Stolen Time

After reading my post on  Mental Health Days Tess sent me an email which she agreed I could share. Tess is no fan of mental health days. She prefers "stolen time."

Here is what Tess has to say about Stolen Time.

"Stolen time is those few minutes or an hour or so when you are on the clock but are off site because you are going to a meeting or coming from a meeting that maybe ended before your usual work day. This is time when you are not accountable to your boss or your family. Your boss does not expect you back at work because the travel time would get you there just in time to leave. (This assumes that you have a reasonable boss.) Your family does not expect you because work usually ends at time x and it is an hour earlier. What to do?

Personally, I go shopping and run personal errands that would otherwise intrude on a weekend. The shopping is almost always an optional activity which often results in pleasurable purchases such as a new pair of shoes for myself or a "just right"; gift that I just stumble on and would not have found without that ";stolen time."

Sometimes the stolen time just results in a quiet half-hour with a cup of tea and a good book. Those rare moments occur when the meeting is in the morning and near home -- meetings never begin before 9:00 and I usually get to work at 8:00.

I had an hour or so of stolen time earlier this week., I had a late breakfast with my husband [and then left for a meeting]. After the meeting (again, too little time to effectively return to work) I went to Barnes and Noble and browsed for half and hour, picking up a surprise for my daughter. Then I actually did some "work", stopping at Home Depot to pick up some supplies for our school clean-up day. Even that, however, had a pleasant feel since no one could interrupt me as I compared prices

I suspect I am lucky in that my boss and secretary use my cell phone number sparingly -- only for REAL emergencies. It only rang once the whole day.

Mental health days always make me feel guilty. Stolen time does not-- which is interesting since one counts against my sick-bank and the other does not."

NOTE: Tess is a pseudonym and I have redacted key information about Tess's family which would make it too easy for people to figure out who she really is.