When It Takes Longer Than It Should

Or at least longer than it used to — why is that? Is it because I have more time on my hands, and the fewer tasks I have are expanding to fill the hours?

I’ve had one of those weeks where it seemed everything took longer and was harder than it should have. Everything that had to get done this week did get done, but I probably could have finished up more than I did. Now all I can think about is what I still have hanging over me to get done in the next week. Bleh.

The thing that is making me really grumpy it is that for most of the things there really was no reason why it took longer or seemed harder than it should have.

There is that old saying that a task will take however many hours you have available, whether few or many. (See, Parkinson’s Law). Ditto for meetings, right? We’ve all sat through meetings that could’ve been completed in half the time, but the meeting was scheduled for a certain amount of time and so that’s how long the meeting lasted. Work expands to fill the allotted time.

I’ve had weeks like this occasionally over the years, as I’m sure everybody does. But it does seem to me that it is happening more often than it did when I was younger.

Maybe that’s because I don’t have as much to do as I used to. Twenty years ago there was work, all the kids’ activities, organizations I was involved in, etc. Only so many hours in the day to get everything done, but still everything usually did get done.

So why do some of the same things take longer now? Am I expanding tasks to fit the hours I have available, and since I have less to do each task takes me longer? That’s a depressing thought.

Of course it is also true that I don’t have the same energy I did 20 years ago. So that is also a likely cause.

But I think my real problem is I am transitioning from work to retirement, working only part-time this year, and I’m still searching for what I want to do when I’m fully retired. I know I can’t just sit around the house watching movies (at least not all the time! 😉), but I haven’t yet found anything that really appeals to me.

Earlier this week I ran into a former colleague who retired from the firm a few years ago, and he commented that the first six months of retirement he was searching for what he wanted to do. But then it all started coming together and he now has a part-time consulting business that gives him interesting work but still allows him time to travel and do other fun stuff. He also said that was the case with all his friends, too — maybe not a business, maybe it was charity work instead, or something else, but they all found their niche. He assured me I would, too.

I hope he is right. I’ve been contemplating retirement for awhile and what I would “do” in retirement, but I’m still in the search phase, I guess. In the meantime, I need to see if I can get myself back into not taking so long to finish everything!

All first world problems, right? 😊

Have a wonderful weekend!

Audra

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, keep working at it with all your heart, as for the Lord and not for people.