Lately, I find that one of the hardest things to do is resisting the urge to justify skipping work. I’m one of those lucky people who has flexible work hours, so there is a strange temptation to simply not go back once I leave.

The first hint of this temptation usually arises during an idle moment when I’m staring off into space. I feel a nagging urge to glance at the clock and seeing what time it is spawns the countdown of how many minutes until I leave or how many hours until I have to return. Soon after the countdown, I quietly abscond from my cubicle and hit the pavement, glancing at my watch and smiling with gleeful satisfaction that I’ve gotten away fifteen minutes early.

Then once I’m home, I subconsciously start listing some reasons why I might be able to come in fifteen minutes after one-o-clock instead of coming in right after lunch. For every few minutes I excuse, I always make sure to create a plausible story which can be recited on command if necessary.

It’s here that the last brick of justification becomes firmly cemented into place: if I went to work now, it would become undeniably obvious that I really didn’t have a dentist appointment, medical emergency, prior commitment, class or any real reason other than lazines to have missed the last fifty minutes of work. This is usually when I settle in and give up any pretense that I’ll actually be going back that day.

Anyone reading this would probably assume that I’m sme kind of compulsive liar or lazy degenerate to go to such trouble to skip, but in actuality, my reason for skipping is much to original to ever be plausible. The real reason is that I need my “me time”. In order to be a contented individual and keep my mind from overloading on stress like people around me, I allot time to be stress free. My “me time’ is not spent vegetating in front of the tv, or sleeping. Instead, I spend this time doing whatever frivolous thing I want ( reading and playing Gin on my computer are perfect examples). There may be some effort involved in finagling “me time” out of the day, but if I didn’t take time out, I’d probably end up like every other tension-filled, terse-lipped, hyperactive individual I’ve ever seen.

Even though sometimes I feel guilty about skipping, I always enjoy the tinge of satisfaction and luxurious contentment that stress free time brings me. I think that sometimes you can get a lot done by doing nothing. Even Benjamin Franklin took time out to relax once in a while.