Ever had your whole day ruined by the dread of a dentist appointment, a brunch plan, or a package delivery window? Welcome to “waiting mode”—that anxiety paralysis where you can’t do anything until the next thing is over. In this episode, Peter and Shaun spiral through the utterly relatable mental chaos of looming commitments, from why a simple phone call or dinner plan destroys productivity, to the existential terror of prepping for a 6 AM flight or tracking a DoorDash order like a security camera.

We unpack the “Sims theory,” microwave drama, flaccid fries, and the truth about why millennials (and let’s be honest, everyone alive right now) have learned to dread the in-between. Spoiler: It might be regional anxiety, ADHD, industrialized time, or just the human condition—either way, you’re not alone if the mere prospect of “having plans” has left you immobile.

With games (“Productive or Paralysis?”), questionably scientific advice, and permission to admit that yes, checking your phone in anticipation for five straight hours really is a universal rite of passage. Embrace your mess with us.

Sean, are you okay?

2

You've been staring at that

avocado for 20 minutes.

3

It's turning brown.

4

I can't move.

5

I'm paralyzed.

6

Why is this apocalypse actually happening?

7

Did we miss the memo worse?

8

I have a dentist appointment.

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Oh God.

10

When 4:00 PM Sean, it's 10:00 AM.

11

You have six hours.

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We could have recorded three episodes.

13

We could have gone to brunch.

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Speaker 2: Brunch.

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Are you insane?

16

No.

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I'm officially in waiting mode.

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The day is canceled.

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I am now just a vessel waiting

for 4:00 PM Do not perceive me.

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I am simply waiting for the end.

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Speaker: I'm about to spiral.

22

Speaker 3: Apocalypse and avocados.

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Peter: Hey, chaos crew.

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Welcome back to Apocalypse and Avocados.

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It's Peter and I'm joined by Sean.

26

Hello.

27

And today we're talking about

the phenomenon of waiting mode.

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So I'm guilty of this.

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I know everyone's guilty of this.

30

So my first example of

this is just like a memory.

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Here.

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I have a million things to do.

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I have a million things to do

today, tomorrow, everything

34

just preparing for life.

35

But most of all, I have a psychiatry

appointment that's coming up,

36

and it was at five o'clock today.

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I woke up this morning and I was just

like, oh, okay, so I have an appointment.

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So mentally I was blocked, like nothing.

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I couldn't get anything done.

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I couldn't focus, I was just

focused on the appointment and

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it just stunted everything.

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Have you experienced

something like that, Sean?

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Shaun: I have a surprise meeting tomorrow

morning and I already can't get anything

44

done today because I'm thinking about it.

45

The dread is just building,

46

Peter: so mentally you're

stunted completely.

47

Okay, so since Sean is currently

non-functional, for a stranger

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in six hours while that sounds

insane this is the waiting mode.

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It's the paralyzing anxiety

that turns us into useless blobs

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before any scheduled event.

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So let's go into the dread here.

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So for those of you don't know waiting

mode is something we all go through.

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It's not just time management, it's

the complete inability to start

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tasks big or small because a future

commitment is looming over your head.

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So I don't know.

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There's so many versions of this.

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I know sexual things come into play here.

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Like when you're sitting down and

you're trying to get something

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done, and all you can think about

is maybe I should just go jerk off.

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Maybe I should go jerk off.

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I thought about it and

I think I should do it.

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And then you just focused on that and

you just, you can't focus on doing

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any of your work until you do that.

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You have to get the task out of you.

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How about you, Sean?

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Shaun: I know that was a little overshare.

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That sounds like my daily life.

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Yeah.

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I feel like for me it's more of that

like sense of dread of having something

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that isn't part of my normal schedule.

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Where I feel that my whole entire

day is thrown off because of it.

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Peter: Yeah, if you're thinking

about food shopping too.

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Yeah, that's a good one.

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Or what am I gonna eat for dinner?

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You just ate fucking breakfast.

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Shaun: Or if you have to go get gas

on the way to do something else,

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that's I know that's not quite as

much 'cause you're not waiting,

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but that gives me the same feeling.

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Peter: But it is it's just like

that because you remember how much

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gas subconsciously, you remember

how much gas is in your car and you

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know, you have to do something later.

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So you're like stuck in waiting mode,

waiting 'cause you're like, oh, I need to

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get gas, I need to go grocery shopping.

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I have to pick up a card for so-and-so's

birthday, whatever it may be.

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But you're focused on

that fucking gas tank.

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That doesn't matter right now.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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So everyone's guilty of doing this.

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Food comes to mind.

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Doing laundry.

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Having to pick up a friend or know that

there's a commitment with a friend.

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Shaun: Oh, I have a good one.

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When I used to work in retail,

I used to get this all the time.

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If I had an evening shift or a midday

shift, I just felt like my entire day

95

was gone because I had work later in

the day rather than taking advantage

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of the fact that I had the morning off.

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Peter: Yeah, you're stuck in that,

so you're stuck in the thought

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that, oh shit, I have to go to work,

so I can't do anything right now.

