On Tuesday I woke up and after physically having to shake myself out of some exceptionally bizarre dreams I said to myself, "I'll go to work today". I didn't have to go to work that day. I chose to. A strange but mostly satisfactory arrangement exists between my employer and I these days where I am contracted to work at least 15 hours per week on a flexible basis: a basis so flexible, in fact, that nobody seems to want to know in advance which hours, or even which days, I'm actually going to be there. Last week I was on annual leave, so didn't have to go in at all, although they still paid me - an even more satisfactory arrangement - and I had not intended to return until Wednesday but as I said, I chose to go in on Tuesday. I could have stayed in bed.
I don't enjoy my work. I don't not enjoy it either. It just is. My colleagues are pleasant, and the work is simple, if frustrating. For 15 hours a week it is more than tolerable, and it pays the bills. So I could have stayed in bed on Tuesday but I did not. I was feeling out of sorts on Monday, unable to concentrate on anything much at all, and waking from the dreams that rippled through my mind overnight I felt another day in that mental state on the cards again. So I went to work. Some bureaucracy and ordinariness might help, I thought.
I was right. I actually got quite a lot done. I have never in my employed existence worked the standard 9 to 5, Monday to Friday grind, and have great sympathy for anyone who has no other option. Eight hours a day is far too many to spend at work. The same for five days a week. It is insane. Sweden recently experimented with six-hour working days, and initially saw some positive results in terms of employee wellbeing, reduced absences, and even a better quality of work (including in hospitals, where patient care quality improved - an area where high quality work actually matters). However, since employers continued to pay workers for a "full" day, this proved to be too expensive in the longer term. Good on Sweden for trying though. Hard to imagine the UK even considering such a thing.
Six hours a day, for me, is plenty. I have to really push myself to get anything more done in eight hours than I would in six. I wonder how much work, on average, actually gets done relative to the length of a person's working day, here in the UK or anywhere else. Work smart, not hard. Of course this is a luxury, I know. I just enjoy speculating about these things.
I mention this because on Wednesday, when I might otherwise have gone to work and come home, I found myself out of my mind again and did what I had promised at the beginning of the month I wouldn't do: I ate a takeaway and got drunk. Or rather, I got drunk, at which point getting a takeaway seemed like a great idea. I don't know what any of this tells you, psychologically, about me. Perhaps nothing. It happened, though, and that is that.
Here are this week's numbers.
Saturday 22nd
Breakfast: Coffee and mung bean microgreens.Lunch: Fried rice and red onion
Tea: Roasted chick peas
Food shopping: £3.89
Day total: £3.89
Sunday 23rd
Breakfast: Adzuki bean microgreens and coffeeLunch: Nothing. Snacked on other microgreens until mid-afternoon. They are surprisingly filling, which is an excellent sign.
Tea: Tortilla chips, bread and hummus
Gardening supplies - trays for more microgreens, and fleece covers: £6.75
Food shopping: £4.95
Day total: £11.70
Monday 24th
Breakfast: Pea shoot sandwichesLunch: Lentils and celery with brown bread and pickled spinach
Tea: Nothing. Went to bed quite early, didn't feel that hungry. Must be all the brown bread.
Didn't spend any money today. Day total: £0.00
Tuesday 25th
Breakfast: Coffee and soup
Lunch: Soup
Tea: Vegan burrito at Barburrito in Piccadilly Gardens. Noteworthy is that as well as having satisfactory vegan options, here's a fast food outlet in a city centre that also has 'zero waste' options: you can order a 'naked' burrito, which comes in a reusable bowl, without any wrapping. Avoid napkins and there you have a zero waste vegan meal. Impressive. £9.35
Day total: £9.35
Wednesday 26th
Breakfast: Pea shoots and bread. Already by 10:00am my mind was whirring, and now that I wasn't going to work, when initially I was, I wandered off for some fresh air. Found myself in Ground Up in Bury for
Brunch: Coffee and sourdough with vegan peanut butter and a banana: £5.25 While I was there I noticed someone come in with several tins of obviously homemade cakes, which she exchanged for cash. I wonder if they might be interested in buying some of my microgreens if I get to the point where I'm growing more than I can eat myself.
Tea: Sweet potato, spring onions, garlicThe I bought a bottle of wine, and drank it. It felt good. Then I ordered a takeaway, which did not. Ate about half of it and fell asleep. Do I actually hate work? Is this why? Does it matter?
Plant pots: £29.99
Food shopping: £5.03
Postage for book sold on amazon: £1.58
Food shopping: £2.74
Wine: £4.99
Takeaway: £16.60
Day total: £66.18
Thursday 27th
Breakfast: CoffeeLunch: Sweet potato and broccoli
Tea: Toast with pea shoots and mustard
Food shopping: £2.79
Friday 28th
Breakfast: CoffeeLunch: Sweet potato and broccoli
Tea: Pea shoot and pickle sandwiches
Coffee and vegan cherry brownie at Fig and Sparrow in Manchester: £5.25
Salary: £188.99 This is my base rate for 15 hours work/annual leave. I something like 23p in tax on this, and nothing from my student loan, something that I will probably never pay off, which amuses me.
Day total: £5.25
Total spent this week: £99.16
WEEK END BALANCE: +£89.83
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