October 6, 2026
I wasted my Saturday.
My wife was away for the weekend, I didn't have any events or meetings, and I wasn't on a plane. My time was entirely my own. I squandered it. And that was absolutely the right choice.
My big morning outing was to buy snacks. I spent the rest of the day eating said snacks, reading, napping, and watching soccer (live and recorded). I didn't respond to email. I didn't review or write anything. I didn't prepare for the class I'm talking to at American University later today, the public talk I’m giving at Arizona State University in a week and a half, a conversation with a health advocacy group I'm part of a few days later, or the meetings in Boston I’m attending a few days after that. I didn't replace the burned out lightbulb in the kitchen.
Normally I'm a rise and grind, I'll sleep when I'm dead, if you don't want to do the work don't take the gig, king of a guy. And on Sunday I worked. I caught up on email, read and reviewed, prepped and pondered. I replaced the burned out lightbulb. I also watched a recording of the US thumping of Mexico - priorities. But Saturday was spent blissfully avoiding anything that could be considered productive.
Sometimes you have to plow through. You have to push yourself a little harder, work a little more, grind it out. And sometimes you have to put down the phone and laptop and pick up the remote and a bag of snacks.