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I can't do anything right now because

it'll just be a waste of time and I'm

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gonna exert so much energy and I'm

gonna be tired after fucking working.

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Does this sound like anybody?

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It sound, it sounds very relevant to me.

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Shaun: Sounds like everybody, I know

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Peter: everyone's guilty of doing

this at one point or another.

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I'm sure all of you can think back to

a time when this has happened to you.

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Whether it be sexual or

just random life events.

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And you, it also happens

with like birthdays.

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Especially birthdays.

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'cause you're like, oh, so-and-so's

birthday is next week at Friday at 5:00

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PM and I need to get them a present.

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What are they gonna like?

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What should I get them?

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I only have until 5:00 PM next Friday.

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It's fucking Monday.

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It's Monday of the week

before you have to do it.

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And it just like cripples

you for the rest of the week.

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It's hard for you to focus.

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Maybe I just have a DHD.

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I don't know.

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That sounds like for me, but at

least now we can have a diagnosis.

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It is waiting mode.

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And Sean, what was the least significant

thing that you could think of that's

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caused you the most paralysis?

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Shaun: like just.

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Regular plans with someone like, oh, I

made plans to go to brunch, or I made

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plans to go get coffee at a specific time.

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And honestly, I just feel like

I can't do anything before that.

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Like nothing can be done.

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I have to wait until it's that time.

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Then go I got that the other day when

we were going to visit my family.

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I was like, okay, we gotta visit my family

today, so I can't do anything right now.

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And it's like, why?

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Why can't I do anything before?

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Peter: Why can't I eat?

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Why can't I wash my ass?

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Why can't I do anything?

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I'm so confused.

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Yeah.

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It's a good thing that you bring

that up too, especially when you're

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gonna hang out with your friends

or your friends are coming over.

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And you're just, you're stuck

until you see them text.

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I'm here or here.

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Mm-hmm.

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Whatever.

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You're stuck.

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You're like, you can't focus,

you can't do anything about it.

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I have to wait for them to get here

before my life can continue for the day.

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Shaun: You know what's crazy about it

is that when I get it, if I'm in that

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situation where it's like I have to hang

out with somebody or not have to, but I'm

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going to be hanging out with somebody.

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I feel like I often can't

even get ready until.

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My brain tells me it's close enough

to that time, and then often I'm

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rushing around trying to get ready

fast enough or I'm not ready in on

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time because I've just been paralyzed

in this waiting mode for so long.

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Peter: Yeah, and then you're like

scurrying around and you can't find

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anything and then that gets frustrating.

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Because everything that you thought,

you knew where it was, isn't there?

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And it's just, it's a

fucking pain in the ass.

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I think this is something that

it's, we have to really figure out

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what the fuck is going on here.

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Shaun: Yeah.

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And then you feel like the Grinch

trying on all your different clothes

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and you decide you're just not going

'cause nothing looks good on you.

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Peter: Yeah,

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Shaun: that's right.

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I'm not going.

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Peter: Or maybe I'll go,

but I'll be casually lit.

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Yeah, that's such a good movie.

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But why do you think this happens?

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To be honest, I think it might

be just that, I don't know the

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feeling of getting interrupted.

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Shaun: Yeah.

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I think that is, that's a big part of it.

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And I also feel like it's

a little bit of fomo.

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Like you feel that if you

start doing something.

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You're gonna miss out on something

else that you have the opportunity

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to do in that time because you

know your time is limited and

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you have, is it limited though?

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You feel like it is because most of the

time it, the thing that's paralyzing

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you is only a very small window of time.

181

Yeah.

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It's like 30 minutes to

an hour a lot of the time.

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Yeah.

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Peter: Yeah, it's 30 minutes to an hour

and then you can't relax and you can't

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do anything small just because, like you

said, you're anxious about the transition

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into doing something else, and it just,

I don't understand why we have this.

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Do we think that this is

just an American thing?

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Do we think this is a global thing?

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Shaun: I can't speak for people globally,

but I would imagine that this is a common.

190

Feeling around the world.

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I feel like it wouldn't

necessarily be country specific.

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But then again, different countries

have different like culture in

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the sense of their daily life.

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So maybe it's more of a relaxed feeling.

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Maybe it's not oh my gosh, I have

this to do and my day is shot.

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Peter: The reason that I bring it

up, and I think it might be country

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specific, is because we feel like, or

maybe it's not even country specific, I

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think that it might be region specific.

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In our particular country, here in the

northeast, we have a very rapid pace

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and we feel like we need to keep going

and when we stay sedentary for so long.

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We are just like, okay, I'm

not getting anything done.

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I'm not being productive.

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This is not happening.

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I need to do something.

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I need to do something, whether brush

my teeth, fold some fucking laundry,

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smoke a blunt, whatever you do, I

need to be doing something constantly.

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And then you go down south in the

country or even to the Midwest,

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and it's more of a relaxed pace.

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So it might not be country specific,

but maybe it's just regional.

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Shaun: And maybe there are other countries

who, or areas of other countries that

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are similar to what it's like here in

the Northeast where it's very go go.

