On the Eighth Day

A few years ago, I made a vision board. And I glued to the upper left corner a superb cartoon that reads, And on the eighth day, God puttered around the house.

The image shows a robed figure arranging flowers on an end table. It always makes me giggle.

Why?

Because I don’t really know how to do this.

After a big, exhausting work week, I love that feeling of a weekend day stretching before me like a giant open canvas. To have no activities scheduled—a wide open field from 6 am to 6 pm of nothingness—is pure joy.

When I have a day like that, first thing in the morning, I think, Whatever will I do with this glorious day?

I could do yoga! I could write. I could sit on the couch and read a book. I could bake something and then eat it. I could start cleaning out the basement! I could order a new glass protector for my iPhone. I could play tennis or go for a hike. I could watch season three of anything on Netflix.

I could, as a dear, southern friend says, spend the day “piddling.”

My friend did have to define “piddling” for me. It’s basically the same thing as puttering. Spending the day piddling means doing a little of everything and a lot of nothing too; things that are not important and maybe not even useful.

As I ponder spending my empty-canvas day piddling, however, at some point around 8:00 am, I remember work. Ooooohhhhh. I could use a few hours to create that slide deck, type up the notes from that retreat, or work on the strategic plan draft that needs to be finished by Monday. If I do that, I could walk into the week dominating my to-do list.

(Well, maybe not dominating. Maybe just finding more equal ground.)

I have tried both the piddling approach and the using-time-to-catch-up-for work strategy. Which one wins?

Both move my life forward in some way. Both have pros and cons. One is more relaxing than the other. One reduces stress today—the other reduces stress tomorrow.

I know focusing on work on the weekend moves my job forward. But I have been realizing recently that the other approach moves me forward.

The best barometer is simply to ask, “What will be life giving to me today? And what will be life draining?”

That’s easy. Piddling always wins on the spirit side.

Productivity expert Juliet Funt says, “The pause is a formidable source of professional power.”

I love that. Piddling is not about nothingness. It’s not about wasting time—or anything else. It's formidable. It’s a source of professional dominion.

That’s why after making light, sky, the land, sun, moon, animals, and people, even God had to piddle a bit around his giant house. He had wrapped up one busy week.