How much "down time" do you need?

Which describes your situation?

  • I thrive on being busy, and am really happy that way.

    Votes: 4 3.9%
  • I'm too busy, but I don't feel like I have a choice.

    Votes: 11 10.7%
  • It's all about the balance.

    Votes: 27 26.2%
  • My alone time is for everyone's sanity.

    Votes: 35 34.0%
  • I'd spend every day in PJs on the couch if I could.

    Votes: 26 25.2%

  • Total voters
    103

PollyannaMom

I was a click-clack champ!!
Joined
May 16, 2006
This is actually a loose spin-off of the eating out thread. I keep reading about people who are super busy and make things work by doing a lot of advance prep. But "surviving" weekdays and giving up weekends doesn't strike me as what I want to aim for. Maybe it's just the introvert in me, but I feel like I function at my best if I leave room for some "non-busy" time to myself every day (or at least a couple of times a week). What about you?
 
This is actually a loose spin-off of the eating out thread. I keep reading about people who are super busy and make things work by doing a lot of advance prep. But "surviving" weekdays and giving up weekends doesn't strike me as what I want to aim for. Maybe it's just the introvert in me, but I feel like I function at my best if I leave room for some "non-busy" time to myself every day (or at least a couple of times a week). What about you?

I need to have my alone time. I don't care if I'm taking a long bath, reading in bed or playing WoW in the living room while no one else is home. If I don't get at least an hour of alone time every couple of days, I go nuts.

DH is the same. He really needs about an hour after he gets home from work to decompress.
 
I voted the PJs option:sunny: I retired about 4 years ago and I am perfectly content hangin' around the house most days (though I usually throw on a t-shirt and jeans in case I decide to walk to the mailbox or go pick up a pizza.) During my working years I was very busy and frankly it sort of went against my grain. On the rare occasion where I might have a busy day (relatively speaking) I'm glad when it's over. :)
 
I do not like down time- I like being out doing things---anything as long as its not sitting on the couch or in front of the TV. I get depressed if I have nothing going 2 days in a row! Up until I had my daughter I always worked 2 jobs-- I would work 10pm-6am and then 6am until noon 5 days a week. I retired but work now part time 10am till 3pm but I am finding I have to much down time in the evening since my daughter went away to college and need to find something else to keep busy
 


Tons - I often don't get enough and it leaves me feeling mentally exhausted. I'm very introverted and live mostly inside my own head. For every one minute I spend doing something I need to have spent 2 minutes thinking about it's first. What looks like me doing "nothing" is really the very important work of "getting my head in the zone". It's not physical activity or tasks I need a break from - it's the constant relational demands of other people.
 
I spend a lot of time out and busy, so when I am home I definitely need down time. DH also works from home, so our life is definitely not the normal routine where both adults go to work all day and spend time together at the end of the day. We normally have coffee / breakfast together, often lunch, occasionally run errands through the day together and spend a portion of most evenings as well. I take about an hour or two every evening to read, watch Netflix, play online games etc.
 
I need lots of down time. My brain starts going crazy without it. Even if it's just "putzing" around the house, doing whatever I see that I feel like doing, I need that time.

That said, I rarely (if ever) just sit and watch TV. I watch a lot, but I'm always doing something else.
 


I love alone time - not sure if it's the fact that I'm an only child and even though I had friends to play with as a kid I still spent time alone too.

When I worked outside the home sometimes it was hard to find time for myself during the day, and I hated that.

Now that I'm retired I can have all the alone time I want (usually) and I love it!! When I'm home alone I rarely have the TV on, sometimes I'll play music but not always. Quiet is nice. :)

I enjoy having at least an hour or two, daily, to be able to sit down and read, use the computer, play Hay Day, etc. Most days that is no problem. Even on vacation I like alone time but find it harder to get then, unless it's a cruise then I can sit on our balcony for an hour or two and read/watch the water.
 
I work full time and have three kids so I’m busy enough with that and I do all the housework and cooking so I’m plenty busy. However the older I get (and I’m only 37) the more I enjoy just hanging around the house doing nothing. I’d much rather stay in and relax in my bed playing in my phone then go out. Unless I have to I don’t go out, I’ve even got my DH doing the majority of the grocery shopping now. I love travelling but if I’m home I love being home. When the kids were younger and I was a stay at home mom I loved getting out by myself even if it meant a trip to the grocery store but now that my youngest is 11 I don’t need that get away time anymore.
 
I work full time and have three kids so I’m busy enough with that and I do all the housework and cooking so I’m plenty busy. However the older I get (and I’m only 37) the more I enjoy just hanging around the house doing nothing. I’d much rather stay in and relax in my bed playing in my phone then go out. Unless I have to I don’t go out, I’ve even got my DH doing the majority of the grocery shopping now. I love travelling but if I’m home I love being home. When the kids were younger and I was a stay at home mom I loved getting out by myself even if it meant a trip to the grocery store but now that my youngest is 11 I don’t need that get away time anymore.