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It's very business driven fast-paced and

maybe they have a lot of that as well.

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Peter: Yeah.

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I think that people need to get over

this, but there actually is a theory

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about this, so everybody knows the sims.

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Like the game.

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Love the sims.

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It's just like when they get

stuck in the sims, like somebody.

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Puts down a bowl of spaghetti or a bowl of

cereal and then they can't walk around it.

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Shaun: I was just gonna ask you,

are we talking about they get stuck

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behind a piece of furniture or I

take the ladder out of the pool.

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Peter: Oh my God.

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You tortured your sims.

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No, I'm talking about like when they're

all in the house or they have multiple

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sims in the house and you put down,

you have to like cat shit in the cat

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litter and then you can't step around

the litter box and then they start

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crying and they piss themselves 'cause

they're in the middle of the floor.

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Shaun: What about when someone puts

down their dirty plate and they like,

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act like they can't walk around it?

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Peter: Yeah.

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Or they get frustrated with

it and they have to clean it.

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At that point

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Shaun: you're just screaming

at the plate there.

234

Peter: Yeah.

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I can't even do AEM voice.

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I know they don't like flop.

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Yeah.

238

This is a thing though on stem.

239

So they think it's a theory that

your actions all have a cue.

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Ah, and you can't do anything

until one action is canceled.

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Shaun: Gotcha.

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If I can't complete that action,

I just can't move on until

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Peter: Yeah.

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It's

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Shaun: been canceled

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Peter: until somebody either says, I'm not

coming, or My favorite commercial is on

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at home, so I ain't gonna see you today.

248

Or you're like, oh, yeah we can change.

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What's gonna be for dinner?

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We have this, this, this in the house.

251

Now you can focus now.

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Your entire day is fucked up though.

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You're fucked up because in some carrots

that are moldy now in your fridge,

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moldy, and it's it's absolutely stupid.

255

But yeah, this is the Sims theory.

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Until you actually have that

event canceled, you can't continue

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with the rest of your day.

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You just stand there awkward awkwardly

in front of the fridge, awaiting

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your next command, like a sim.

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What about when

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Shaun: they would be cooking and

the whole stove would catch on fire?

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Freak out when they

were boiling spaghetti.

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How did you catch the stove on fire

264

Peter: when you were boiling spaghetti.

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I think Issa could do it.

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Not that she's a bad cook or

anything, but I think she could do it.

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I'm pretty sure she could burn ice.

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Didn't she have the

incident with The pizza?

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The pizza rolls.

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Pizza rolls.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Pizza rolls.

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That was back when we were young though.

275

She she was home by herself.

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And she had just gotten back from

school and we only had like pizza

277

rolls for snacks in the fridge.

278

So she decided she was gonna make 'em,

she put 'em on the ceramic plate and threw

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'em in the microwave, put in whatever

time, and she just left and came back.

280

She came back really

fast actually, nevermind.

281

But she had misread the time, so

it says 12 minutes in the microwave

282

and she had put them in for 21.

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So my mother arrives back at the house

and all, she has these, like these

284

black clouds of smoke just billowing

out of the house because Carissa's now

285

managed to charcoal something in the

microwave and throws it in the sink.

286

, It was just a whole ordeal.

287

So I got back from school

'cause I was in, I think it was

288

in sixth grade at that point.

289

And.

290

Every single window in the house is open.

291

My mother is furious in

the freaking kitchen.

292

She's like, how did you fucking

put it in for 21 minutes?

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21 minutes?

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She goes, you don't even put anything

in the fucking microwave for 21 minutes.

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Actually, little side note, spiral.

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My mom used to work for with this woman

who used to cook everything in the

297

microwave, even her Thanksgiving, Turkey.

298

Oh my

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Shaun: God.

300

Okay, so that reminds me of

season one of Flavor of Love.

301

There was a challenge where they had

to cook a chicken for Flavor flas mom

302

and one of the contestants, I believe

her name was Sweetie, she was a mess.

303

She put the whole chicken in the micro,

like stuffed vegetables inside of it and

304

stuff, and then put it in the microwave

and press the chicken function and.

305

Literally served raw

chicken to his mother.

306

Peter: See, I don't watch this

reality tv, so I completely miss

307

this, but it is the same situation.

308

That woman used to cook everything

in the microwave, and I did not even

309

know that you could cook something

for five hours in the microwave.

310

Did you know that?

311

I did not.

312

Yeah.

313

She cooked an entire Thanksgiving

feast in her fucking microwave.

314

Why not use the oven?

315

Shaun: Yeah.

316

I wouldn't it like, I don't know.

317

I feel like when I cook things in

the microwave it they shrink up.

318

Peter: Yeah.

319

Like her brain, she was, you know how

like when they say you stand in front

320

of the microwave and you watch it,

it's gonna explode your brain cells.

321

We clearly learned different

things growing up, I guess.

322

So a pregnant woman shouldn't

stand in front of the manque.

323

Oh my God.

324

Why is it gonna cook the baby?

325

Maybe I have no fucking idea.

