8 April 2020, 8:08 pm - In Which Time Loses All Meaning

Today was gorgeous day - 87 degrees and slight breeze. I took Hazel outside and worked from the porch until it became unbearably hot. I had planned to start my day early; in fact, I made an “Ideal Wednesday Schedule,” in part to motivate myself and to run a little experiment. Next to the “Ideal Wednesday Schedule” is the “Reality” tracker. Here is how my planned day and my actual day played out:

Ideal Wednesday Schedule

8 am- Wake up, eat breakfast

9 am- Read for ENG 745, check/answer emails

10 am- Work on revisions

11 am- Respond to COMM790 discussion, read more for ENG 745

12 pm- Lunch/snack

1 pm- Research for COMM790 presentation

2 pm- Jog/Walk/Shower

3 pm- Journal

4 pm- Work on revisions

5 pm- Read more for ENG 745/COMM916

6 pm- Schedule social media posts for the museum

7 pm- Start dinner

10 pm- Go to bed

I was really ambitious with this schedule. Breaking up time by switching assignments is usually how I schedule out my time during a regular semester. As you know, we are not experiencing a normal semester. This is really how my day went:

Reality

8 am- Wake up, pet/play with Leo

9 am- Breakfast, sit with my partner

10 am- Change the litter boxes, sweep and vacuum

11 am- Wrap gift for a friend, get annoyed by the cats, finish mail-in vote for Democratic Primary

12 pm- Work on revisions

12:30 pm- Move outside to work from the porch

1 pm- Untangle Hazel from the leash she’s wrapped around the chair, read for ENG 745

2 pm- Lunch

2:30 pm- Check email, complete study survey

3 pm- Move to blanket on the grass, read for ENG 745

4:30 pm- Feel nauseous, go back inside, nap

5:30 pm- Respond to COMM790 discussion

5:45 pm- Check Facebook, be disappointed

6:15 pm- Watch Biidaaban

6:45 pm- TV break

8:00 pm- Start dinner

So yeah, my schedule and my reality were very different. I was not as productive as I could have been (or had hoped to be). My schedule has not readjusted back to “normal,” and I know that that’s the case for nearly everyone, and it is stressing. me. out. My partner has managed to adjust his schedule and get a lot of work done, probably because he works with a team and has business hours to adhere to. I will continue to try to sync our schedules somewhat, so that I can be more productive as I finish out the school year.

I also found out today that there is a positive case in my parents’ county.

See: Prowers County reports first positive case of COVID-19

I am worried about them, because everyone in my family - my parents, and my brothers who live with them - are considered essential workers. My parents are at-risk due to their age, my oldest brother has health issues that put him at-risk, and my grandmother lives next door to them and relies on them for groceries and mobility. There is nothing I can do. It would put them more at risk if I were to go to them, and vice versa. We could not even stop and see them when we went to their courthouse to get married. It was painful, and I am frustrated. Like so, so many others, I am fucking frustrated.