This is me exactly (only I just turned 48 lol). I LOVE to travel and do so as often as I can, but if I'm not traveling, I love being home more than anywhere else. I'm not big on going to local things like festivals, fairs and even most family events, they all seem like a chore to me. I love puttering around the kitchen, reading, watching Netflix, whatever. But, I have a full time job with an hour commute each way so I know that's part of it. I was a sahm for a few years and couldn't wait to get out of the house just to walk around the mall, now that sounds like torture!
 
I'm like a PP said, I have the TV on a lot, and my phone on my personage, even when I'm doing other stuff, but I rarely sit down and just watch TV.

I need a good bit of downtime, but this is the weird part, I get that by being out often too. I Dis from coffee shops and bars (I'm often not even drinking), I read, I surf the internet, and I'm out, but I'm relatively alone, barring running into friends. I have always loved traveling by myself and have spent 1000s of nights alone in hotel rooms with room service and it's so wonderful to knock out work, yoga, or a bad sci fi novel, and just not to have to be "on." Chaos, clutter, and loud environments bother me after a time.
 
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I couldn't decide how to vote.

I'm definitely an introvert. Left to my own devices I'd enjoy spending a lot of time on the couch with a movie or a good book. Sometimes I like to go out, but usually on my own terms.

However, I've got two active kids, two dogs, a husband and a house that needs tended to. Life is busier than I'd prefer a lot of the times. We get by with prep and planning (and more fast food than we probably should). It makes me happy to see the kids happy and able to participate in things that they enjoy, and getting a lot done in a day makes me feel useful and productive. So I can't necessarily say I'm "unhappy" with being busy, but I do enjoy the rare amounts of downtime that we get. (We're between sports seasons this week and our schedule is essentially blank. it's GLORIOUS!)

It's kind of like the fan on our range hood that we turn on when we're cooking. It's not that I "mind" the noise it makes. I don't even feel like I notice it while it's on... but every time I turn it off, it's like "ahhh. Silence is wonderful!"
 
I have had down time since 06. But that is due to back issues. I would rather be working but can't. I spend most of my time laying down. I hate being alone , I have the dogs but I have the t.v. on all the time. I need the noise. I have other things I do while laying here.
 
I am an extreme introvert, and downtime is critical to my sanity. We run, run, run all the time. Sunday is when I prep for my week. However, prepping helps my anxiety tremendously, and I consider it my downtime...I am alone, doing what makes my life smoother, and that, in turn, helps quell the need for a ton of downtime each day.

I love to cook, so when I get that 15 - 30 minutes in the kitchen each night to do so...that is enough to get me through the crazy.
 
I voted that it's about balance. I do need down time but my husband and I have staggered work/sleep schedules so I have most evenings to myself to do whatever. Some nights I'll do laundry or some bulk cooking other nights I enjoy my me time and watch my TV shows, scrapbook, etc. On the weekends, I like having some things to do because I get nuts sitting in the house all day. It doesn't need to be an out all day thing but it has to be something.
 
My kids are all in college now and I am still a SAHM. I do need to get a little part time job because I have too much downtime which is the first time I have felt that way since DS was born in 1997. I do like a lot of time to myself though. I am not a people person and am a big homebody. So I never did well with busy schedules. I know folks who thrive with crazy busy schedules. In fact, most of the moms I know are that way (live out of their minivans/SUVs practically). I remember when DS was little and my lady friends would want to schedule things out the ying yang while I was anxious just doing one thing a week. My kids did not get constant play dates and outings. We did a lot at home. At any rate, I selected a balance because I am now going a bit cabin fevery and do need a little something outside the house....just a little.
 
Tons - I often don't get enough and it leaves me feeling mentally exhausted. I'm very introverted and live mostly inside my own head. For every one minute I spend doing something I need to have spent 2 minutes thinking about it's first. What looks like me doing "nothing" is really the very important work of "getting my head in the zone". It's not physical activity or tasks I need a break from - it's the constant relational demands of other people.
Yep, yep, yep.

I purposely get up two hours before everyone else so I can just sit and mentally prepare myself for the day. If DH is off and gets up right after me it really throws me off. He’s not doing anything wrong, in fact he’s trying to be nice setting up my coffee etc. but I find myself wanting to tell him to quit doing my things. It feels like my morning is being invaded. It’s toally irrational but there you have it.

The last couple of weeks have added a bunch of stuff almost daily lately and I’m finding myself grumpy and irritated. I said to DH this morning, “This engaging in life thing is exhausting.” I’ve had way too much “peopling” the last couple of weeks.
 
I work a 12 hour day and night rotstion and have a job that I have to talk and actively listen the whole time so I definitely need down time . On my days off I make sure to get down time and balance it with family time.
 
It depends. I have no problem going from first light to midnight (and beyond) for days on end AS LONG AS I'm doing something fun. Combined with work & household chores, the downtime becomes mandatory. I'm fine on my own or not. That part doesn't matter to me.

DW needs some alone time to keep her sanity, even if it's just driving in the car with nobody to fight for control of the radio.
 
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I generally don't mind being busy and being at games and other events, but I do tend to take an hour or two (often instead of going to bed) to "chill out" and watch TV each night. Some nights I should probably just go to bed, so I need to work on that, but there's something about having some time to myself to watch a couple shows that the rest of my family has no interest in.
 

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