or: An opportunity for coffee and a book in bed

Today I did something that I don’t do very often. I voluntarily took a day off from diving and no, I’m not sick.

It’s still a bit unbelievable to me too.

I wanted to experience one of life’s simple pleasures. I wanted to stay in bed  until after 6.30am with a good book and a cup of coffee. I wanted to stay in my pyjamas until I was ready to face the day.

I knew I needed a rest and some time away from the dive centre itself. 

It’s also a bonus opportunity for my body to get rid of any remaining nitrogen in it that has built up over the course of successive dives. This isn’t dangerous in itself (unless I was to go flying immediately and we all know there’s no real chance of that right now) though it can make me (and others) feel more tired than usual.

This is also why a lot of regular divers have an afternoon nap / siesta. Another of life’s simple pleasures.

At 7am, I rolled myself out of bed to make the coffee and then went back into the bedroom. Coffee cup placed on the bedside table, pillows rearranged for comfort and good seating posture, blanket pulled a bit up, I was then ready.

Back into bed I went, kindle open, cup in hand.

It was bliss.

I read for a couple of hours, rolled out of bed again, showered and then did one of the activities that on the simple pleasures scale, registers in the negative for me. 

I ironed.

I dislike ironing so much that I play an aesthetic trick on myself to force me into doing it.

Where I live, the washing is hung out the front of the house and on the balcony area. This means whenever I enter, I will see washing hanging there unless I’ve brought it inside.

I have to iron sooner rather than later as a result. I don’t like feeling as though I live in a laundry.

So why not just bring it in and iron it later?

I have a rule for myself that I’m not allowed to leave household jobs partially complete otherwise nothing would ever be done and there would always be a pile of laundry that would never seem to go down. This is the Law of Ironing. It reproduces when there is anything left in the ironing basket.

Between not liking the look or the feeling of living in a laundry every time I walk into and out of my house, plus the not wanting to have a pile of washing that never seems to go down, I’m able to get the ironing done.

This means that on occasions I delay washing if I know I’m not going to have time to iron in the near future.

I see this as good planning.

Others would see it as lazy or procrastinating.

Call it what you will, it all gets done and is put away as soon as it’s finished. This is my goal.

This is actually another of life’s simple pleasures – completing all the ironing. I may not like the task but the end result is fantastic!

It is another rule I have for myself that I think my father had something to do with… He was fond of saying “clean as we go”. He was mainly referring to cooking however he applied this for us to pretty much anything. It’s a good one to follow and links quite well with the Pomodoro Technique as well as the idea of “if the task is going to take less than two minutes to complete, do it now rather than putting it off for later” as well as a quick ten minute clean up before going to bed so you can wake up to a clean place each morning – it’s a great way to start the day.

Rather than share countless productivity hacks, I think it’s about time I went back to that book and see what’s happening in the desert or to that author who thinks he may have found Stalin’s papers…. I’m reading a couple of books right now and I’m not sure which one I’ll pick up once I’ve uploaded this. 

On another note, since you may be interested about my book reading / buying resolution – one book is borrowed from a friend and the other is one that’s been part of my To Be Read Pile for many years. I’m still going strong with not buying any books for the year. It’s been tough but I’m getting there! 

 

Thanks to Bobby McFerrin for the title to this post.