326

I feel like standing in front of

the stove would be more dangerous.

327

Yes, especially if you're frying

something, then it is just, I don't know.

328

I don't know how people do this,

but she got pissed because she was

329

cooking the Thanksgiving dinner and

the microwave like broke down and

330

she had to go buy a new microwave.

331

Shaun: Maybe it broke down 'cause it

was sick of as, shit, don't cook a whole

332

fucking Thanksgiving feast in me bitch.

333

I am not

334

Peter: made for this.

335

I don't even know how she did that.

336

I, it's just, that's insane to me.

337

It was wild.

338

And then she didn't even know

what the little plastic thing

339

inside of the Turkey is for.

340

Like when you kick it.

341

Yes.

342

Shaun: So how does she know that she

had ever fully cooked the Turkey?

343

Peter: Guessing, I'm guessing She

put it in there and she's like, okay.

344

I don't know how people do this anyway.

345

20 pounds.

346

So it's an hour for each pound.

347

Shaun: Fuck that math.

348

I'm just gonna cook it into the

little thing pops, and then I'm

349

gonna cut into it and make sure

it's cooked all the way through.

350

That

351

Peter: would be great if she

knew what the little thing was.

352

The little white thing.

353

But anyway back to this here.

354

So yeah, sim theory.

355

Have you ever done that though?

356

Have you ever put down like a dish?

357

Killed my sims.

358

No, not killed them.

359

Oh, you drowned them clearly.

360

'cause you put them in the fucking

pool and then they fell asleep.

361

Probably.

362

I also used

363

Shaun: to like lock them

in a room, in, in a room.

364

Take away the door.

365

Peter: These are serial

killer tendencies, Sean.

366

We've watched shows where they lock

people into a room and take away the door.

367

This is clearly built on your real life.

368

Oh my God, you're crazy.

369

Yeah.

370

And then you ha these people are

I can't even, I don't even know

371

where to come back from that.

372

Shaun: Can I tell you one other

thing I did with the Sims?

373

When I'd have kids and they were

supposed to go to school, I would

374

block them from being able to go to

school so they would get in trouble.

375

Peter: Is that like a Rhode Island thing?

376

Shaun: Is

377

Peter: it,

378

Shaun: we'd trap them in the

room with some, a piece of

379

furniture so they couldn't go to

school and the bus would leave.

380

They'd get in trouble.

381

Peter: I think kids are also

guilty of waiting mode too, though.

382

They're like, I can't do my

homework until I beat this level.

383

And then five levels later, the homework

is not done, it's 11 o'clock at night.

384

Shaun: Or I remember when I was a

kid, I would have like basketball

385

practice or something and I would

think to myself, oh, I can't do,

386

I have to, I can't do my homework

because I have basketball practice.

387

Rather than I need to do

my homework because I have

388

Peter: basketball practice.

389

Yeah.

390

It's never the priority

that should take precedence.

391

Yeah, I think kids are

really guilty of it.

392

I think that we get angry about it

with kids not doing their homework, but

393

things are made to be so addictive now.

394

Shaun: And not only that, they

just worked for, what, eight,

395

six to eight hours in school.

396

Did they really need more work at home?

397

Peter: Did they though?

398

Did they They're

399

Shaun: supposed to be,

400

Peter: yeah, they're supposed to be.

401

You're supposed to be doing a lot of

stuff in school, I was in all honors

402

classes, so I had, I was with all the

little smarty kids and then, for my

403

senior year, I was like, okay, I'm

fucking sick of this and this math, I

404

wanna take something a little bit easier.

405

So I dropped my math down a level

and I went into class there.

406

And I'm like, holy shit,

this is like a fucking party.

407

This is like a dance party and nobody

knows what the fuck they're doing.

408

And it was just chaos.

409

And I was like, I wanna go

back to my classroom, please.

410

I wanna go back to my class.

411

Listen,

412

Shaun: You dropped down a level, right?

413

Like one level?

414

Yeah.

415

So you probably went from just

416

Peter: in math.

417

Shaun: Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

418

So you probably went from

what, like calculus to.

419

AP Trig.

420

Yeah, I was gonna say to trig.

421

Peter: Mm-hmm.

422

Oh, you went From AP Trig to algebra two.

423

Shaun: Okay.

424

So I finished Algebra

one in my senior year.

425

Can you imagine what

my math class was like?

426

Peter: I an orgy

427

Shaun: my math class that it was insane.

428

There, there was no class happening

429

Peter: ever.

430

Yeah.

431

So you're sitting here and telling

me that they're working eight

432

hours a day and they should be

tired when your class was basically

433

people having sex with each other.

434

That's cool.

435

No one was having sex

436

Shaun: With each other, but

we did get invited to our

437

teacher's Thanksgiving dinner.

438

Peter: That's inappropriate.

439

Yeah.

440

Shaun: Wasn't

441

Peter: it?

442

Did they try and touch you?

443

No.

444

Did they try and stop you like

a Turkey no more than once?

445

No.

446

Never.

447

You are lying here.

448

No,

449

Shaun: never.

