« Cabin Fever | Main | Sunny Morning »
March 19, 2007
When the Shit Hits the Fan...
...it ain't pretty.
I spent this past weekend with Mr. Pilot, a topic that I will delicately avoid from now on because of aforementioned sensitivity on his part. The point is that instead of working my normal 15-20 hours over the weekend, I spent it in Irish pubs, long car rides, and then more drinking (and recovering) in the boondocks of Virginia. This is becoming an alarming habit. In my rush to seize every opportunity for a social life, I have been neglecting the Big Idea. And now it's coming back to haunt me.
It wasn't so bad when I blew it off a couple weeks ago for an impromptu day of Friday fun. I work so hard, for so many hours, every single goddamned day that occasionally it seems like a wise "pressure valve" sort of thing to do every once in a while. But then that day turned into a long weekend of fun. And instead of catching up at night (I usually work until about midnight), I have been enjoying regular late-night phone calls and instant messenging, thus putting me even further behind.
It's been coming to a head for the last three weeks, but now I'm in real trouble. I have a major project coming due at the end of next week, plus my regular 12-hour workload, plus new summer interns to hire, plus a contract renegotiation, plus a presentation the DAY AFTER TOMORROW that I have not even begun. And unlike most workshops that I can usually wing, people have paid a LOT of money to hear my thoughts on this topic, and I'm worried that I'm going to fall flat on my face. Not good AT ALL.
That said, have I cancelled plans for next weekend? Dear reader, I have not. I am still planning on attending a lecture completely unrelated to the Big Idea on Friday afternoon, then enjoying Snow Patrol in concert on Friday night. I will follow that up with babysitting Ms. Janie on Saturday, and then probably an overnight trip on Sunday night--also unrelated to the Big Idea. Squeeze in another 300 pages of The Historian (fabulous, by the way) before my book club meeting on the 27th and I might have to forgo sleep altogether.
The silver lining, as I was mentioning to Ms. Red earlier tonight, is that I've finally figured out just exactly how much time and energy and work I can squeeze into a 24 hour period, and just exactly when my body and brain will give out. Now that I know I will choose to prioritize my social life (at least for now), I should reasonably be able to plan April better. If I can just get through the rest of March with an intact social circle and a business in the black.
