There’s that terrible commercial, right? For Five Hour Energy, the most disgusting product I can think of, and some woman chides her co-worker, “Somebody’s got a case of the Two O’clocks!” Urgh.
I don’t get the Two O’Clocks, though. I get the Four-Fifteens. Do you get the Three Thirties? Or maybe you work late and get that really depressing jab of the Eleven Twenty PMs.
Whenever you get it, it takes effort to recognize and deal with that extended moment of weakness. Really, it was just a few weeks ago that I suddenly realized that every late afternoon, in the gap between most of my appointments and seeing my wife after her workday, during which the incoming emails finally slow down, is regularly my LEAST-productive time of day. It doesn’t matter when I got out of bed, what I have left to do, or what I have to look forward to. Those are the couple of hours when I find it hardest to focus on Getting Things Done. Resistance gains a foothold and I just wanna nap, or look at Facebook, or kid myself that online shopping is a productive use of time.
So I’ve been trying to turn over a new leaf. When I feel that lethargy coming on strong, I switch the game, I do the opposite of what I’ve been doing. If I’m home, I leave. If I’m out, I go home. If I’ve been online, I close the computer. I turn off the phone. I read. I write. Anything to avoid wasting those hours.
Sometimes it even works.
Now I’ve just gotta figure out why I always get tired just in time for rehearsal.