It took me long enough to figure this out, but I think I know why the system works for me. I’m talking about working at home and working on weekends and taking all those breaks. I didn’t think of it as a system much, until today when I thought, “The system works.”

It’s breaking my job into bite-sized chunks that makes it more palatable. I’m spoiled for a nine-to-five, forty-hour job where you can’t lie down and take a nap in the middle of the day, or spend an afternoon shopping or taking a late lunch, or ease into the morning with a book or a telenovela. Even if it means more actual working hours that extend later into the evening, it’s a system that works for me.

I’ve been on that other track, of course. And I worked for years in retail, which is even worse because you work for eight or nine or eleven hours at a stretch, but sometimes you start early in the morning and other times you keep going until midnight. Those early-early and late-late shifts ruined me. I was pretty good at my job until the reaction kicked in and I was tired and cranky all the time. Those aren’t qualities that play well with customers in an upscale mall.

On the other hand, with the hours I’m keeping and the sleep I’m missing, I’m not in such great shape now, but at least I don’t come into contact with anyone who could be contaminated by my perpetual foul mood. That makes it a little easier to put on a sunny smile and get happy when I do talk to people. All in all, it works out pretty well.

It’s probably worth it, the long hours. It keeps me from dragging along in the morning and it doesn’t force me into a frenzy of activity to get to a stopping point by quitting time. There is no quitting time, but there are a lot of recesses, just like in grade school. Only better, because there aren’t any playground bullies here.

And if I think about it, I probably did realize that this was a “system” and that it was working. I just never consciously articulated it until now. In fact, until now I might have said that I was slacking off too much at work, and I might have felt guilty about it. Did, in fact. But you can forget about that, because anything that can be defended as part of a “system” for getting work done more efficiently isn’t going to be something I feel guilty about. Or if I feel it, I certainly won’t admit it.

I put a modified, limited version of the system into practice when I was getting dinner ready tonight. Just because I have a ton of leftovers doesn’t mean I have to eat them all at once. Smaller portions being healthier, I took steps. As a bonus, I now have leftovers left over for tomorrow night, too. This wouldn’t have happened if I’d eaten them all tonight. I’m pretty sure of that.