The Difference An Hour Makes

An hour does not seem like a ton of time. I spend an hour every day working out. It takes me about an hour to get ready to go out if have no idea what I am wearing. I watch Jack Bauer save the world on 24 every week for an hour. An hour time change, on the other hand, does feel like a huge amount of time. When daylight savings time occurred last month we lost a precious hour of sleep one night, but I felt sluggish all week long. Imagine loosing that hour of sleep for a week straight…brutal.

I started working different hours this week, because of my role as the Director of Training & Development. I have to be in the office and attentive during a coaching meeting that starts at 7:00am. I didn’t think the time change would be a big deal, because after all it is only one hour earlier. Ha! An hour earlier day after day makes a huge difference. I almost passed up an opportunity to watch the NCAA championship game Monday night with some friends from work, because I was exhausted. I took a 30-minute power nap and decided to be social (who am I to turn down any socializing opportunities at this point? I am still in hard core friend recruiting mode). On Tuesday afternoon I couldn’t get out of the office soon enough. I realized why children need afternoon naps (they get too cranky when tired). I know I got quite cranky after my clock struck 4:00pm (my quitting time!) and a colleague asked me some questions about an upcoming project. I was so annoyed to be dealing with work stuff when all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed for a nap (I had been dreaming about it all day long). I finally escaped from the office at 4:30pm and almost went ballistic when I saw a guy playing a saxophone on my street corner. I thought about bribing the guy with money to move away from my building. (Why are people allowed to play musical instruments, solicit money from innocent walkers and disturb city residents’ peace? Can’t the police boot these musicians off the street?) I decided to keep my money (figured he would want a lot more than a dollar to move) and left the saxophonist alone. I was so tired that I ignored the horrible jazz music and indulged in the best afternoon nap. Even after my afternoon siesta, I was in bed on Tuesday before 9:00pm.

When the alarm rang at 4:30am on Wednesday I thought about skipping work to stay in bed, but the professional side of me convinced me to get out of bed and hit the gym. I drudglingly got on the treadmill and surprisingly cranked out 4 miles. I decided to push for 5 (even thought I should have left the gym because of time) and after watching the mile ticker change I made a bee-line for the shower. I have this really bad habit of being almost late for everything (I always try to do more than I have time for). The whole concept of arriving early to be relaxed and calm sounds amazing, and I go to bed each night planning to implement the concept. Never happens. I barely make it out the door before 6:50am and hustled to work. I bolted to work in a sleeveless shirt and got quite a few odd glances from other commuters since it was only in the 50s. I made it into my office with 3 minutes to spare. After putting on my heels, I started to sweat bullets. I guess I never cooled down from my run. I inhaled a Luna bar (thank goodness for portable breakfast items) and plopped down in my chair for the coaching meeting. The day flew by and before I had a chance to cross off any items on my to-do list I was out the door heading to a campus event. I finally made it home around 9:00pm (I believe that equals a 14-hour day) and if it wasn’t for my recorded Hills episode I would have crawled into bed as soon as I got home. The thrill of catching up on the cast’s drama gave me the endurance I needed to stay awake for the Hills season opener. (I might have made mental notes of the places they went on the show, so Joe and I can check them out. I plan on hitting up the Dime!)

This morning I practically had to pry my eyes open with pliers. At least I am getting up to go to a job I really enjoy. With my new schedule and responsibilities my day flies by. I am in coaching meetings for the first 2-3 hours of the day. By the time I get to do “work” I have no choice but to be uber productive. I love the challenge of new tasks and think this is going to be the perfect role for me. It is going to be another late night tonight, because I am going with a rep to a dinner presentation he is hosting. Needless to say I am so ready for the weekend. I am actually looking forward to a quite Friday night alone. When did I get so old? Who knew how much difference a measly hour could make!?