I want my two hours!

I have the opportunity to reclaims two hours a day of my life. How? By reducing my commute from 2.5+ hours a day (round trip) to only 40 minutes.

There are a handful of reasons why I started to put feelers in the market, none of which were related to time management. But, when an opportunity for a lateral move quickly presented itself (same basic work, same base pay) AND the office was 20 minutes from my house, it seemed too good to pass up.

I want my two hours.

If you had two extra hours a day, what would you use it for?

Here's what *I'm* thinking of:

• More sleep (and less money spent on make-up because I'm not trying to hide the bags of exhaustion under my eyes)
• An hour a day (well, most days) for exercise
• Good-bye Hamburger Helper, now that I have more time for preparing healthy and complete meals
• More sleep in the morning because I don't have to get up early to read the paper now that I can listen to it on public radio while I drive to work
• Fulfilling my goal of having a healthy garden, because I have time (and energy) before or after work to prune/weed/water
• More time to talk with my family during the week because I'm in my car, and not taking public transportation, where I can use my cellphone without fear of being *that* person talking non-stop in the close quarters of the subway, bus or boat

It stands to reason that more sleep and more energy during the week will translate into less exhaustion and panic on the weekend. So, instead of dedicating one full weekend day to all of the cleaning and errands I normally do on the weekend PLUS everything I didn't get done during the week, maybe I can:

• Be fully present with family and friends, instead of resistant to social plans because I'm "too tired"
• Be fully present with BMG to create adventures 
• Develop my creative side through dance, writing and art
• Relearn how to meditate and start a spiritual practice
• Take action to make the world a better place through community service
• Give myself permission to take a long bike ride or travel longer distances to explore the world by kayak

At the age of 44, I've realized I want to be known for having a balanced life, not for being the best (insert impressive job title here). Looking back on the 15 years of my working life (post-graduate school), I see that I jumped off the career train pretty early. In this moment, I can admit that I took the leap not with intention, but rather because of fear. Or maybe, on the inside, I knew that I didn't want my legacy to be an amazing career, but rather a robust life.

My rational brain still struggles with this. I actually like my current job. I am pulled, intellectually both to the services my present employer offers in the world and the challenges presented in the workplace as the business grows. It is a good fit for my professional skills and my ego. I'm not burnt out, I have no ill will towards the company or my colleagues. In this context, leaving feels like a weird thing to do.

But I want my two hours. I really want my two hours.

So, I'm going to take them.