BETWEEN THE LINES: DISCOVERING THE VALUE OF TIME, SLEEP AND DEADLINES

I discovered a time warp in my home recently. And it wasn't one I had intentionally created.

Apparently the kitchen clock is losing time while the other clocks in the house seem to be gaining it.

I first noticed the problem about three weeks ago because several of the clocks were displaying the wrong time.

The kitchen clock was routinely behind time. The clock on my desk at the office had stopped completely. And my bedroom alarm clock ran fast.

So I replaced the battery in the kitchen clock and repaired my desk clock.

But that didn't seem to help in the kitchen. For several days, the clock displayed the correct time, until now. I keep resetting it, but to no avail.

Meanwhile the pendulum clock in the living room and the VCR clock, are both set five minutes fast. It creates the illusion that I'll arrive on time to appointments -- a trait I inherited from my mother.

Knowing this doesn't really seem to help, however, I continue to waste time or compensate by spending those few extra minutes watching television, reading the paper or drinking another cup of coffee.

I recently heard a stand-up comic talk about setting his alarm for work and then sleeping right through it. He had discovered the snooze button.

I had a similar experience in college. I never used a snooze button until I enrolled in the university. Then, suddenly, sleep seemed so valuable that an extra nine minutes could save me from doom.

I could snooze for nearly 45 minutes. I would adjust the clock by setting it fast and then never arrive late for class. I explained the system to my boyfriend who just laughed at my demented logic.

OK, the truth is that it sounds good in theory but doesn't work in practice. I'll admit it, but that doesn't mean I've stopped.

My brother laughs about my time warp in the bedroom, but he has little room to talk. The clock in his car is set nearly 20 minutes fast so that he's always on time for work, regardless of rush hour traffic.

Managing my time is usually one of my strong points. I don't like to waste a lot of time, particularly when there are other tasks to be completed.

But occasionally everyone needs to slack off a little. I don't wear a watch so I figure that gives me a little break.

Working in a business filled with deadlines, you'd think I'd be aware of the wisest ways to spend my time.

However, it doesn't always seem to work out that way. Since working a night shift, I've noticed that I waste more time than when I worked days.

Sure I have the mornings to clean my house and run errands, but generally that doesn't happen.

Although I say I'm going to get up, go to the gym for a morning workout and then run my errands, I seem to be getting up later and later each day.

Of course this is precipitated by going to bed later and later each night. You know, there's really nothing on late night television except infomercials. I know. I'm awake at that time of night.

Maybe that's the time of day I should be cleaning my house and exercising. Then I wouldn't be feeling so guilty for wasting my mornings by sleeping late.

~Laura Johnston is a copy editor for the Southeast Missourian.