That’s the question I was asking myself the other day.
Given a culture where most famous thought leaders espouse waking up prior to the sun and working out, meditating, and doing daily pages prior to 7am, it makes sense as a night owl who regularly finds a groove between 11pm and 2am (and thus doesn’t like waking up before 9am) that I’d internalize the idea that “I’m lazy.”
So when I was offered a new consulting gig, I accepted quickly, figuring I’d have tons of time, as I’d just cut out the three-four hours that I spend distracting myself from work with twitter, discord, and other social media platforms I’ve joined to help build a community around my NFT projects.
But while I was measuring the amount of time I was spending getting lost in rabbit holes of distraction, I wasn’t measuring the amount of time I usually end up spending working.
Sure, most days I don’t start my workday until 10am, and then I break at 11-12:30 for lunch, and then I maybe work from 1-5, and then I break for dinner, evening constitutionals, and hang out time with my wife, and then I’m back at the desk from 9pm until 2am (on evenings where I get to bed early).
After I broke this down, even with all the breaks I take throughout the day, I realized that I’m still spending a full ten hour day working. WTF.
Anyway, things I’ve come away with after this shower realization:
- As they say, what gets measured, matters. AND, make sure you’re measuring the right things.
- Double check you’re not measuring things to support your own confirmation bias (I’m lazy, so I’ll look at how much time I waste on my phone).
- I’m going to really need to budget my time for the next month so I don’t burn myself out.
- When people constantly give you the same feedback “Geez, you always seem so busy,” maybe consider it as solid feedback especially if it contradicts your own internal belief about yourself.