450

Peter: Within

451

Shaun: a teacher.

452

Peter: You just found out that one of

your teachers was a murderer, didn't you?

453

Shaun: I didn't just find out.

454

It was years ago that I found out,

but yeah he was from elementary school

455

though, like fifth and sixth grade for me.

456

Peter: That's what you want and teach

your kids for eight hours a day.

457

You want a serial killer as their teacher.

458

Oh, no,

459

Shaun: he wasn't.

460

He was.

461

He was just the gym teacher.

462

So he touched kids?

463

Not me.

464

I don't know if he touched anybody else.

465

I hope not.

466

That's fucked up.

467

Was he good looking?

468

Did you want him to touch you?

469

No.

470

Some of the moms thought he was, but

I didn't see, really see the appeal.

471

Peter: Sorry, we went off

topic there for a second.

472

So you wanna play a little game?

473

Oh, I love games.

474

This game is called

Productive or Paralysis.

475

So basically we have a clear, we clearly

have a problem, but how bad is it?

476

So we're gonna put our anxiety to the

test here and play this little game.

477

So how we play this game is

I'm gonna give you a scenario.

478

It is gonna include the current time and

the time slash nature of an appointment.

479

Okay?

480

And you have to list three things that

you think that you could realistically

481

get done before that appointment.

482

And then I will judge whether.

483

It's plausible or if it's gonna

be complete paralysis for you.

484

Shaun: Okay.

485

Peter: Alright, so we got our first one.

486

This is gonna be our midday interruption.

487

So it's 9:00 AM You have a slightly

stressful 15 minute phone call

488

with your landlord at 1:00 PM

489

Shaun: Oh, that's it?

490

Yes.

491

So what can I get done?

492

I can make us some coffee.

493

I can.

494

Walk the dog and shower.

495

Peter: Okay.

496

I don't know.

497

The coffee thing.

498

Yes.

499

I'm not sure about walking the dog.

500

And sometimes you can't

even focus to take a shower.

501

So I'm gonna say this is

complete paralysis for you.

502

Shaun: I tried.

503

All right, my turn.

504

We've got evening void to 5:00

PM and you've just finished work.

505

You're meeting friends for brunch

for dinner at 7:30 PM but you have

506

to shower and commute 30 minutes.

507

Peter: I have to shower and

commute 30 minutes, and it's five,

508

and the event is at seven 30.

509

Is there.

510

So I think I could shower, shave,

and get dressed in that time.

511

That's probably all I could do.

512

But I could.

513

No, I could, but don't

514

Shaun: you need to pick

three other things?

515

'cause the shower was one of

the things you already had.

516

Oh yeah,

517

Peter: that's right.

518

Okay.

519

So I could,

520

I don't know.

521

I could put.

522

I could put on music.

523

Try to pick this here.

524

I could put on music, I could

get dressed, and I could probably

525

have a cocktail before I leave.

526

Shaun: Yeah, I guess I could

make you a cocktail in that time.

527

Peter: No one said that

you were making it.

528

It probably just came

outta the fucking fridge.

529

Yeah, I think that's realistic.

530

What about you?

531

Shaun: Yeah, I think

that, that seems logical.

532

I love how you secured it with that put

on music, which takes all of five seconds.

533

Yeah,

534

Peter: I was working at it here.

535

Alright.

536

Ooh, I got an interesting

one for you because I think I

537

already know where this is going.

538

Uhoh so we're gonna call this

one the airport protocol.

539

It's Saturday morning.

540

Your flight leaves at

6:00 AM on Sunday morning.

541

Oh.

542

Meaning you need to leave

for the airport at 3:00 AM

543

Sorry, I'm already laughing.

544

Shaun: I would love to say

that I'm gonna meet friends for

545

lunch and I'm going to like.

546

Double check my bags and I'm going

to, spend some quality time with the

547

dog or something along those lines.

548

But in reality, I'm pretty sure my whole

Saturday is just canceled completely.

549

Like nothing is happening.

550

Peter: Yeah, I would say that with

complete paralysis, you freak out

551

every time we have to go on vacation.

552

You have to throw in 90

million things into the bag.

553

In my defense,

554

Shaun: we're always packing right before

we're we need to leave for the airport.

555

Peter: Yeah.

556

That's the best time to pack.

557

No.

558

Yes it is.

559

No,

560

Shaun: no, not for me.

561

I can't, my brain doesn't

work in that, that stressful.

562

Mindset.

563

Your brain doesn't work 24

hours before you have to travel.

564

My brain doesn't work most of the time.

565

Don't try and get it to work

in hyper stressful situations.

566

Peter: I don't, this would've been

complete paralysis for you and as I'm

567

sure it would be a complete paralysis

first, a bunch of our listeners.

568

Yeah, I don't think that

this is a specific thing.

569

I think this is a

millennial specific thing.

570

Shaun: Yeah, probably I would probably

say that it's mostly millennials That,

571

or the largest group of people would

be millennials, but I think that other

572

generations probably deal with it too.

573

Peter: Yeah.

