{"id":15246,"date":"2013-04-05T13:00:20","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=15246"},"modified":"2013-05-27T13:17:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T17:17:00","slug":"the-art-of-down-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=15246","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Down Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Art of Down Time<\/span><\/h3>\n

Oofah, it\u2019s been a busy month!<\/p>\n

\"0508081839a\"<\/a>My first INALJ blog post<\/a>, Learn From My Mistakes, came out this morning. (Stay with me now, this is the segue.) I reread it to see how it came out and to get some inspiration for this next blog post. Conclusion: I am a prophet. I can\u2019t even begin <\/i>to tell you just how insanely true my suggestions for you<\/i> ended up being for me<\/i>.<\/p>\n

My New Job<\/strong><\/p>\n

Case and point: I just started a new job on Monday. Yes, I have a permanent job!<\/strong> And guess what? It\u2019s not in librarianship (*insert shocked gasp here*). I got the job through networking, listening to unwanted advice, and I took a risk. Of my 7 points of advice<\/strong><\/a> in Learn From My Mistakes<\/strong><\/a>, that\u2019s #2-5 leading to a position. What\u2019s more, the position will help me get volunteer experience (point #1).<\/p>\n

Down Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I want to elaborate on right now, though, is point #6: getting a hobby, or more specifically, having down time<\/strong>. Without going into boring detail, the past week and a half have been exhausting. I submitted my resume to a position on a Friday, got an interview for that following Monday (coincidentally, my 30th<\/sup> birthday), received a job offer, had an interview for another <\/i>position, and then agonizingly had to choose between the two jobs. I know, an embarrassment of riches<\/strong> and not something I can really complain about (and I\u2019m not). However, it was very <\/i>stressful and I\u2019m paying for it now.<\/p>\n

Yep, Take Time Off<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since I started my new job on Monday, I took two days off from my temporary position to just rest. (I wrote most of this post in my pajamas and slippers.) I slept until 1:30pm (testament to how much I needed to sleep) and fulfilled my plan of leisurely going through my email and playing Elder Scrolls: Oblivion <\/i>both days. I also had Warm Bodies <\/i>by Isaac Marion sitting next to me but even reading felt like too much effort.<\/p>\n

I embraced sloth and I felt not an ounce of guilt. I needed <\/i>the downtime, especially if I wanted to start a new job feeling refreshed. And the whole volunteer experience thing? I\u2019m not going to pursue that for a while. No, I\u2019m going to settle into my new job, get into the swing of things, read, watch Doctor Who<\/i>, play video games, and do whatever I want to do in my free time. Once the weather gets nicer (which feels like a pipe dream right now), I\u2019m going to walk through parks and city streets and just enjoy my time. After more than five years of intense job searching and stress, I deserve it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0You Deserve It<\/strong><\/p>\n

And I think that\u2019s the main point of this blog post: you deserve <\/i>down time. There\u2019s nothing guilty about it. It heals your psyche and gives your brain much-needed rest. I know full-well just how hard it can be to relax into an enjoyable pastime when you\u2019re job searching. But it\u2019s necessary<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Homework<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I have some homework for you: For the next week, you are to carve out some time every day (an hour, fifteen minutes, whatever you can) and you are to do something purely for the pleasure of doing it. Take a bath, watch a horrible TV show, watch a movie and eat some popcorn. I really don\u2019t care what <\/i>you do so much as that you do <\/i>something. It will help you be more productive and raise your spirits.<\/p>\n

So go forth and waste some time, for as John Lennon said, “Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina The Art of Down Time Oofah, it\u2019s been a busy month! My first INALJ blog post, Learn From My Mistakes, came out this morning. (Stay with me now, this is the segue.) I reread it to see how it came out and to get some inspiration…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,3996,3997,3633,3953],"class_list":["post-15246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-diana-la-femina","tag-down-time","tag-inalj-south-carolina","tag-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-3XU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}