I don’t like awkward pauses. I’m that person who fills the seven-minute-lull in party conversations with sometimes-funny-sometimes-not remarks.
This school year has been full of awkward pauses as we haven’t been able to develop a rhythm to our days. I’m blaming Junior High. The year started with football before school, leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. Then we had a week or so of 8:30 drop offs before basketball practices started, requiring a 7:20 drop off. Now, we’re back to 8:30.
All this is coordinated around another child who needs to be at school on the other side of town at 7:40. (Or 7:15 for choir one day a week.)
So I usually have 20 to 30 minutes between getting home from one drop off and leaving again for another.
Similar crazy talk happens in the afternoons. Some days, three kids are done at three different times. Usually, the three times are just far enough apart to justify coming home for a 30 minute awkward pause.
Awkward Pause: A chunk of time in my day where I feel like I should do something, but I don’t think I have the time to tackle any of the monumental tasks on my mental to do list.
Awkward pauses once paralyzed me, but I’m learning to use them. Through this deslobification process, I have figured out THE most basic tasks that are necessary to keep my house out of Disaster Status. Turns out, THE most basic tasks aren’t big projects or long, drawn-out, put-on-your-special-cleaning-pants events.
They’re the daily stuff. And the weekly stuff.
Things like emptying the dishwasher and then putting breakfast dishes in it.
Things like switching over the laundry on Monday’s Laundry Day or folding and putting away that last load that is still sitting in the dryer (on Friday).
Things like a five-minute pick-up.
Or whatever else that I have to consciously remind myself to do every single day.
I’ve chosen to embrace the Awkward Pauses and use them as reminders to check something off the Daily Checklist.
When I feel the “Uhhhh, hmmmmm, weeeelllll” feeling, it’s time to work my way through whatever hasn’t happened yet off the list of basics.
Maybe you don’t have an insane drop off schedule to provide you with multiple awkward pauses throughout the day, but here are some other examples (many of which I’ve heard from you):
– waiting for the coffee to brew
-warming breakfast in the microwave
-administering timed quizzes or activities to a homeschooled child
-waiting to help with the next almost-impossible math homework question
-waiting for the shower to get warm
-waiting for the water to boil
Which Awkward Pauses do you find most useful in your day?
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Thank you for this! I get frustrated when I am waiting on someone – my husband to call, or my son to come over so we can go somewhere. Thanks for getting me over this speed bump – I think I will write a little list of short tasks and title it “Something to do while we’re waiting” a la Mr. Rogrrs. There are plenty of little things that I don’t do because I don’t think I have time.
I watch almost everything from a recording on the dvr, and used to love fast forwarding through commercials. I still do that sometimes late in the evening when I’m done for the day, but if I watch tv during the day, I do small jobs during commercials like sorting mail or laundry, folding laundry, paying bills, answering email, dusting, unloading the dishwasher, clean out or straighten one drawer or cabinet, etc. It’s amazing what you can get done in 3-4 minutes, and, if I go over and the show starts, I can always rewind. Lots of annoying little jobs get done this way And if done one at a time, they’re not so annoying.
Yes! I’ve always called them nooks and crannies in my schedule. I like “awkward pauses”! I often unload the dishwasher while the kids are eating breakfast. I have 6 kids, so it’s a steady stream of sleepy eyes who need bowls and spoons and help pouring the milk. If I sitting and enjoying my coffee, helping them is irritating. If I’m up and moving, it’s no big deal.
I’ve also found that I can clean up a lot of trash from the van while my husband is filling the gas tank. I’ll hand one kid a walmart sack and have the big kids gather up 5 pieces of trash. Little kids in 5 point harnesses don’t get to help. Buckling and unbuckling is too much trouble. It’s always a hug help and we’re just sitting there anyway!
So true! 🙂
I used to get allergy shots weekly and you have to sit around the office to make sure you don’t keel over (despite getting the exact same shot for the previous four years with no adverse reactions). So I would designate some chore I could do during that down time–cleaning out my purse, clipping coupons, writing checks. It turned an annoying delay into a satisfying work session for things I tended to put off.
