Most people look forward to relaxing when they're not at work. Jeanne Cooper (Katherine, Y&R), however, is not one of them.

"I have a day off, but I'm better off working! There's not as much to do," Cooper marvels about her ultra-busy schedule. "There are just so many things on my plate. When I do have a day off here, a couple there or four here, it's like I'm better off at work, because I'm racing like mad to get to a conference before I have to get to work again."

What's keeping her so occupied these days? There's her new jewelry line for starters. "That should be introduced by fall, full forces, but should go up on Web sites and make a few department store introductions by mid to late summer," Cooper reports.

And don't forget her upcoming book. "Then I have a meeting with the person who is helping me write my autobiography. Just getting all the papers and crap together. To paint the house is easy. To prepare it is another thing," Cooper explains. "Getting the information is like pulling teeth. It's always the cart beside the horse. Most people have it behind or before the horse, but mine is beside me. I'm bumping into the information and bumping into completion."

Added to her time working on the show, Cooper doesn't leave herself much time to decompress — though she says she'd like to change that soon. "I'm catching up," she insists. "I'd like to go to an island somewhere, sit down, take a deep breath and say,'Okay.'"