Telling time with the heart

I forgot to wear my watch to school today.

Reading this, you may think this is not a big deal. But it is an unwritten, default rule for prefects in my school to wear watches. 

Why? Because it reminds us to go to our respective posts for duty on time. Not a minute too early, not a minute too late. Besides, we are a small school. Almost everyone is on the committee board of a society, or maybe even a few. There are countless things to do in our precious 20-25 minute breaks; without a watch, you may imagine little blue or red specks running around our school compound like super-speedy mutant ants.

Then again, I'm very forgetful. It is not the first time I have forgotten to wear my watch to school. This time was a very different experience though.

My first two periods in school today is Physics. Not one, but TWO periods of Physics in the early morning, when we're still technically half-asleep (or very asleep, for some of us). This is one of the times when we check our watches every few minutes, just to see if it's any closer to the ring of the bell that sets us free. 

But I didn't have my watch today. So my only other option was to stick through the lesson and (sort of) forget about the bell. And...it wasn't as bad as I thought. I wasn't nervously checking my wrist. I wasn't mentally wishing that the minute hand would turn faster (I didn't have a dial so imagining was too tricky for me). I was just listening in class and doing nothing else.

Miraculously, I wasn't late for my rounds, and nor did I feel any less productive today. In fact, a short separation from my watch was rather relaxing. It was so stress-free, I kind of enjoyed it.

Because when you don't spend so much time wondering how to harness those 20 minutes, it is then that those 20 minutes are used most wisely. 

So, let's take off that watch for a while, shall we? 

The star of the post, my watch :)