Hi Dana! Just wanted say I’ve been reading your blog and listening to your podcasts for a month. What a difference a month makes! A huge thank you! The folding clothes straight out of the dryer tip was absolutely they key to me finally *FINALLY* feeling like I’ve got this laundry thing under control! You are such a blessing- thanks!
Love it! And isn’t that an amazing magical thing? (That other people seem to have always known!!)
This is going to sound wierd. (I promise) I learned time management when I was a disc jockey at a radio station. Back then (long, long ago) the average song was between 2 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes long. You would be surprised at what you can do in 2 1/2 minutes. You can run to the news-room (where the teletype machine was) and tear off the headlines and weather report, run back to your studio and announce and start the next record, during which time you will edit the news and weather that you just tore off. You can also do meter readings during a song, and we used to clean tape heads. What do these young DJs do with their time? They might not even know what I’m talking about.
Love it!!!
I worked as News Director & DJ back in the 80’s, so I understand. Nothing helps you realize just how much time is in a minute quite like that did. Then when my kids were little, I’d put them down for an afternoon nap & I’d sit down to watch TV. I’d fold laundry while I was watching, but get up & do other tasks during commercials.
I made it! Just finished reading the whole thing backwards! Now if only I could get over this cold and finish the kitchen and clothes decluttering projects I started in the three weeks I’ve been reading through!
The only time I clean the cat’s litter box is when I am waiting for the shower to warm up. Before, I cleaned them randomly (3 cats, 4 boxes) then scrubbed my hands and arms. I’d let it go too long. Now, every other morning, I clean the litter boxes. I can’t imagine cleaning the litter box and not getting right in the shower any longer.
That’s a perfect use of an awkward pause!!
Great idea! I have to remember to use those awkward pauses. Reminds me of an article I read awhile ago about time “spare change”:
http://www.thenetreporter.com/spare_change_time.shtml
You know, typically I just use awkward pauses to sneak onto Facebook or play my favorite iPhone game, 2048. Today, however, your voice was ringing in my head as I went to pick up my phone, and even though it’s been a couple of months since I last heard/read this post, and the one about using an awkward pause to finish laundry, somehow I could still hear your sweet Texas voice saying, “switch out the laundry! Set the kitchen table! Put away that basket of clothes! Do SOMETHING! Your time is valuable!” Ok, so none of those are actual quotes from you, but I’ve used these last few minutes to declutter a sheet (it had been sitting on my washer, waiting for a decision to be made, for approximately 10 days), transform the coordinating (and useless) mattress cover into a rag/drop cloth (it’s in my hubby’s rag bin now; should he choose to discard it, that’s still ok), and gather up enough laundry to create a full load (the washer had been patiently waiting for me to gather the rest its hot load so it could fill the rest of the way for, umm… a few hours. Good thing I didn’t fill it all the way originally, or that water could no longer be considered hot!) True, I didn’t have to sneak onto my computer and find this post to comment, but I thought I would let you know, because much of this day has been less than victorious, but your encouragement is still working, even during the summer break. And now, I will quickly close my browser before I accidentally hit the Facebook tab. 😉
I’m extremely forgetful 🙁 My pets and plants would die if they counted on me 😉 So when I put the kettle on I check their bowl/pots/etc.
In the morning I usually start my washer. After that when the tea is brewing I say my morning prayer 🙂
I love to this phrase “put-on-your-special-cleaning-pants events.” I have these pants, and yes, they can cause procrastination.
I also appreciate learning from Dana that emptying the dishwasher only takes 3 minutes. Now I use the timer on my phone to time tasks, breaks, food, laundry and more.
Wait, I can’t be the only person who did their after-school-chores-before-mom-gets-home during- General Hospital commercials.
😀
I still, I fold laundry while watching tv
I fill my awkward pauses with exercise snacks. Amazing how much stretching and other exercises you can do while waiting for the kettle to boil.
One thing I like to do is keep my mending or a clipboard and paperwork in my car so that when I have 10 or 30min, I sit and do those. They always get put off at home, but in the car, I can choose to do those instead of doom scrolling.