“I am single and don’t have kids”
What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
31–40 of 57 posts
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#32I 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…
This is in part why I have a job I'm overqualified for at a slow-ish moving corporate. To be fair, I fell into it and the job suits me better than being a software engineer. Being a software engineer isn't bad. But being a data analyst while having the same pay at a marketing department is infinitely easier. I'm the only technical person, so anything I make has more impact, despite the fact that it's easier. Also, one knows how long it takes so I can set my own schedule. Finally, because of this I'm hard to replace. It helps that the IT department is barely functioning, which is why I'm able to fill this gap anyway. It also helps that being multidisciplinary is my biggest source of strength. I'm an okay programmer, I'm an okay psychologist (academically speaking - I've neve worked in the field but published a paper and finished a bachelor in it), and a few other disciplines like that. Here most of that comes together.
I don't work the amount of hours I should, but no one bats too much of an eye since I have already saved them +250K within the first 3 months of working there (not due to my talent, the IT department really isn't functioning there). It was a bit of a lucky homerun to be fair, but I make enough impact for a normal Dutch salary.
So while I am overqualified, it's in part because there are some natural advantages I have in the role of a data analyst as it is a really generalist role. And in the Netherlands, it pays about as well as a many SWE salaries (unless you work for Databricks or Optiver - to name 2 very different but both high paying companies).
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#33Am I the only one thinking this urge to optimize our time is just anxiety? I'd argue not spending time worried about time usage would make one use better its time. I'm not referring to the article per se, but to this kind of articles in general. On this article: why school is considered not discretionary time? Also commute and meals are somewhat discarded. While cooking, or helping, read a poem or a short story; whil…
We're raised to be productive little machines. There comes a point in most people's careers where they ask themselves "is this it?" We're in a crowd of relatively wealthy people who actually gets to act on those questions.
It's also hard to live in the moment and enjoy those times if you're always working towards something else. Recently I have taken to visiting random neighbourhoods with no plans and nothing on my schedule. I was ashamed to discover places I'd passed a hundred times, beautiful streets just one block away from the main arteries.
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#34I 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…
Another way to look at it is that we are attention constrained.
And there are a lot of systems out there that are designed specifically to steal that away from you.
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#35I 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…
Have you stumbled on The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr[1][2]? It crystallises this idea well, divides energy into several different dimensions and tries to give you a framework to figure out which dimension is constraining you and how to expand your reservoir. Some of the practical advice is silly but I still find it very helpful. I go back to it often.
[1] https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68985.The_Power_of_Full_...
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#36I suppose that article is written by someone who doesn't have: - young kids - chores to do - a house/yard to maintain - hackernews to read ?
It's theoretical Productivity Porn written by a student (check the about me page) who Wants To Be Remembered For Something.
> It's theoretical Productivity Porn written by a student (check the about me page) who Wants To Be Remembered For Something.
I wish I'd known that before I read tfa, and then the two-part essay on How to Choose a Life Partner. This guy writes well and all, and I'm sure he means well, but he's about 20 years old. I don't need life advice from someone so inevitably inexperienced.
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#37I'm not convinced I have enough energy to do 16 hours a day of stuff that I am proud of.
Recently I have been doing several projects with my car in the shop.
I wouldn't say I was proud of the many many hours spent sitting in the shop and by any metric or observer, doing exactly nothing. On the other hand these hours were essential to success and the work would have gone better and been done quicker if I had spent more hours sitting doing nothing in close proximity to the work. (some time was spent very low productivity cleaning or arranging project related things, most time was spent quite literally sitting and apprantly doing nothing)
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#38I 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…
Another way to look at it is that we are attention constrained. And there are a lot of systems out there that are designed specifically to steal that away from you.
That’s how I’ve come to feel about video games. I don’t have a word for it other than to say it feels like video games are life-taking while creative work or manual labor are life-giving but still tiring.
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#39I 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…
Another way to look at it is that we are attention constrained. And there are a lot of systems out there that are designed specifically to steal that away from you.
That is a good way to see it.
There is also the effect of "activation energy", we should decrease the effort it takes to start doing an activity we ought to be doing by manipulating our environment in its favor.
The opposite is also true, we can get rid of the activities by increasing the effort it takes to start doing it.
Re: What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
#40>His greatest achievement was watching 7,000,000 Instagram Reels.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong about this.