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What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

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Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

#2
Sort of not getting the point of this? We have free time, we can split it into 10 minutes blocks, and I guess make good use of it?

So Arnold Schwarzenegger's book Be Useful (pretty fun to listen to the audiobook, of course 1/2 of the appeal is just the accent) also has this sort approach to time management. This seems like a potentially useful lens to see time cycles with, but it really seems to have value if you are fairly brutal with the application. After all, 10-minute blocks leave no time for screwing around! 20 minutes for boiled chicken! 30 minutes for a new language! 10 minutes responding to real estate investment offers!

Not how I choose to live my life, to be frank... And I def don't need hyper-optimization to avoid TikTok or Reels (Just never installed them and deleted accounts on some vampire platforms... That's all it took).

Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

#3

Sort of not getting the point of this? We have free time, we can split it into 10 minutes blocks, and I guess make good use of it? So Arnold Schwarzenegger's book Be Useful (pretty fun to listen to the audiobook, of course 1/2 of the appeal is just the accent) also has this sort approach to time management. This seems like a potentially useful lens to see time cycles with, but it really seems to have value if you are…

That's fair. It's helpful for me to break time into discrete 'blocks' because in my mind, it sets off more alarm bells to say "I wasted 4 blocks" rather than "I wasted 40 minutes". But otherwise, yeah. It's pretty standard "don't waste your time" advice when it comes down to it.

Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

#7
I concluded years ago that I'm not time-constrained, I'm energy-constrained. I couldn't explain it in terms of neurochemistry, but it's clear empirically that for me at least, willpower or mental focus is a resource which can be depleted, and work takes most of it. To me, the best way to use those 52 hours is not achieving things but caring for myself/restoring willpower, which means some blend of socialization, exercise, and relaxation.

Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

#8
Wasting time is absolutely glorious. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't or shouldn't.

Or as Kurt Vonnegut put it "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different"

(That being said if Tik Tok is making you sad delete that shit right away. Wasting time is glorious but feeling depressed sucks.)

Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

#9
post #8

Wasting time is absolutely glorious. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't or shouldn't. Or as Kurt Vonnegut put it "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different" (That being said if Tik Tok is making you sad delete that shit right away. Wasting time is glorious but feeling depressed sucks.)

Time wasted with enjoyment is not time wasted.

Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)

#10
post #7

I concluded years ago that I'm not time-constrained, I'm energy-constrained. I couldn't explain it in terms of neurochemistry, but it's clear empirically that for me at least, willpower or mental focus is a resource which can be depleted, and work takes most of it. To me, the best way to use those 52 hours is not achieving things but caring for myself/restoring willpower, which means some blend of socialization, exer…

I feel this a lot with music. I technically have a lot of time to do it, but usually I’m pretty mentally wiped out from work and it uses a lot of the same mental muscles as software engineering and managing other software engineers
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