Expressing the irony of the situation


I was writing in my Japanese study journal, and I realized that I don't really
know a good phrase for "...ironically, ..." Like so:

> Work as of late hasn't been busy. Ironically, even though I prefer to have a
> busy schedule, I just can't find enough to do.

To me, 嫌味｛いやみ｝and 皮肉｛ひにく｝seem to carry a little bit of a negative context with
them. I can make the sentence work with 逆｛ぎゃく｝に、but that doesn't really
capture that I think that the situation has a light-hearted kind of irony. Am
I wrong in thinking that there is another way to express this kind of light-
hearted irony?

Here's my translation:

> 最近、仕事はそんなに忙しくなかった。実は日々のスケジュールが忙しいなら楽だけど、逆に私のスケジュールはどうせいっぱいにならない。

Am I on the right track? Is there a better way for me to express that I think
this ironic?




As you said, I think 皮肉にも has a bit negative nuance and I can't think of the
appropriate word for a light-hearted kind of irony.

I translated your sentence as "最近仕事は忙しくないんだ。忙しく過ごしたいんだけど、(?)やることが見つからないんだ". I
can't think of (?).




> ...楽だけど、 **不思議な真似に** 私のスケジュールは **いつも** どうせいっぱいにならない。

I'm not entirely sure a native will speak the same way though.

