The Gift of Time
Suddenly I have too much time on my hands. I lost my voice so I can't work. It's pretty hard to tell patients what to do when you can't make a sound. On top of that, my facility has a zero-tolerance policy on being sick. If you're contagious, you can't come to work. If you're not contagious, you can work but have to wear a mask. So I'm at home at a loss for what to do with myself.
I'm sure we've all wished to have nothing to do. I know I've been overworked and wished to be able to sit around and have nothing to do. I've made comments that it must be nice to have nothing to do. Well, I've discovered the truth is something else. It isn't so nice. In fact, it's boring. I'm ready to climb the walls.
I wish I could say I've used this time productively. Aside from a little yard work and some superficial cleaning, I haven't. I did some research the first day. I was so proud of how quickly I got it done. I've read journal articles. I've studied. I've organized articles. I filed. That lasted two days - Friday and Saturday.
Why couldn't this have happened while I was in school? I would have relished a few extra moments to complete assignments. Or slept. I've discovered you can only sleep so much before even that becomes impossible. I think I've slept too much. I just want to go back to work.
I guess we should be careful what we wish for. Sometimes it actually happens. Then we discover it isn't what we thought it was.