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Growing up, I did all the things you’re supposed to do. I excelled at school, sports, went to college and got a job. I have spent years upon years grinding to grow my career. I’ve worked overtime, weekends, existed on little sleep and I did it with little complaint. I bought into this idea that you have to work work work to make life great.

Yea, this is another 2020 taught me some shit post.

2020 changed my view on work. I no longer buy into this culture of grind til you fall. This five day work week that runs our lives.

I don’t actually know all the history around the five day work week but I believe it had to do with religious days of rest, agrictulure, and a lot of things that quite frankly are outdated. The Fast Company recently wrote a piece on just how outdated this practice is.

My major gripe with the five day work week is that 2020 showed us that while we work to keep the exonomy running, when everything hit the fan, our government wasn’t here to help us. In fact our government and all the systems we pay into, work so hard to keep running and use as our guiding force - let us all the way down.

And that isn’t going to change. Sure, Biden needs some more time to get into the trenches of things, but if he has time to bomb Syria, he has time to help Americans.

Our government and the system it built does not work for us.

I get it, I’ve got to pay taxes and I need to show up at work everyday. I’m not about to go full anarchy and wind up in jail or losing my well paying job that I genuinely enjoy.

But I am going to set boundaries. I have been in fact. I am going to place more value on my personal life than I do overtime, weekend work and giving up the best years of my life.

2020 showed me that things like time with friends and family, investing in my health and wellness, those are the things I really value.

If you know me well, this is all really shocking. I had always pushed to grow in my career and “be somebody.” What I’ve realized is I am somebody, independent of what I do. In fact, I respect myself more as this person who isn’t defined by where she works, how much she works and what her title is.

I’ll always be an overachiever. But what I overachieve in has shifted. I want to live the best life I can. See all the places on my bucket list. I want to invest in the people who mean so much to me. And I don’t want to live my days stuck behind a desk.

Maybe one day that means starting my own company. Maybe it means something I haven’t even thought of yet. But it does mean, I am no longer what I do, where I do it and I am no longer impressed by the people who are only work.

I hope one day as Americans we learn the value of a full life. I hope we learn that poverty doesn’t need to exist here. I hope we finally get rid of these lifetime politicans who are corrupt, out of touch and trash human beings. I hope that we can finally live up to the greatness this country has so long claimed to be.

But for now, I’m going to do what I can to focus on making my life full, happy, and healthy - completely separate from work.

Time isn't Even Real

I’m going to be honest, the biggest thing I’ve learned throughout this experience is that time isn’t real.

I know we have to go to work and do all the things that make society run, but in all honesty, we say that we don’t have time for a whole lot of things that we really just want to put off. Or not do at all.

Time has all but stopped. I’m not sure what day it is. Is it still 2020?

Nobody knows.

Here’s my new focus though, time is whatever I want it to be. Truly I think the most positive thing I’ve learned is that most of the things I think I absolutely have to do, I don’t. Because they’ve all but stopped right now.

The places I’m spending my time are face-timing friends and family. I’m reading more (OK fine I already read everyday but now twice a day!). I’m getting at least an hour in to just walk outside and enjoy nature. I’m writing. I’m putting energy into helping others.

I know that for most of us we have more time because we are working less. A lot of our daily responsibilities have changed. The point is though that we have the power to prioritize. You are not participating in these things and the world still turns. You’re forced to slow down and society still goes on without you.

My biggest flaw is that I don’t know how to take time to realize just sitting still or being in nature is a valid use of my time. I always find that I need to fill time with meaningful projects. Truth bomb? Time spent on myself is a meaningful project.

So when we get through all of this, really take inventory of how you spend your time. Are you prioritizing the right things or are you wasting your life on things that don’t matter? Get honest and get real. I hope that if anything this time has given you a positive perspective on how really not real time is. The only thing that is real about it is that we have limited use of it. So make it meaningful to your soul.