Realizing Time

I’ve seen Ben Franklin’s daily schedule before and found it interesting but never really thought much of it.

Then a few years ago, as part of a Strenuous Life weekly challenge, I started mapping out my schedule. I took it a bit further and just like how I give each dollar a “job” in my budget, I give (as best I can, without making it overly complicated) each hour in my schedule a “job” when planning my week.

Take a look at your to-do list and realistically try and map out when to complete those tasks this week. By doing that, you’ll have to estimate how much time each task will take and will most likely then realize just how little time there is in a day.

Shawn Blanc expanded on this nicely when he broke down Ben Franklin’s day into six basic time blocks:

• 3 hours for getting ready for his day (shower and breakfast, personal study, and prepare for work)

• 4 hours for work

• 2 hours for review of current projects and to eat lunch

• 4 more hours for work

• 4 hours for dinner and rest and wrapping up the day

• 7 hours for sleeping

Viewing time in this way (in blocks) really helps me see things differently. Give it a try for yourself and I bet that once you start adding things to your calendar, you’ll realize there may not be time for things like there was previously. Mowing the lawn, phone calls to make, preparing and eating meals, play time with the kids, organizing the basement, sleeping… maybe there really isn’t time in the schedule to watch another episode of Ted Lasso this week!

But I also completely understand the problem with planning every hour and not being flexible enough to roll with the punches. Don’t get caught up in the busy work of it all. And remember that in the end, your schedule is simply a plan. And no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

What it's about

If you truly enjoy driving, maybe you’ll get this. But this is what it’s about:

It doesn’t have to be fast, it doesn’t have to be expensive, it doesn’t have to be impressive.
It’s about the feel.

I’m new to the Hoonigan YouTube channel but they get it completely. They built a coworker a car as a surprise and even though I don’t know the “specs,” they did it “right.” If you start the Part 2 video at 16:347 and you get it, you’ll get it. Just pure enjoyment of driving. Not even music included. Just a Honda Civic doing its thing. Subtle and straight to the point.

Both videos in the mini series will be shown below, for continuity.

Consumption vs. Creation

How much are you consuming on a weekly basis and how much are you creating? By the way, I'm not talking about food but instead the kind of consumption that is equal to endlessly scrolling on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

It seems I can come up with a load of reasons for not creating even the simplest of blog posts but when I do get one out, I feel immensely better. Like this one. It counts.

Thoughts on Specialization

At times I find myself wishing that I was really good at one specific thing but I’m coming to grips with my versatility and how to use it as an advantage.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Unique Content for Unique Networks

If you’re on more than one social network, you really should be using them uniquely. It looks bad if you're posting the same exact stuff to each network.

I think it was Jeff Goins that likened social networks to individual countries and how they don’t all speak the same language. Great description.

That said, I thought I'd lay out the social networks I currently use the most and a brief line on how I’m using them uniquely. Hopefully it spurs some thinking of your own (while keeping me accountable from crossposting).

• Twitter: Short bursts (because it’s limited to 140 characters anyway). As far as the online world goes, I’m most active here and share a variety links that I find worth sharing. It's really great for sharing something quickly and forces me to be succinct.
• Facebook: With all of the articles/videos/products/etc. being shared on Facebook, you can easily treat this as a Twitter clone or alternative. But in an effort to use it uniquely, I plan on making Facebook more personal. Which probably means it'll be photo albums from trips or adventures.
• Instagram: These are all original photos taken by yours truly using either my iPhone or Olympus camera. I enjoy photography, even when it's mostly just snapshots.
• Tumblr: I use Tumblr as a sort of lookbook for things that I find visually interesting in one way or another. If you want to get a feel for me as an individual, give it a scroll.

Focus

I don’t always focus as much as I should. I'm working on it. I often find myself jumping around different tasks and tabs and windows and notes.

But every now and then (and more frequently mind you), I put all of my resources into one thing. And boom, it’s done in no time.

This is simply a note to myself to spotlight instead of flood. Get it done.

Remember folks, it's not enough to simply feel productive.

---

Bonus Content

Pardon the language but Daniel Duane said it well when he said...

“Vague goals beget vague methods; the unfocused mind is the vulnerable mind, deeply susceptible to bullshit.”

— Daniel Duane