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> but I find myself bookmarking great articles or writing down great books I heard about only to never really find the Time to go back and read them. Try repla

by Swizec 8y ago

> but I find myself bookmarking great articles or writing down great books I heard about only to never really find the Time to go back and read them. Try replacing “can’t find time” with “not a priority”. It means the same in practice and makes for a huge shift in perception and your own personal feekings towards stuff. Especially in the guilt department. You have more important things to do and that’s okay. When you come across a book that’s important enough you will magically have time for it. Priorities are fun like that.

jm__87 8y ago
Probably a lot of people just get lured in by social media, video games, Netflix, etc and then spend far more time on these things than they would actually like. I doubt many people are consciously prioritizing their web surfing or video game time, but it just turns out that way since these things are designed to be habit forming.
- Swizec 8y ago
  I agree and saying "not a priority" instead of "don't have time" helps with that too. "Sorry reading books is not a priority" Wait ... then what is a priority? Social media? Screw that!! And it prompts you to [try to] do better with your time. Remember when we used to read books a few pages at a time on the pooper instead of scrolling through twitter or hackernews? Good times.
  - jm__87 8y ago
    Haha yeah, absolutely. I've limited my social media use to HN only for a while now (mainly because I feel it is one of the few sites left where you can just have a civil discussion without things getting too political) and I feel I'm significantly happier and more productive now than I was a few years ago. Of course many other things have changed in that timeframe, but I don't really ever see myself using Facebook or other popular social media again. Quitting all that is quite liberating.
MattSayar 8y ago
One of my plans when I retire is to read a LOT of books. Yet one day I read a post by a HN contributor where he said, "But nothing's really stopping me from doing that NOW" and he then embarked on regularly walking to the park and reading. As a result I've been trying to do the same thing, because when you start computing numbers and realize you only enough time left in life to read a paltry number of books[1], you learn to prioritize really quickly. [1] https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html

by Swizec 8y ago

jm__87 8y ago

Probably a lot of people just get lured in by social media, video games, Netflix, etc and then spend far more time on these things than they would actually like. I doubt many people are consciously prioritizing their web surfing or video game time, but it just turns out that way since these things are designed to be habit forming.

Swizec 8y ago
I agree and saying "not a priority" instead of "don't have time" helps with that too. "Sorry reading books is not a priority" Wait ... then what is a priority? Social media? Screw that!! And it prompts you to [try to] do better with your time. Remember when we used to read books a few pages at a time on the pooper instead of scrolling through twitter or hackernews? Good times.
- jm__87 8y ago
  Haha yeah, absolutely. I've limited my social media use to HN only for a while now (mainly because I feel it is one of the few sites left where you can just have a civil discussion without things getting too political) and I feel I'm significantly happier and more productive now than I was a few years ago. Of course many other things have changed in that timeframe, but I don't really ever see myself using Facebook or other popular social media again. Quitting all that is quite liberating.

MattSayar 8y ago

One of my plans when I retire is to read a LOT of books. Yet one day I read a post by a HN contributor where he said, "But nothing's really stopping me from doing that NOW" and he then embarked on regularly walking to the park and reading. As a result I've been trying to do the same thing, because when you start computing numbers and realize you only enough time left in life to read a paltry number of books[1], you learn to prioritize really quickly. [1] https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html