574

I would say the Gen Z is probably

paralysis on all of these.

575

They just have no concept of time.

576

Right.

577

Anyway,

578

Shaun: I've got one for you.

579

We're gonna call this

one the delivery window.

580

Peter: That sounds like a porno.

581

That's where I was going with that one.

582

As in like park and rear, all that stuff.

583

Delivery is accepted in rear.

584

Yeah.

585

Packages are bigger than expected.

586

Shaun: All right.

587

It's Tuesday.

588

You have a package arriving,

you have a package.

589

Peter: Yeah, that would be shocking.

590

Alright, hold on before you do this

that's always been weird to me in movies

591

or slash pornos when guys put their

junk in a box and give it to somebody

592

as a gift and then they're supposed

to open it there and be excited.

593

Yeah.

594

Oh yay.

595

That sounds unhygienic.

596

It's mostly not a gift.

597

And.

598

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

599

And then you're people are just

sitting there and they're like, not.

600

They're like, oh my God, what'd you get?

601

What'd you get?

602

She's like, ah, blah, blah, blah.

603

So

604

Shaun: yeah, she turns around.

605

She's got just jizz all over her face.

606

Peter: Yes, she's frosted

like a fucking cookie.

607

Anyway, sorry.

608

Shaun: All right, so it's Tuesday.

609

You've got a package arriving

610

You must be home to sign for it.

611

Peter: You know how I am with packages.

612

Shaun: Oh, oh, I know.

613

That's why I'm just waiting to see

what you have to say for this one.

614

Peter: I'm gonna be home.

615

I'm going to be home.

616

I'm going to be sitting

there watching this.

617

Okay, so three things.

618

I will watch the person delivery.

619

I will check every hour to make

sure that delivery is on time.

620

And then I will probably

shower and then watch it again.

621

No, no.

622

Shaun: That counts as paralysis.

623

Complete paralysis.

624

Peter: That's what I would do.

625

I have issues.

626

It's the same thing

when you order DoorDash.

627

I will watch the driver.

628

Yes, you do.

629

Shaun: I remember like times when

you would order, when we would order

630

DoorDash and you would watch the driver.

631

Going to different places and

you'd say why are they going here?

632

And then they'd pick up the food and say,

okay, now they're going somewhere else.

633

Why are you taking my food over here?

634

Peter: Yeah.

635

I watch it because I am sure I'm

not the only one on this one too.

636

I'd watch it because I'm like, my food is

gonna be fucking cold, but when it gets

637

here, nobody likes soggy ass french fries.

638

Shaun: And it was, it was cold.

639

Peter: Yeah, I don't care.

640

I don't want a free fucking meal.

641

I don't want a refund.

642

I wanted my hot, crisp french fries that

you have to worry about, like a Fri chip,

643

my implant, I want those french fries.

644

And then they get there and

it's flacid dick, flad dick.

645

And there's no salt on it either.

646

Don't, and then they're

like a ball of mush.

647

Shaun: Yeah.

648

People who don't salt french

fries should go to jail.

649

Peter: Yeah, I agree.

650

You should salt them, maybe add a

little pepper, some garlic powder

651

on them, or some truffle oil.

652

Season salt is lovely.

653

Yes.

654

And make sure that arrives piping hot.

655

I want to burn the roof of my mouth.

656

I do not want this coagulated ball

of mashed potatoes that used to be

657

french fries in this fucking tray.

658

And then you serve it to me

and you expect me to thank you.

659

I want my fucking tip back.

660

And why are they putting

the tips included now?

661

Like they're putting them included.

662

It's stupid.

663

It's fucking stupid.

664

They have the 15, I

think it's 10, 15 and 20.

665

No, 10, 15, and 18.

666

Why the why do you just go get paid

by hour like the rest of us do?

667

Shaun: Listen, I, it, I struggle

with the whole tip thing because

668

I understand just the tip.

669

No, I don't struggle with that, but

670

No, I'm just kidding.

671

Where was I?

672

I lost my, completely lost my train.

673

Oh, the tip thing?

674

The tip thing.

675

Tipping.

676

Yeah.

677

It bothers me because I feel like

it's an excuse for employers to not

678

have to pay their employees better

salaries or like livable wages

679

for the work that they're doing.

680

But at the same time, I think

that it's good in the aspect

681

that it makes people want.

682

Most of the time makes them

want to provide better service.

683

Yeah.

684

So I am a, I'm a firm like believer

in tipping a really good service.

685

Mm-hmm.

686

But I think that these people

still deserve to make more

687

money for what they're doing.

688

Peter: They agree, but they also had the

law that would've allowed them to do that.

689

I believe it was last year and they voted

it down maybe we shouldn't tip anymore and

690

maybe they'll vote that law into existence

691

Shaun: maybe.

692

Peter: But anyway, so that game

proved that we basically are incapable

693

of functioning like normal adults.

694

But why?

695

And is there any hope for us?

696

Or should we just embrace the void?

697

So why do you think we're like this?

698

Shaun: I don't know,

just society in general.

699

There's too much, expect

too many expectations of us.

