Winter afternoons are ideal for procrastinating. Summertime isn't the best season for getting things done either, but there's something about the winter light that can really change your mood and make you want to put things off.
Il dolce far niente is the Italian concept of the sweetness of doing nothing, or, as they say in English, “not lifting a finger.”
It’s so tempting.
The downside is that the rush comes next. You’ll have to work hard to catch up. The contrast feels brutal. Shturmovshchina is the Russian equivalent, and it feels as hard as it was sweet shortly before.
I’ll leave it at that today. A new book is waiting. Indulging myself in it for a couple of hours can't really be that bad. I don’t feel like writing today. I'll see you tomorrow.
Right, shturmovshchina comes from storm (storming, taking something by storm). Some other synonyms are "avral" (all hands on deck) or simply "speshka" (haste) :)
@Fruchtenstein Interesting. I learned that word while listening to an interview with Mark Forsyth. He used shturmovshchina to describe his own writing process, which struck me. It's somewhat pejorative and carries strong social meaning. Do you know if it is used more in workplaces or casual speech these days?
Indeed, it's used to describe lack of discipline at work. Or rather the objectionable approach to work resulting from lack of discipline. In casual speech it may be used somewhat metaphorically. "Avral" is one of those periods of hectic work that happens as a result of shturmovshchina. And it's characterized by "speshka", the haste when you try to catch up with your targets. Something like that :)
@Fruchtenstein, thanks for explaining. I don't speak Russian, but I really enjoy playing with languages. I'd appreciate your insight on this:
Imagine you’re Russian, married to a native English speaker, and your bilingual kid comes home upset because his grades are terrible. Your wife snaps and says something like:
“Well, what did you expect? You’ve been shturmovshchining all semester.”
Would that sound too jarring? Or would a native Russian speaker phrase it differently?