I sit here in my kitchen on a cold and dreary Sunday afternoon, nervously eyeing the clock. It’s 5:44 p.m., which means it’s just a few short hours until I go to bed so that I can wake up and go to work. And I’ll do that five times over before I reach the next weekend, which will skip by me, leaving me to once again look at the clock on Sunday evening, lamenting that the weekend is nearly over. Ugh.

Sometimes I’m absolutely stumped as to where the time goes. But apparently I’m not alone. The cover story in this quarter’s Tricycle magazine is a 28-day meditation challenge. Here’s the opening paragraph:

We don’t have to remind you how toxic our lives can be. Stress at work, arguments with loved ones, poor diets, and too many hectic weekends conjure daydreams of Himalayan caves — guaranteed not to have cell phone reception.

Um, is anyone else listening? I know that they’re not just talking to me, right? (Side note: I plan on taking the challenge, which includes taking the Five Precepts, a lay-Buddhist’s vows, if you will, which include freeing one’s self of intoxicants).

Still, I don’t know where the times goes, but I know that my idea of “free time” is completely unstructured time, which isn’t always time well spent (as he reads this, my partner is probably mentally jumping for joy at the fact that I’ve just admitted that). So as I do the meditation challenge, I’m going to try and be extra mindful of how I spend my time. When am I getting up in the morning? What time am I going to bed? Am I being productive in the evening, or am I relishing my “free time” to the point where I don’t get anything done?

Here’s to finding more time!