700

So when there's something that

we know we have to do, we just

701

try to chill out beforehand.

702

Peter: You don't think it could be

attributed to like mental health, maybe

703

like anxiety, A DHD, something like that?

704

Oh, definitely,

705

Shaun: definitely.

706

Peter: Yeah.

707

I feel like that happens all the time.

708

I can't focus because I am like clinically

depressed, until that medication like

709

goes in my stomach, I cannot focus on

anything and it's really fucking sad.

710

But I think that a lot of

it has to do with that.

711

The brain is just like struggling to

transition between tasks and I think

712

that has a lot to do with mental health.

713

We did do an entire episode on

mental health, so if you guys have

714

not heard it, you should go back.

715

But.

716

I think it was 87% of Gen Zs

and millennials, experience some

717

for of . Mental health issues.

718

Shaun: Yeah, I think that's a really good

point because one thing that I can think

719

of on this topic related to my life on

a daily basis is that when I wake up and

720

I start working for the day and I have

meetings in the morning, I always am

721

very anxious prior to my first meeting.

722

And once I get my first

meeting out of the way.

723

Some of that anxiety is lifted.

724

Not all of it, but some of it.

725

Mm-hmm.

726

So I think that it's that anticipation

of the event and the unknowns around

727

the event, even if it's something

familiar, that kind of just give us

728

that feeling of anxiety and that stress.

729

Peter: Yeah.

730

So another thing here is do

you think that time is fake?

731

Oh, absolutely.

732

You think it's just a way of

conforming, like conformity

733

for a society, just a concept.

734

Shaun: I'm like I go back

and forth on that one.

735

'cause I, I do feel that to an

extent it is just a concept.

736

But at the same time I do recognize that

there clearly is day and night and it

737

switches within a certain time period.

738

So.

739

I think that aspect of time is real, but

I think that the whole hours that we broke

740

the day into and everything is literally

just a way to get more work out of us.

741

Peter: Yeah, probably.

742

So you are, you do believe

that we're victims of an

743

industrialized sense of time.

744

Shaun: Yeah, absolutely.

745

Peter: Yeah.

746

And I can agree with that.

747

But why do you think it is that the future

appointment feels like it's more important

748

and threatening than the present moment?

749

Shaun: I've never really thought

about that, but I guess the way,

750

the first thing my brain goes to

is that the present moment, you're

751

already in it, so it doesn't feel

as terrifying as what's to come.

752

It's almost like when you have a long list

of things to do and you just, you don't

753

know how you're gonna get it all done.

754

But with, it's the opposite.

755

It's like, oh, I don't have anything

to do right now, so what do I do?

756

Because I have this coming up.

757

Peter: So you think it's impending

dread that you're gonna miss something?

758

Shaun: Yeah.

759

Peter: Say fomo?

760

Shaun: Yeah.

761

More or less, I think

it is a form of fomo.

762

Yeah.

763

That's a good way to put it.

764

Peter: Well, good.

765

Yeah, I think that a lot

of people think that too.

766

That.

767

You can't live in the moment

because that moment is fleeting.

768

And you are preparing for the moment that

you feel is gonna matter for the day.

769

Shaun: Exactly, yes, exactly.

770

Peter: Even though that moment

is only like 30 minutes.

771

Shaun: Yeah.

772

And even though most of the

time you're not really looking

773

forward to that moment, it's just

774

Peter: Yeah.

775

What you think

776

Shaun: holds the most weight in your day.

777

Peter: So do you feel like there's

any unique exhaustion over that?

778

Like after the appointment is over

even if the appointment itself was

779

easy is there any anxiety that you th

experience leading up to how it was

780

like it was the real work for the day?

781

Shaun: Yeah.

782

I.

783

I definitely think that I often get

really sweaty and antsy, giy, juicy.

784

Juicy yeah.

785

Sweaty and antsy and a lot of times

I'll have to get up outta my seat just

786

before a meeting and kind of do a little

moving around to calm myself down or go

787

pet the dog or something along, or pace

788

Peter: between rooms.

789

Yeah.

790

You know, go

791

Shaun: complain to you about something.

792

Peter: Or everything, yeah.

793

Shaun: Just to get some

of that anxiety out.

794

And then I do notice that after

the calls, I am again, very

795

sweaty, very much speaking quickly,

796

Peter: anxiety ridden.

797

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

798

I think that happens

with us, with all of us.

799

To be honest, I, you know how I am.

800

I'm very stressed out all the time.

801

I always have to, I'm always thinking

about like the next thing I have to do and

802

I'm not really focusing on the present.

803

I think that mainly just comes

down to I need to feel like

804

I'm in control of something.

805

I say it all the time.

806

You can only control what you can control.

807

So I feel like I need to get

to that moment in the day, and

808

that'll be fine after that.

809

But I'm not, and so I experience it.

810

I get to that moment in the day, and

then I'm starting to look for the

811

next issue that needs to be solved.

812

Shaun: Yeah.

813

Peter: I hope that there are some people

that can relate to that, but yeah, I

814

know that I'm not the only one on that.

