mind getting interrupted in the middle of.

Three hours. That's not just three regular hours, or even three Josh-free hours, but Three totally kid-free hours (the other two were with their dad) I could have really used to focus on my current project (which pays money when I finish it, by the way).

Don't get me wrong; I'm quite happy to have had those three hours to noodle around and do stuff that didn't matter as much, because it was stuff that did matter some, and I get a small feeling of accomplishment from having done it. Given the choice between Josh coming back right on cue at 5pm and coming back at 8 but my not knowing in advance that this would happen, I might still choose 8 -- because Josh being in the house might mean I wouldn't get even those relatively-unimportant things done due to the constant distractions. (Or maybe I would choose for him to come back early, because then if he were in a calm mood, which often happens after he has been out, I might have been able to get some of that important work done.)

It just really grates me to see three totally kid-free hours on a weekend, a once-in-a-blue-moon event, essentially wasted.