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How much free time do you have?

erikrood.com

131–140 of 226 posts

Re: How much free time do you have?

#131
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.

[deleted]

Re: How much free time do you have?

#132
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a forced activity? Not a parent I suppose. It is as forced as work. You don't have to work just as you don't have to have a child.

Were you forced to have children?

Are you forced to have a job, groom, eat or sleep?

Re: How much free time do you have?

#133

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 pleasures of urban populations have become mainly passive: seeing cinemas, watching football matches, listening to the radio, and so on. This results from the fact that their active energies are fully taken up with work; if they had more leisure, they would again enjoy pleasures in which they took an active part."

-- Bertrand Russell, http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html

Re: How much free time do you have?

#134

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.

Well, then time spent working is also your "free time" because that's your personal choice to work, unless you're a slave.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#135
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not a forced activity Because rape never happens?

I don't agree with the original but this doesn't sound convincing. You still get to choose to keep the child, right?

Alabama forbids abortion even in cases of rape.

Some other states have very short time limits for legal abortion.

Re: How much free time do you have?

#136
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you feel about this choice if one of your children died of cancer? Would you still think you'd made the right choice, or would you regret prioritising laundry over your children?

Literally nothing will prepare you for that. No amount of time is enough. Living your life in abject fear of that morbid possibility is crippling.

"spending time with my kids" is not "living in crippling fear of them dying".

Re: How much free time do you have?

#137
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as a dad of 2 kids under 4, I ended up having negative free hours. I put 54 hours of parenting a week, because it is non stop on the weekends for about 12 hours a day, and 5 hours or so on weekdays (getting them up and ready for daycare in the morning, then playing, feeding and putting them down at night.) I do get some chores done during that time, which is probably how I am able to exist with what ends up bei…

I live in Tanzania and here any kid that is above the age of 2 has free rein to go wherever they want. Maybe it's not a better way (though I suspect it is), but it is certainly easier (assuming you don't have 8 children like most people here though).

I’m sorry for a stupid question but do you have streets and cars there?

Re: How much free time do you have?

#138
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Tanzania and here any kid that is above the age of 2 has free rein to go wherever they want. Maybe it's not a better way (though I suspect it is), but it is certainly easier (assuming you don't have 8 children like most people here though).

It would be better in some ways, but it does lead to a higher infant mortality rate (as the other commenter pointed out). I don't think I am willing to make that trade off (even if I could... I would be arrested if I let my 3 year old wonder down the street alone)

I imagine there must be some middle ground. Yes, don't let your 3 year old wander around the street on their own, but also don't make them completely reliant on your attention - just let then play on their own. If they get bored then they get bored, it's not your problem(until you make it yours of course).

Re: How much free time do you have?

#139
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

I think the point of this calculator is to show people that there's time to take those breaks. I filled it in and over-estimated a bunch of areas and it still said I have 11 hours of free time each week. That's a whole lot of books and wine that I can enjoy and still meet all of my existing priorities including spending time with my kid.

That's freeing in a way, it tells me that when I feel pressed for time it's really all in my head and taking an hour to read a book shouldn't be a problem if I just take a few minutes and prioritize my time.

Also it's probably useful for some people to see how much time is spent on work and commuting relative to other parts of their life. If they truly have no time to read a book but work+commute is eating up more than 50% of their days, maybe it's time to do something about that and fix one or both parts of that equation (move closer to work or change jobs to get closer to home, and work fewer hours)?

Re: How much free time do you have?

#140
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree with the original but this doesn't sound convincing. You still get to choose to keep the child, right?

Alabama forbids abortion even in cases of rape. Some other states have very short time limits for legal abortion.

You can still give it up for adoption right after birth,no?
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