Giving productivity the day off

It doesn't always come naturally, but it's well worth doing.

My obsession with productivity is well documented — and it’s not always the healthiest. My to-do list is sacred. If something makes the list, it absolutely must get done. (That’s why I make sure to put “exercise” on my list every day, so it’s etched into the fabric of my essentials and not an after-thought).

But this weekend, I got absolutely nothing done that could be characterized as “productive.” I didn’t dig into my overflowing mail bin (I batch the task of sorting mail and paying bills for weekends). I didn’t make a dent in my inbox. I didn’t put away laundry or buy birthday gifts or make the kids’ lunches for school on Monday.

What I did do was have a boatload of actual (what’s the word again…?) fun. It was all Halloween socializing and mimosas and neighbors and friends and family and candy. There were costumes and Solo cups, glitter and spider webs galore, and I was here for all of it.

It’s been a while, I guess, since proper fun for its own sake made its way to the top of the priority list. It doesn’t always come naturally to me anymore — especially as a mom and a self-employed professional. (Can anyone relate?) But it was about freakin’ time.

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Open Press Opportunities

• For Woman’s Day, I’m working on a roundup of gifts for coffee lovers (guilty as charged).

• For Woman’s Day, I’m working on a roundup of gifts for cheese lovers (same).

• For Allrecipes, I’m always open to hearing about home cooks to profile as subjects for my bimonthly budget grocery column.

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