Time-Motion Study

Okay, so this is really more like a two day comparison but here's the poop:

Day 1: Get up early and take 45 minute walk. Go into office and spend, oh, a total of two hours sitting. Rest of time run off doing other things. End of day: feel tired, but not exhausted, am content having completed so many tasks over the course of the day, drew a portrait of husband and may have actually done good work, slept pretty well.

Day 2: Get up early and log into computer to present myself as "at work." Have been sitting here for three hours now, munching on almonds and drinking coffee. My brain has been valiantly trying to stay awake on a feast of random fact-finding and surfing but the inevitable, grinding halt has begun. In about 30 minutes I will not be able to think at all.

If I step away from the computer and the IM client that is my lifeline, my boss will be unhappy. If I don't, I will be unhappy, maybe even dead, who knows?

Moving is essential to keeping the brain going. Yet no computing workplace is designed to promote motion, and teleworking is no better. Yes, I can set my IM client to show that I'm always there (like my boss does, even when I know he's at the beach), but that doesn't help with knowing I won't be able to respond if someone pings me. Yes, I could set my phone to take the message but then the leash just drags along behind me, twisting and stretching but never letting go.