Making sure every day is complete

I've worked from home throughout my five-year career. Except 1 year when I rented a place that I used exclusively for work. Barring that one year, I've always lived a day-life. And that I believe is why I do not burn out.

 day-life: a day is the smallest complete unit 
week-life: a week is the smallest complete unit

On some days, I go for a walk. Most days, I read. Everyday, I play the piano. These are my leisure activities. Except, I do not do them in my free time. (Free time is for procrastination only 😁). These are things I do because I enjoy doing them.

You see, these are just hobbies. They don't feel like work. And I don't mind doing them everyday. And they all have desirable (to me) long-term outcomes. I don't mind doing them even if I don't feel like doing them at the moment, because I know I'll enjoy it when I start the walk, or start reading, etc. (But I never force myself.)

Leisure activities like these help absorb work-stress. They give my brain fresh brain-air to breath. And most importantly, they are not compulsive (like social media can be).

I sprinkle some of these leisure activities (particularly piano time since it's minimum effort, and only takes me few minutes of noodling before I'm ready to get back to whatever I was doing) a.k.a. stress-absorbers  throughout the day, and no matter how busy work was that day, I usually end up going to bed with no stress. The day feels complete.

Everyday is different, so I might need to adjust the amount of stress-absorbers I use. The goal is that the day must feel complete, without me needing to wait for the weekend. The work-life balance, self-care, etc. becomes a daily thing, not something that waits for the weekend.

There are times this doesn't work. Like if I din't get enough rest the previous night. Or if I'm sick, or tired, or exhausted. Because the stress-absorbers are not substitutes for rest. That's something only a good night's sleep, a weekend, or a long vacation can fix.

Leisure does not magically fix problems, but it does make my DAY feel complete.