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Two things that worked well for me: 1. Work on your hobbies _before_ your actual work (or when you feel rested the most). Don't spend all of your "prime time"
by xenopticon 6y ago
Two things that worked well for me:
1. Work on your hobbies _before_ your actual work (or when you feel rested the most).
Don't spend all of your "prime time" in your job. In the morning, when I am rested and focused, I dedicate the first one or two hours of the day to work on my things. Of course this pushes my schedule and I finish work later, but at the end it feels like an accomplished day. There's no feeling of guilt because you "only worked on your job". This of course only applies if you have a flexible job.
2. You cannot do everything at once.
I had very similar goals as you in the beginning of the year. I was trying to write posts for my blog, learn my partner's language, study for the Terraform associate exam, and exercise daily. All combined with a moderately demanding job. We simply cannot have that many things in our buffer. Try to focus on what's more urgent or important for you. Do one or two things at a time.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- sloaken 6y agoGreat point about the hobbies. Too many people are tied to the clock for when to do things. Get up at 6, go to work at 7, be home by x. Time is relative. I plan to now switch my clock to do my hobbies first. Thanks for the suggestion.
- tubularhells 6y agoRemote work is a blessing. I don't miss the office, not the commute.
- 100011_100001 6y agoThis is the correct answer. The number of hours you can be productive is limited. Frontload your hobbies before work. Interestingly enough you won't underperform at work as much as you would think. For me it used to be work 100%, hobbies 0-10%. By frontloading my hobbies and doing them first, it's now work 90%, hobbies 90%. A good net gain. At the same time my happiness has increased by a good 20%, because as you know, no one feels great watching TV for 3 hours. The reason why this works is, if you work like a semi-normal human even if you are tired you will do the thing. However hobbies, being "optional" you will skip. By flipping things around you still have that push to perform well at work, so it stays relatively the same. By the way, with kids, frontloading becomes even more important. Edit: I try to have 5 main todos every day. 1 work, 4 hobbies. It averages out to about 11 hours (work being 8). I use my "hour" of lunch to play guitar, which is another hobby of mine, but it's the only time I can squeeze it in.
- AstralStorm 6y agoThis is why companies enforce early morning hours so you cannot do this. It's literally physically impossible. And/or will ruin your social life since you will be sleeping when others are socializing. Any bright ideas to apply when you have to run to work early?
- kyoob 6y agoPick up a hobby you can do on the train or bus. Books and learning apps like the OP mentioned are ideal for this.
- giantg2 6y agoI know people that wake up at 3-4am to do their farm work before heading to their day job. You will end up going to sleep earlier though. But for some people, that's what it takes.
- prohobo 6y agoIs there evidence for your claim? Not trying to argue against it, but it'd be interesting to know if work culture literally tries to sabotage personal development in order to squeeze out more productivity from employees.
- blankaccount 6y agoIt doesn't have to be framed so negatively. Companies want to buy your prime time, and the market is priced for prime time hours.
- TechBro8615 6y ago> Interestingly enough you won't underperform at work as much as you would think. I don't believe this, and I don't see how it squares with "the number of hours you can be productive is limited." If I'm paying an employee $150k, and he says "the number of hours I can be productive is limited," and then I hear he's waking up early before work to put in 3 hours on a personal project... I'm going to assume that means I'm losing somewhere approaching 3 hours of his productivity.