Humpday Afternoon: How I like to get out there and get inspired

There's not much to be said about the middle; it's neither here nor there. Today is Wednesday, the rut of the week. Monday was a fresh start. Tuesday can be tough, but still pretty  positive. Thursday is like Friday's eve. Friday is...well...Friday. Wednesday means you're smack dab in the middle; the most hopeless day of the week, by far. For this reason, I've tried to get in the habit of breaking my Wednesdays into two distinct parts with two opposing aims:

First, I try to stride into Wednesday morning as if it were Monday; I'm going to murder it with productivity. Me at 8:00am on Wednesday: "I came here to do two things; slay some tasks and drink some coffee, and it looks like I'm about out of coffee."

Then comes Wednesday afternoon: STOP. BREAK IT DOWN. Hold my calls, because this is me time. Wednesday afternoon for me is a time to reset, to find myself, to get inspired, and whatever other righteous phrases I can think of to describe what is basically shirking. Whatever you call it, I've gotten pretty damn good at it.


Searching the internet, you can find tons of advice on getting inspired. But it's mostly all different versions of the same generic advice or sappy quote.

Live. Love. Laugh. Barf.

The key, I find, is to GET OUT. Take a walk, run an errand, or disappear entirely. But turn off your email alerts and forget about that spreadsheet you were supposed to have done, at least for a while. It's all about what you can reasonably get away with. But you must get away with something, for the love of God, because it's Wednesday, and you've had enough of your office and your coworkers.

I'm sick of your face.

Here's a few ways I might realistically achieve this:

For those of us who share office space, or for other reasons can't enjoy music or our favorite podcast at work, these tools become essential:

15 Minutes or Less:

Some might think that if you can only get away for 15 minutes or less then it's hardly worth getting away at all. Those of us with a needier urge for inspiration know that you take what you can get. So, when time is limited, I head for my go to getaway spot: Top of a Parking Garage.


What? A dirty parking garage? Really? What's so great about that?

I'll tell you what's so great about that. For starters, they are usually devoid of human life at mid-afternoon on a Wednesday. Secondly, they are everywhere. If you work downtown, like me, there are lots of parking garages within short walking distance to escape to, each offering a new perspective on the city around you. I could probably do an entire post on parking garages. Don't threaten me with a good time.

Taking in West Rock to New Haven Harbor on the Crown Street Garage

On the flip side, if you work in the burbs, most of your basic industrial parks have some sort of parking structure to escape to for a reflective glimpse of the world around you.

45 Minutes or Less:

Meetings cancelled, deadlines pushed back, responsibilities procrastinated. Now we're talking. There's a lot you could do in any city with half hour to 45 minutes to forget about how crappy your week has been. Usually, I'll take advantage of a prolonged disappearance with a nice 1-2 combo.

First, I'll head to my favorite spot (or, wherever fits best geographically into my journey) for an iced coffee (in the winter I might sub this for a hot coffee, or a mocha if I'm feeling young and wild and free). In NHV, my favorite place is Koffee on Audubon.

Artsy stuff, funky curtains: totally inspiring

Bev in hand, I like to get the blood flowing with a nice walk:

New Haven's section of the Farmington Canal is like New York's High Line, only low...and empty.

1 Hour Plus:

If you're truly lucky on this Wednesday afternoon of yours, you've got all the time in the world. In which case I recommend any of the above coupled with shot of culture, and a pint of beer.

After a walk about or some passersby gazing, I might head to an art gallery. Locally, the Yale University Art Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday, and free to the public. It's a great place to let the mind and the eyes wander, with rooms as inspiring as the art.

Art, Babes, and 2 of America's Famous Paintings

If you don't have the advantage of a free, awesome art gallery nearby, then you might try an independent bookstore. Browse the shelves, admire some interesting cover designs, read a few jackets.

Explore layers

Now that you finally got the brain going, let's think about bringing it back down to a slow coast. I can't think of a better way than some day drinking. After all, you've worked, what, 2.5 work days? You deserve it! Every town as at least one decent Irish bar to crawl into and warm up on a winter day. If it's a nice summer day, you might choose somewhere with an outside space or nice opening walls like at Rudy's on Chapel Street.

See you tomorrow!