Toxic time.

As you navigate through adulthood, life sometimes hands you more time than you need. Though at the first sip it might seem like a great gift, in the long run too much time on your hands might lead intoxication.

It started with the beginning of the new semester: since then I didn't have to make one cup of coffee.

Phase 1: Euphoria.

You start enjoying every minute of your time, squeezing in activities that you didn’t have time to do when your schedule was packed.  These activities range from partying to total inactivity and idleness. Being the lazy man par excellence, I caught up on some series, played video games and spent whole days in bed with occasional going-out-getting-dead-drunk soirees a few times a week.

Phase 2: Guilt.

As you start getting used to this lifestyle of doing nothing, your conscience kicks in and starts making you feel guilty about spending so much time doing nothing productive. It happened to me as I was not used to having this much free time on my hands: my schedule had always been jam-packed. You may start looking at your books from the corner of your bed, and you might get the urge to get dressed in the morning, saying to yourself “I’m going to get things done today!”, but worry not, that is a short phase that you will immediately shake off.

Phase 3: Boredom.

There is nothing left on the internet, there are no more video games for you to play, there is nothing left in the world that you could possibly do. So, you clean your room.

Phase 4: Panic.

You get things done. You decide to finally take care of that pile of official bank papers that has been on the corner of your desk for an eternity now, you settle on living a healthy lifestyle, you shop for healthy foods, you join the gym, you do everything your parents tell you to do in your free time, make resolutions that you will not break…

… at least not until the next day, when you decide that you deserve a break, and go back to doing nothing.