Do I ever play hooky?

A reader asked whether I ever “play hooky”… that is, go off my stringent work schedule… to relax or play instead of doing what I had planned to do.

​I love this question. It has to do with how we relate to the idea of productivity.The short answer: Yes, I do play hooky. Maybe once every few weeks, I take an afternoon off unexpectedly.

But if we do it very often, then it’s not playing hooky anymore. It would be better called procrastination. We’d eventually feel guilty because our conscience bother...