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How much free time do you have?

erikrood.com

121–130 of 226 posts

Re: How much free time do you have?

#121

In my probably unpopular opinion, parenting shouln'd be on the list. It's not a forced activity like sleeping or eating or commuting. It's a conscious choice people make between it and other hobbies.

Err.. what? you can put the time as 0 if you dont (and will never have a child). But if you have a child then you cannot choose.

Well, you can, just like you can choose not to work, shower or clean, but you're not fulfilling your duties in that case.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parenting, except in the case of unwanted pregnancies, is a hobby. Culturally it has a sort of special status but in the end it's another hobby that one decides to commit to. It's a choice made that this is going to be your mostly exlusive hobby for the next several years.

You don’t think it’s important for society and the future economy?

I don't think the world is particularly short of people. We've got lots of people. Some might say "too many".

I've chosen not to take up the hobby (as GP fairly described) but for every one of me, there are ten others who participate. Not everyone needs to bear children.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#123

I am always somewhat puzzled by the focus on free time without taking into account the energy balance of a person. I find often that when someone says “I don’t have the time”, what they really mean is that they don’t have energy left to take on something else. In my case, I find that there’s often enough hours, but I don’t always have the energy to be active 100% of that time and just end up taking some rest.

This is largely effected by the nutrition / mental / health state of the individual. I personally spend a lot of time (cooking, sports, spend time researching mineral/vitamin/other supplements), and it took me around 4 years to find the things my body needs. I am now very rarely "energy exhausted" and mentally clear the whole day, having more energy than 10 years ago. The message here is that one can spend time and pick up habits that make the body function better, with a good chance that the efforts will pay off one day.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#124
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you have to "get something extraordinary done" on your time off? You don't have to be productive any waking moment.

If you're not productive on your four-day weekends, and if you think your job isn't worth anything in the ultimate sense, you will wake up one day and be 79 without having done much of anything.

Who cares about having done "anything"? I'll be dead anyway. What matters is that at 79 I've spent as much time as possible having fun by doing activities I find to be fun.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#125
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition your own sleep tend to decrease as you "reclaim" some of that play time you're missing for yourself.

Yep. It's hard to resist. I have 12 kids. I sure want time for random stuff... and then I realize the Sun is rising and I haven't slept. That's with a 40-hour work week, a 3-minute commute, and none of that gym/fitness time.

Genuinely curious as to why you chose to have 12 kids. I don't have any and have no plans to father any either (you've had my quota for me, thanks!) but I can vaguely see the appeal of one or two but 12? That sounds incredibly difficult physically, mentally and financially.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#126

Some feedback about the formula from a parent: The formula needs to account for the reality that with young children your "parental duties" expands to occupy all free time when kids are awake. And also shifts other chores into any free time slots when kids are asleep. Kids are asleep. Time to clean the kitchen, do the dishes, switch the laundry, cut some veggies for tomorrow's dinner, and then find somewhere softer t…

I try to make it a point to do all the chores when the kids are awake. When they are asleep is time to relax; not do mundane tasks I don't feel it's my duty to entertain my kinds every waking hour, so if they have to settle with watching me fold the laundry or unload the dishwasher, so be it. This probably won't win me the father-of-the-year award, and it is parenting-style me and my girlfriend don't always agree abo…

This sounds a pretty good attitude actually ... within reason you can even involve the kids in doing the chores.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#127
post #123

I am always somewhat puzzled by the focus on free time without taking into account the energy balance of a person. I find often that when someone says “I don’t have the time”, what they really mean is that they don’t have energy left to take on something else. In my case, I find that there’s often enough hours, but I don’t always have the energy to be active 100% of that time and just end up taking some rest.

This is largely effected by the nutrition / mental / health state of the individual. I personally spend a lot of time (cooking, sports, spend time researching mineral/vitamin/other supplements), and it took me around 4 years to find the things my body needs. I am now very rarely "energy exhausted" and mentally clear the whole day, having more energy than 10 years ago. The message here is that one can spend time and p…

Ah well, being fit certainly helps, and I'm pleased you found what works for you! But so does being early twenties instead of in your forties (not assuming anything here, just stating age is one of many factors). If only aging could be solved by taking a multivitamin :)

And while I agree that taking care of one self is important, I want to touch upon a more fundamental point. I am perfectly OK with taking rest from time to time, or taking it easy, or just sitting back with my feet up enjoying a good book, or a glass of wine with my wife. There's in my opinion little need to always be on 100% and it's perfectly OK if people aren't. I know this opinion is like cursing in church on this forum, but many people would do well being nice to themselves a little more.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#128

I am always somewhat puzzled by the focus on free time without taking into account the energy balance of a person. I find often that when someone says “I don’t have the time”, what they really mean is that they don’t have energy left to take on something else. In my case, I find that there’s often enough hours, but I don’t always have the energy to be active 100% of that time and just end up taking some rest.

The trick seems to be to identify your various different out-of-energy states and what activity is consistently restorative for each. Then, get experience with those activities when you’re fresh so that you have less of a hurdle to jump over when you really need them.

The biggest issue, of course, is that it requires you to experiment with new things when you’re dead tired in order to figure out what helps in the first place. A more subtle problem is that some activities help at first and then cause problems later- Television/YouTube is like this for me; sometimes, it’s the most effective way of resting but if I’m not careful I’ll go straight through energetic into a different, harder to escape lethargy.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#129
post #5

Really depressing. Between work, long commute, gym, and part-time grad school, I have 18 free hours a week out of 168. Makes me wonder what the hell I am doing when I have other hobbies that I would love to be pursuing. Most of the time I simply don't have the mental energy to pursue much of anything in my 18 free hours. Sometimes I just need to turn my brain off. I find myself to lash out in weird ways when I am par…

Onr of the recurring points I saw here was people with 60+minute commutes bring the most jaded - would you consider moving?

Re: How much free time do you have?

#130
I spent several years working toward the goal of maximizing my Free Time, and hit a point a couple years ago where I'm effectively as Retired as I want to be, at any given moment. The SaaS businesses tick away in the background and seldom require my intervention apart from a quick customer service email sweep every couple days.

I'd recommend this path over the VC + Co-Founders "Startup" life that gets promoted here so often, since I've never seen an outcome from that track that appears to me to be relaxing and enjoyable.

Anyway, regarding the calculator submitted here, it seems to use a bunch of the things I do in (what I consider) my Free Time to deduct from the amount of (what it considers) my Free Time. When I have the chance, I go out Bouldering (which it counts as fitness) or play with my kids if they're off school (which it dings as parenting).

Every hour you're not working for somebody else in exchange for money aught to be considered "you" time. All the other things on that list seem like perfectly fine ways of spending that time.

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