Clock free weekend

Swatch always on hand, even when showering...
Daily alarm iPhone application....
Sleep Cycle iPhone app....
Computer clock...
Outlook calendar...
To do's computer application...

In a world where we are rolling out our daily lives against the clock, how would it be to spend a weekend without the eye on the clock?

What started as a rather unconscious move of taking off my clock for an unrelated reason and leaving my phone in another room, soon turned into a purposeful action not to use any time measuring objects/apps for the whole weekend.


















So, what's good in this?

- It gives you the feeling of infinite time to be with yourself and do everything that you spontaneously wish to do.
Although this might seem like a not the most efficient use of your time, you will soon realize that you have more time than when you go by the clock. Why? When you plan let's say... 2h for yourself, you will spend the first 10 min thinking of how to use this limited time and the last 10 min with the eyes on the clock for the next appointment. As such, you don't really relax.

- You discover new ways to enjoy yourself that you haven't tried before because you were thinking that it is not worth investing your precious time in.
For example, when it's pouring raining outside and you had outdoor plans, you start becoming anxious when thinking about the wasted weekend. However, it doesn't need to be wasted! Try and cook some dish that you always wanted to cook, but never started doing because you thought it would take too long to do.

Or, re-arrange your wardrobe and you might discover clothes that you didn't wear for a long time because you were always taking on the first clothes from the top of the pile. This can be a 2 in 1 activity:
1) You select what you really need, and what you can give away and thus free up some space in your closet.
2) During this time you free your mind to wander around, review, process and learn from what has happened in the previous week.

- You may even end up doing more things than when going by the clock. Why?
Let's suppose that you plan your weekend well in advance and that you end up with a to do list for the weekend. However, when the weekend comes, you are not in the mood to start doing the planned things. Consequently, you choose one of the activities that you ought to do and then you take numerous breaks, because it's weekend and you know that you should take it easy. Sunday evening you realize that you have done 10% from what you have planned and you get frustrated.

However, if you don't go by the clock, you realize that after some time spent doing everything that you were in the mood for, you are get caught in the frenzy and start doing productive things. This urge to do becomes stronger when you are pleasantly surprised to see that you still have more time than expected. And you get on track and become more efficient in doing those things than in the case when you planned to do specific things.

All in all, leaving the technology away and going by your gut feeling can be a good thing to experiment every now and then. It gives you a liberating feeling that is comparable to a whole vacation week at the seaside or in the mountains.

Disclaimer:
I am not suggesting to have every weekend a clock free weekend. However, I find it beneficial from time to time.