As a kid I used to think six weeks was a long time – those glorious summer holidays when school was out.

The only thing that mattered then was getting the ball back after kicking it into next door’s garden.

That and making sure you were home in time for tea.

It was six weeks of pure bliss which lasted forever. Then, in a flash, it was over and actually by the end I was quite glad to be back to reality.

Election season reminds me of that – only it’s less fun, loads more stressful and results in many more red faces.

As someone who loves politics you may be surprised to hear I hate election time. The day itself is great. But the build up – well it’s just too much.

The frustrating thing is that those who are in the thick of it actually think we want more of it.

A regular day at the moment sees me receiving at least a dozen emails from wannabe MPs and councillors.

Then there’s the countless lobbying groups who want politicians to pledge to take up their cause.

And then there’s the hustings invites, ministerial visits, messages from head offices – it goes on and on.

It’s enough to make me want to take a holiday.

And when I step away from the computer or phone, I’m greeted by an assortment of leaflets on my doormat.

I switch on the TV and there’s another cloned drone telling me why they rock and the others’ heads should roll.

Even a stroll to the shop is spoiled by banners and posters in windows telling me how my neighbours are voting.

It’s too much – even for this political aficionado.

Quite what the candidates are going through I don’t know.

At least I can ignore or run away from some of the said correspondence.

But those wanting your vote do so at the risk of seeming as though they don’t care. The problem is they do care – too much.

Having had brief encounters with a number of candidates in the last few days I can tell you that never before have I seen so many tired people.

They look like they’ve been sleeping in a field next to an all-night Black Sabbath concert.

The bags beneath the eyes are bigger than after a Brighton and Hove bin strike.

Never mind an energy drink to give them wings, this lot need a saline drip to give them an extra pair of limbs.

God knows where any of them will find the energy to actually do the job we’re electing them to do after May 7.

They started off asking people for an X on the ballot paper but all most of them want now is a few ZZZZs tohelp them recover.

It’s well worth remembering that most of them are giving their time free of charge to stand for the election.

And how do we thank them? By working them into the ground before they find out if they have got the job.

By far the most pointless part of this year’s election period has been the many, many hustings. I’ve been to a handful of them already.

And there are a number of things that I’ve been struck by – like how every candidate, whatever their allegiance, always has a great response on the doorstep. And like how every issue raised on said doorstep slots perfectly into that party’s manifesto.

But the thing that rises above all else – apart from the fact it’s the same few people at these events – is that the hustings are incredibly dull.

And the issues discussed have had virtually zilch relevance to our lives.

So far the ones I’ve been too have seen roughly half the time devoted to TTIP, a trade agreement not yet introduced which those against it believe will end the world as we know it.

Having sat through roughly four hours of debate on it, I’m still no closer to understanding what it’s about.

Those asking questions about it are bored, those answering them equally so, and those in the audience are drooling, and not because of excitement.

How is this actually encouraging anyone to vote?

It would be a better use of everyone’s time if we got all those standing to take part in It’s A Knockout events.

I’ve always found you learn a lot more about people when you dress them up in giant rubber costumes and get them to flip pancakes while on a treadmill.

It will be a lot more entertaining.

Those standing might be themselves rather than the tired plastic drones we’ve turned them into.

There’s five years for our politicians to be all serious and talking about end of the world stuff.

But for the six weeks before the election things would be so much more beneficial for all if we just lightened up.