I’m mentally exhausted, something that happens from time-to-time. So I am taking a day off from writing anything of substance here on the blog. Figured this was a good as any a day to choose to take a day off because it means that I’ll have an extra hour of sleep tonight to help with that exhaustion. Daylight saving time ends today (well, tomorrow at 2 am), thus the extra hour. I’m actually looking forward to that because it means it will once again be light in the morning when I go for my walk.
Said mental exhaustion is nothing more than me trying to do too much at once. Among friends I call this a mental 1201, or a “1201 day.” I usually get blank stares in return–as I suspect this paragraph is getting right at this very moment. The “1201” refers to a computer code from the Apollo missions. A 1201 program alarm was one in which the computer was overloaded with tasks. This alarm famously occurred several times when Eagle was heading down to the surface of the moon on Apollo 11.
For me, the jumble causes me to sort of freeze up, and nothing happens. I want to write a blog post, but I also want to finish the chapter in this book I’m reading, but I also want to jot down more notes for this story idea, but I also want to reorganize this one shelf in my office, etc., etc., etc.
The typical remedy for me is to drop everything, focus on one thing that I can finish, and then decide on the next thing, one at a time, until I get back into a working rhythm. The “one things” I’ve decided to finish is Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. I started it two days ago and I’m halfway through that 1,200 page book now. I’m hoping to be done over the weekend. Taking a 1201 day today eases the pressure a little, in part because I am actually writing this post yesterday. That way, I really can take a 1201 day today.
I’ll likely spend today (Saturday) off email and social media to help recalibrate, so expect a delay in response to comments, Tweets, email messages, etc. I’ll be back in business on Sunday.
As always, thanks for reading!
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