So I came to a decision the other day -- I've decided I am wasting away entirely too much of my life in worthless, no value for time spent activities. My vices are many and combined with all the things in life that you do, there simply isn't enough time to be sane. I decided that I have to live a much more efficient life and I am appraching the problem like I would any problem I would face in a professional setting: break it down into manageable mini-problems, resolve each methodically, move on.
So here are three lists; (1) Things I need to do. (2) Things I want to do/do more of and (3) Things that I need to remove from my life so I can do more of (1) and (2).
Need to do:
Things I want to do more of:
Things getting in the way of the above:
For the above, I've already made progress.
I have more books sitting in the "To be read" queue than I can fathom, but I am hoping if I apply 1-3 hours per night reading, I should be able to make really good progress in a relatively short time period. If I can sustain this and make it a more permanent part of my life, I'm going to be much happier.
So here are three lists; (1) Things I need to do. (2) Things I want to do/do more of and (3) Things that I need to remove from my life so I can do more of (1) and (2).
Need to do:
- Spend more (quality) time with the wife and kids.
- Work more efficiently at my job.
- Make more progress on my house and property.
- Exercise.
Things I want to do more of:
- Read (both fiction and non-fiction technology books)
- Blog and even begin some creative writing.
- Research technology and profession oriented subject matter.
- Live a more "meaningful" life, always advance my abilities and the world around me.
Things getting in the way of the above:
- World of Warcraft
- Scheduled weekly TV shows
- Random TV channel surfing
- Televised sports
- Video Podcasts
- RSS feeds, internet news, web surfing
For the above, I've already made progress.
- I've already canceled my WoW account, this is a huge time saver. (Damn you Blizzard)
- I'm allowing 2-3 weekly shows total. As of right now, those are House, Numb3rs and Burn Notice.
- Reduced my cable package, removing all premium channels such as HBO. The rest will just require more restraint to put down the remote.
- Reducing sports down from all seasonal sports down to just NFL Football and my beloved Red Sox. Additionally, I'm going to try to start listening to the Red Sox on the radio to at least be able to be semi-productive during those 162 nights a year.... (minus west coast games)
- I haven't addressed video podcasts yet; I'm thinking I'll just have to pick my five favorites and stick to those.
- Online stuff is definitely a problem, I'm thinking I'll just have to make 2-3 small windows where I allow myself to check these feeds and shut myself off from them at all other times.
I have more books sitting in the "To be read" queue than I can fathom, but I am hoping if I apply 1-3 hours per night reading, I should be able to make really good progress in a relatively short time period. If I can sustain this and make it a more permanent part of my life, I'm going to be much happier.
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