Spending Time
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” ~Annie Dillard
I could continue with – and how we spend our moments is how we spend our days. Be aware of how you spend your moments – be present in them. Your life will be richer.
Justin Earley states in his book, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, “Habits form us more than we form them. The modern world is a machine of invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy people.” He goes on to say, “We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life.”
We should use our time in a way that reflects our values. Focus on things that matter. Is it personally fulfilling, intellectually satisfying, or socially gratifying?
Learn how to give up on things that are not important. Choose carefully what to do and what to skip. Maybe give up on those interesting, but pointless activities that you can do in “just 30 minutes” like watching TV or scrolling through Facebook. Let’s not lie to ourselves…thirty minutes is a decent amount of time. Are we wasting it? It is important to learn how to give up on things that waste our time and are in fact not important at all. It is also not easy. For me personally, that is one of the hardest.
John Hall, co-founder of the Calendar, a scheduling and time management app, has 12 Productive Ways to Spend Downtime:
- Volunteer and Serve
- Learn Something New
- Cultivate Social Connections
- Take Care of Your Health & Wellbeing
- Read – a Lot
- Journal
- Have a Hobby
- Find an Additional Stream of Income
- Reflect on Your Accomplishments
- Get Your House & Office in Order
- Recharge Your Brain
- Focus on Your Goals
Annie Dillard goes on to say that “A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days.”
“Spend the afternoon, you can’t take it with you.”
As the year 2023 is getting underway, how will you choose to spend your time?
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