Playing hooky the right way...

June 26, 2006 6:41 PM

I haven't had a day off from work in over 3 weeks. I've just finished a major project, am about to start another, and would like to take a single day to recharge my batteries first. The problem: I have no idea what to do with the day I'm giving myself. So, what should I do with my free day, Metafilter? What would you do with a free day right about now? Bonus points for those who have recommendations for the Phoenix, AZ area, but really, if you have good general ideas, I can research a local equivalent.

Two things about me that might help you with answers:

1) I'm much more of a city/museum/poolside-reading/food&drink type person than I am a back-to-nature/hike-and-bike type person. I prefer to keep my distance from nature, actually.

2) When it comes down to it, expense will be a consideration for me. But don't let it stop your imagination. I'm just looking for good ideas right now.

posted by .kobayashi. to sports, hobbies, & recreation (13 comments total)

I would go with sleep. You might enjoy time to do nothing, just for variety.
posted by 517 at 6:50 PM on June 26, 2006

If I hadn't had a day off in 3 weeks, I wouldn't much feel like running around town. Stay home.

Sleep late. Lay around and listen to music or watch some DVD's or read. Maybe toss some clothes on and go out to get a bite to eat at some point. Just relax.

And I think that you deserve more than one day off before starting another major project. Yikes!
posted by bim at 6:52 PM on June 26, 2006

I work 50+ hours a week and go to school full time on top of that. I went several months without a day off and when I finally did have one I had no idea what to do with myself so I just ran errands and cleaned my apartment and generally kept as busy as I could.

Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion, I guess.
posted by ryanhealy at 6:55 PM on June 26, 2006

Get up, go out for good coffee and a pastry, get a massage, go to an art gallery, then have an ice cream. Go home and go to bed early with a good book. Don't turn on computer for any reason, unplug phone, do not use cell phone, don't read newspaper, just free your mind from the usual clutter. Probably you could do the above for 50 bucks.
posted by Rumple at 6:57 PM on June 26, 2006

Yeah, just staying off your computer and phone will recharge you like nothing else. Take a book and sit in a cafe for an hour or three.
posted by gaspode at 6:59 PM on June 26, 2006

Take yourself to a spa for the day. Have a massage, sit by the pool, relax, have another treatment, have lunch, etc. Let yourself be pampered.
posted by necessitas at 7:07 PM on June 26, 2006

Second the massage. Otherwise, movie, restaurant, pool. Any order you like. With alcohol.
posted by callmejay at 7:13 PM on June 26, 2006

Smoke pot and play video games.
posted by utsutsu at 7:14 PM on June 26, 2006

As a few have already said: do something relaxing and slackful. Do not run errands you need to catch up on (if they've gone this long they'll go a bit longer)

If there's one thing I've learned about "vacation" from work, it's that planning it out and doing stuff, while enjoyable, just makes me feel like I need another vacation to recharge before going back to work -- it's fun but exhausting.

I would say, though, that you ought to get more than 1 day off after 3 full weeks of work without a day off, and leading into another project. Sounds like you're letting yourself be used as slave labor - take more than one day if at all possible. If not, you might evaluate how happy you are with your current employment.
posted by twiggy at 7:19 PM on June 26, 2006

Massage, weed, food, movie on DVD, sleep.
posted by tristeza at 7:20 PM on June 26, 2006

Absolutely fuck all. Sleep as long as you want, go out for coffee, meander to the grocery store, buy your favorite food and a bottle of wine, come home, cook yourself something abso-fucking-lutely delicious, collapse in front of the TV and head to bed when you feel like it.

If you schedule anything more demanding you'll be too tired to enjoy it.
posted by unSane at 7:32 PM on June 26, 2006

I'm going to say the exact opposite from what everyone else says (although I do want to chime in on "no errands"), and this is based on my own experience of never having any days off for long periods of time. Since you only have one day, you're going to want to make this seem like MORE than one day. If you take most of the advice above, you're going to waste the day in bed, and feel terrible afterwards because you "never get out".
Instead: go to bed early the night before, so you can get up early and have the entire day. You need the entire day, because you're going to go places: a restaurant you've been meaning to try, a museum you've been meaning to visit, perhaps something that's a little bit out of town. At the end of the day, instead of going home, go out for dinner, and then go see a movie or a live band (early-ish show). Then go home, go to bed, and when you're back at work the next day you're going to feel like you've been away for a WEEK.
For me this works best if I indeed make it out of town for a few hours, but in general doing a lot of fun things in one day feels like a mini-vacation. Just plan it beforehand, so you also have something to look forward to.
I've done both this and the slacking at home thing after more than a moth without any days off, and a day full of fun is definately more refreshing.
posted by easternblot at 8:29 PM on June 26, 2006

If you have been working non-stop you haven't had any time to feel really bad. So take a day off to feel miserable. You probably will anyway, so might as well make it your idea.
posted by zackdog at 9:43 PM on June 26, 2006