I’ve worked pretty hard all my life. I’m one of those busy people who simply can’t sit around doing nothing. I don’t even like sitting in a bar – it seems like such a waste of time. Even when I’m relaxing, I have a book in my hand; I can’t even take a bath without a good book for company. Keeping my mind busy is intensely important.

Right now, though, work is a little thin on the ground. I’ve just finished one project and waiting for another to start. I have a few others on the go, but none of them remotely take up even two hours of each day. So I’m faced with a lot of time on my hands. That doesn’t sit well with me.

While I know there’s some sort of pathology in my need to remain constantly busy – some sort of self-esteem issue tied up in my productivity; I’m just not keen to do any navel gazing right now. I want to get on with it. Move forward and have deadlines looming.

Anyway, today I did something I’ve never done before. I used a coupon. Twice, sort of.

As all writers or freelancers should, I own a seriously groovy coffee machine. But, because the coffee pods made by the machine’s manufacturer can only be purchased at certain places, I cheat. I buy the knock-off pods. Not as nice, but they work and I really need a steady supply. Anyway, the cheat pods I bought recently had a coupon inside, giving me an astounding R100 off! Normally, I would never use such a thing because I know it takes time to coupon something. It did take time, around half an hour. But, I waited patiently while the cashier and her supervisor managed to sort it all out.

The next ‘coupon’ I used was at a store I often go to. I have one of their loyalty cards, which offers me discounts and all sorts of bells and whistles I’ve never bothered to discover. One thing that I have been aware of is the ‘cash back’ offer. You gain points every time you shop and then at some point, you go to a machine that I’m never able to find to switch your points to money. I’ve never had the time to hunt down the machine, nor to figure out how to use the thing.

But today I did. So I bought some pyjamas, ostensibly for free. That also took me a while, but hey, I’m now sitting here with time to blog, in a pair of seriously comfy pjs and sipping a highly satisfactory cappuccino.

Now, I think I’m going to sit in the garden and soak up a few wintery rays of sunshine, without a book, to attempt enjoyment of doing nothing – dolce far niente.