815

Shaun: Yeah, I think that's something

that a lot of people deal with.

816

I think that's, especially this

day and age, it's a common stress.

817

Peter: Yeah.

818

Oh, right.

819

So can you think of any advice

to give our listeners to in, have

820

some common productivity advice?

821

Shaun: I would say that when I notice

that I'm getting this sense of dread, this

822

waiting mode feeling going on, that I try.

823

To remind myself to just

take it one thing at a time.

824

Peter: Mm-hmm.

825

Shaun: Just focus on one thing you

have to get done or you want to get

826

done, do that thing and then move

on to whatever else you have to do.

827

Because if you start looking at

every single thing, it's just gonna

828

overwhelm you even more, and you're

gonna feel even more unproductive.

829

So for me, that works best.

830

Another thing that works if that's

not your style, another thing that has

831

worked for me is listing everything

out and then that would make me anxious

832

saying what's the most important thing?

833

However, for me now that.

834

That method doesn't

necessarily work well anymore.

835

Peter: I, so yeah, because prioritizing

tasks, you can't really decipher which

836

one is going to be the most important.

837

So they all seem equally important.

838

So it just makes you more stressed out.

839

Shaun: Yeah.

840

Peter: So that's how I think about it.

841

But my advice would be time blocking.

842

So throughout the day in your

calendars, block off like five

843

minutes, 10 minutes, and every hour.

844

Where it's just you just relax

in that time and then think about

845

working to the next 10 minutes

that'll help you get through the day.

846

And then if you have an appointment at the

end of the day, just work towards that.

847

Oh, I have a 10 minute break here.

848

I'll relax here.

849

I have me time.

850

I have a five.

851

Okay, so my next one is

gonna be in 45 minutes.

852

I'll have a five minute break there.

853

And it gives your time, your brain time to

relax, reset, and not be so stressed out.

854

Shaun: Absolutely.

855

And another thing that I would say

for advice that's along the same

856

lines of time blocking it, it is

time blocking, but just thinking

857

about it in a different aspect is.

858

I'm someone who needs a few minutes

to prepare before a meeting.

859

So I try to have a five to 10 minute

buffer time between meetings if possible.

860

Mm-hmm.

861

So if you have the ability to to build

that into your schedule or include

862

that in your schedule, do it, don't

feel like you're being unproductive

863

by doing that, you're taking the

time that you need to ensure that

864

you make the most of your entire day.

865

Peter: Yeah.

866

I feel like there are things that probably

won't work as well, like doom scrolling.

867

Yeah.

868

That it's not pro, not productive at all.

869

Shaun: And often it gives me more anxiety.

870

Peter: Right.

871

Because then you're ultimately,

you're thinking about fomo.

872

My god, this person's doing this.

873

I wish I was doing that.

874

Let's work to doing that.

875

And then you never get there

and it's just, it's awful.

876

It's awful for your psyche.

877

Yep.

878

Organizing Spotify playlist.

879

That's that's anxiety ridden in itself.

880

Do I organize this by genre?

881

Do I organize this by alphabetically?

882

Do I organize this by performer?

883

Those are all, those are things

that can get you hyper stressed out.

884

So my advice on that would just

be, let it play live in the

885

moment and you don't like it.

886

Hit next.

887

Yeah.

888

But also you should make time to

watch the shows that you want.

889

Relaxation time.

890

Sit down, watch a show, put your phone on,

do not disturb for that 30 minute period.

891

If you can't live without your phone, you

got a bigger issue and just chill out.

892

Prepare for the time that you

need before that appointment.

893

At the end of the day.

894

Shaun: We all need some US time, me time.

895

Peter: Yes, absolutely.

896

Decompression time.

897

There you go.

898

Okay, so it is time to wrap up here.

899

But first off I wanna say that it's okay

for you to admit that the anxiety is real

900

in your life that you're dealing with.

901

A lot of things that are going on,

it's okay to be verbal about it,

902

to communicate with your friends.

903

Just don't go fucking overboard because

we've talked about this as well.

904

But you need to get it out and

you need, and just accept that

905

being unproductive is just part of

your process throughout the day.

906

Shaun: Absolutely.

907

Peter: Because Unproductivity can lead

to something productive, as awful as

908

that sounds and convoluted sometimes.

909

You never know.

910

Shaun: Okay, it's 4:00 PM

the apocalypse is here.

911

Have to go

912

Peter: face the dentist.

913

Well, you did it Sean.

914

You waited successfully for

six hours and I'm proud of you.

915

And now that's almost over.

916

You're free.

917

Shaun: Yeah, I'm exhausted.

918

The waiting took everything out of me.

919

I'm going to bed as soon as I get back.

920

It's 4:01 PM The spiral has concluded.

921

And if you two are currently sitting on

your couch, unable to move because you

922

have to pick up takeout in three hours.

923

We see you.

924

We are you.

925

Peter: So tell us your most embarrassing

waiting mode stories on our socials.

926

We need to know we're not alone.

927

Shaun: Join us next week assuming we

don't have any appointments scheduled.