Potato is yum

I have a big problem. It’s probably a common problem. I wish there were more hours in a day. But I really can’t change that because no matter what I do I’ll only have 24 hours in a day and I’ll probably spent 8 of those hours eating and sleeping. So how do I go about finding more time?

There’s like two obvious solutions to this problem. Do less stuff. Do more stuff faster. But there’s another solution that a lot of people don’t consider. Just do stuff. What do I mean by this? So when I found I was trying to search for more time the first thing I figured I should do was figure out how to less stuff. This meant cutting out some stuff from my schedule and only doing the stuff that “mattered”. The issue is, how do you know what the most effective method of relaxation is? It kinda depends on the day so any plan you make would probably need to change. So like you can say “No youtube” but if you don’t feel like gaming or reading it might actually be more effective to watch a youtube video as a break. It’s really hard to figure out what to cut from a schedule because a lot of a schedule subconsciously acted upon from habits that have been formed. Habits are hard to break. I can never seem to break habits. So how do I spend less time on time expensive habits? I don’t spent less time on them. I instead frame it as spending more time on the positive habit of spending more time on more productive habits.

The issue of framing is incredibly important and is so underrated. Politicians make a living by reframing world events to match their interests. We all know how powerful this ability is. So why not leverage this to help promote better habits? As a consequence of spending more time on productive activities, you’ll just have less time to spend on other things. The other option is to do more stuff faster. People often think “Ah, I’ll just multitask.” Uh. No. You cannot multitask. It doesn’t work. It just doesn’t. You cannot watch a livestream while doing work. It doesn’t work like that. So how do you actually work faster? I found that the best way to increase efficiency is to focus on your mental and physical health. Sleeping 6-8 hours a day, eating three meals, walking for an hour a day, keeping healthy hygiene, generally staying healthy. By fulfilling all of your daily needs your brain will be more free to devote resources to the work at hand rather than worrying about the more mundane issues that you should be completing anyway.

When I first went to boarding school I slept 5 hours a day, skipped breakfast, only walked 15 minutes from my dorm to class. Studying felt horrible. I fell asleep in some classes. My physical condition was pretty horrendous and might have (probably) contributed to me becoming dangerously ill. After leaving boarding school, I got my shit together and started taking care of myself. Not only did I start to have more fun playing games or socializing with friends, my work also improved in quality and quantity. My brain simply was simply more capable when it was sufficiently maintained.

The issue with these two solutions is that it takes quite a long time to see results from them. And long term results are had to justify. I know that. I’ve been there. I’ve been in those trenches before. You know you have a problem but it seems to far gone to get out of it. So what is something you can do right now? Just do stuff. As I started setting healthy goals to develop various important skills I realized that I was spending maybe a third of my waking hours on my phone scrolling through youtube shorts. It was actually kind of ridiculous. I’d sit down at noon and then look up at the clock four or five hours later and realize it was almost dinner. What had I done between lunch and dinner? Basically nothing. What could I do during that time? Literally anything. So that’s what I did. Literally anything. I picked up so many creative projects so that I never lacked something to do. I now always have something to work on. I don’t have time to waste since I have set ambitious due dates for every project. If you’re having trouble coming up with fun projects or interesting media to consume then check out a bunch of the other posts on this site. I do a ton of stuff. Probably too much.

So… I started with not enough time and I still don’t have enough time in addition to 5 new projects on my plate. Is this really the solution? Yeah. Failing to finish a personal project won’t hurt anyone. You can just push it back a few weeks. Missing a deadline on a major project or not studying for an exam will screw you over. By keeping your brain active and thinking it’ll be fairly simple to swap out these projects for activities that are more important. And, you’ll never have enough time because the internet is designed to take all the time you have. So, you may as well spend your time on yourself to improve your skills.

Oh yeah. Post plan:

• Humble Pie
• Wings of Liberty is a Masterpiece
• Media Review
• 1 Week Since Book Launch + Future Plans
• Royal Road Magazine Contest