Too Much Time: Gift or Curse?

The Covid-19 pandemic represents an extraordinary event that is profoundly changing our way of life, upending our rhythms and habits without exception. Much has already been said about the long-term effects on our emotional states, and some will only become apparent in the future. Essentially, each of us has had to face unexpected anxieties and fears with our own personal resources, and for most people this has coincided with abrupt changes of perspective and a daily life thoroughly turned upside down.

While healthcare workers found themselves overwhelmed, no longer having even the bare minimum of time for themselves, most other people instead had to find ways to fill endless hours at home, giving meaning to days that all looked alike, having to invent alternatives to fill the spaces once occupied by work and free time. Children, of any age, represented a constant, additional commitment for parents who cared for them as best they could, inventing improvised games and cooking activities to keep them stimulated and supported, not always with satisfying results. The families under the greatest strain were those with young children used to letting off steam outdoors, now confined like caged animals, often in cramped spaces.

In our frantic Western world, all of us have at some point wished for more time to ourselves, to enjoy our homes and our daily routines; but during the pandemic we experienced how «imposed» time, forced upon us from outside our own free choices, is entirely hard to digest. Having too much time on our hands proved, in most cases, to be an emotional boomerang: it gave us the chance to «lose» it in unproductive activities, perhaps enjoyable at first, like binge-watching TV series, but alienating and demotivating in the long run. Like any precious resource (especially for the Western lifestyle), time lost its value the moment it suddenly became abundant. The most determined among us reacted by tackling long-postponed household projects, repainting and tidying, redecorating and cataloguing endless pages of family life. Just as many chose to devote themselves to their families, taking direct care of their children, finally enjoying feedings and evening games in the big bed, and sleeping more. The majority, however, almost a year into this collective adventure, are still struggling, because they no longer quite know what to do with this rediscovered, gifted time, now grown too cumbersome, given how many restrictions the current rules place on how it can be used. No outings, no entertainment, no social occasions. Too much time to think about what to do, about what will come, reading and drinking from the usual uncertain sources of mass media, hardly reassuring: all of it breeds anxiety. With the kids' room repainted, the documents and photo albums sorted, the attics and cellars rearranged, after yet another pasta necklace or papier-mâché figure, what is left to do, and for how much longer?

Let's pause for a moment to reflect. As discouraging as it is, the situation is not among the worst. Our children have been protected in our homes, not displaced under postwar tents. Our grandparents lived through situations dramatically worse than this! What's more, this state of affairs will not last forever: we know a new normal will soon see the light of day. Time remains a wonderful resource and a blessing, if we decide to spend it well, even at home, not with the intent of making it «pass» quickly but of giving it value. So it's fine to take up DIY projects alone or with the children, but even better is to come up with a personal project, small or more substantial and structured, to devote ourselves to during these further months of enforced standstill.