Time management

I find that one of the hardest things about being unemployed is managing my time. Every day, my choices are:

Search for a job.
Work on the office (paint, find furniture, wallpaper).
Read one of two book club books.
Find a recipe, get groceries, make a meal.
Read up on socially responsible investing or something related to my job search.
Reallocate my retirement portfolio to reduce exposure to carbon (the point of my thesis).
Line up a social outing--lunch, MeetUp event, etc.
Exercise.
Volunteer.
Plan mom’s summer visit.
Research options for renewing my visa.
Research and write a piece for publication.
Visit Marshall to my left or Fay and Michael to my right.
Write a letter to a friend in the U.S.
Look at Facebook.
Catch up the blog.
Clean the house, laundry, etc.
Go for a hike.

At the end of each day, I’m always disappointed by how little I’ve accomplished. I spend a few hours job searching and then I’m dispirited and don’t want to do anything. So I’m generally a bit stressed that I’m not using my time more wisely. One of these days I’ll get a job and wonder: Why didn’t I organise my photos? Why didn’t I learn new tricks, like downloading podcasts to my iPod? Why didn’t I write and publish things I want to write about? Why didn’t I travel? Why isn’t the list above shorter?

I think one of Dostoyevsky’s themes was that freedom is wasted on us mere peasants because we don’t know what to do with it. When choices are taken away from us, we feel more free. Perverse though it is, I think there’s some truth to it. When I’m slaving away at a job 9-5, my free time is more meaningful than when all my time is free time yet I’m burdened by my choices.
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