From the movie “About a Boy”:

Will: I find the key is to think of a day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than thirty minutes. Full hours can be a little bit intimidating and most activities take about half an hour. Taking a bath: one unit, watching countdown: one unit, web-based research: two units, exercising: three units, having my hair carefully disheveled: four units. It’s amazing how the day fills up, and I often wonder, to be absolutely honest, if I’d ever have time for a job; how do people cram them in?

Now, this statement is supposed to emphasize the absurdness of doing nothing — having no relationships, no jobs, no real hobbies, etc. And it’s a great quote! However… I don’t think that I am supposed to relate to it (or at least that was not the movie’s intention). I don’t really think of time as “units” and I do work and have relationships and hobbies… but when my depression is really bad, I have to break my day down into little pieces like this, and make it very mechanical.

Sometimes I even have to write it down:
6:00 – 7:00 - alarm goes off. get ready for work. (2 units)
7:00 – 8:00 - check email (2 units)
8:00 – 8:30 – breakfast and coffee (1 unit)
8:30 – 12:00 – regular work stuff (7 units)
12:00 – 1:00 – go to the gym (2 units)
1:00 – 1:30 - shower (1 unit)
1:30 – 2:00 - lunch (1 unit)
2:00 – 4:30 - more work (5 units)
4:30 – 5:30 - walk dog (2 units)
5:30 – 6:00 – clean up house (1 unit)
6:00 – 7:30 - preparing, eating, and cleaning up after dinner (3 units)
7:30 – 10:30 – online stuff and/or television (6 units)
10:30 – 11:00 – get ready for bed (1 unit)
11:00 – 6:00 (next day) – sleep (14 units)

Terribly unexciting, I know… but, like Hugh Grant says, extended periods of unscheduled time can be intimidating (okay, maybe I am a little better off than him–full hours are okay). I don’t have to schedule my day like this everyday… but when I have a weekend like this one (boring), two whole days of free time is overwhelming. I need some kind of schedule, even if it is filled with ridiculous plans like “check mail,” and “get coffee,” and “take dog to the pet store.”