A Doctor's Dozen by Catherine Florio Pipas

Author:Catherine Florio Pipas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dartmouth College Press

Shirley’s 24-7 Time Log

“What was your experience in completing the time log?” I asked.

“It took a lot of time,” she laughed.

“What went well?”

“I felt good after I slept six hours on Tuesday night, even though on average I slept only four hours a day.”

“What else did you observe over the week?”

“I’m not getting much sleep, and I devote a lot of time to others. I also had three doctor’s appointments last week, more than I’ve had in the past year.”

“What were your appointments for?” I asked.

“First my back pain flared, so I went to orthopedics, and they recommended ibuprofen, an MRI, and the option to consider surgery. I then went back to the gastroenterologist for worsening nausea. He stopped the ibuprofen, but then my headaches flared up, and so Roger arranged for me to see a neurologist, who recommended a CT scan. But Friday night I slept well and Saturday I went for a run, ate dinner with the family, and felt completely fine. Seemed like all the alarm was a waste of time.”

“How is your back and your stomach and headaches now?”

“All fine.”

“Good. Were there any other patterns or anything else you noticed?”

“I spend six hours every day on my computer or my phone.”

“Did that surprise you?” I asked.

“Yes, and I was shocked to also see how much more time my children spent chained to their devices. They’re like slaves.”

“Did your hours online replenish you or reflect your priorities?”

“Very little of anything I did last week felt positive or represented what matters to me. I barely had any time with family. I tried to talk to my children, but they were constantly plugged in. I tried to talk to Roger face-to-face about preserving our marriage, but got only texts saying he was so busy. Even when we were all home together, I felt alone. I spent most of my time doing community projects and rated most of my activities as depleting.” She paused. “Looks like I failed this test, huh?”

“Not at all,” I responded.

SHIRLEY’S 24-7 TIME LOG

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