My 20 article challenge is going well so far. I am done with 10 articles in 11 days. I write one article a day from mon-sat, and I spend some time on sunday coming up with a list of article topics for the next week :)
One of my good friends was surprised that I find time to pursue other interests. Well, it depends on a lot of things including my work pressure at the time, but by now I have a few rules for myself that save me time.
No, I dont wish to become a monk ;) These work well for me. But of course, I have one big weakness - watching random youtube videos impulsively. I wish to continue watching random youtube videos, but not impulsively :) That way, I atleast wont feel guilty for 'wasting time' , for it would be scheduled, though it sounds really weird to schedule youtube... I'll need to think about it more ;)
Not that all time needs to be 'productive'. But it's surprising how much we can get done over a period of time if we are willing to spend 30 minutes a day on it consistently..
Funnily enough, my dad spent enormous amounts of time and energy when I was in my teens , persuading me to not 'waste 30 minutes in the morning' reading the newspaper, and to do something 'productive' instead. I strongly resisted all such intrusions into my 'freedom' :) Now, couple of decades later, I actually believe spending a long time on the newspaper in the morning is a waste of time :)
One of my good friends was surprised that I find time to pursue other interests. Well, it depends on a lot of things including my work pressure at the time, but by now I have a few rules for myself that save me time.
- No news on TV
- No newspaper ( my wife and whatsapp tell me all the news I need to know )
- No TV series ( not that I think they're bad; I think they're way too addictive. No limits on movies though)
- No social media
- No phone usage for random purposes after 7 PM.
No, I dont wish to become a monk ;) These work well for me. But of course, I have one big weakness - watching random youtube videos impulsively. I wish to continue watching random youtube videos, but not impulsively :) That way, I atleast wont feel guilty for 'wasting time' , for it would be scheduled, though it sounds really weird to schedule youtube... I'll need to think about it more ;)
Not that all time needs to be 'productive'. But it's surprising how much we can get done over a period of time if we are willing to spend 30 minutes a day on it consistently..
Funnily enough, my dad spent enormous amounts of time and energy when I was in my teens , persuading me to not 'waste 30 minutes in the morning' reading the newspaper, and to do something 'productive' instead. I strongly resisted all such intrusions into my 'freedom' :) Now, couple of decades later, I actually believe spending a long time on the newspaper in the morning is a waste of time :)
2 comments:
I have been doing exactly the same for a while now. My rules are:
1. No TV news or newspaper
2. No facebook - though I still occasionally open twitter
3. Open whatsapp only once a day (all my important communication is on telegram)
Curtailing youtube was a problem, so I have a fix that somewhat works. iPhones have a facility where you can put limits on usage of the phone or certain apps. I have restricted usage of all apps to 30 minutes in a day, and no usage of all but essential apps from 8 pm to 8 am. You can override the blocks, but have to do it explicitly every time. This has got rid of the youtube problem (at least on phone). Now all I need is a way to limit the number of episodes per day on Netflix!
In spite of this, I can't really claim that I have become more productive :P But it has dropped by frustration levels significantly.
Btw, are you planning on publishing the articles?
Ya, that's one the rules of behavioural change - make it 'difficult' to engage in a habit that we wish to give up.
Yes, I will be publishing the articles eventually.
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