Optimizing Time Through Focusing On Priorities

As we'll eventually come to realize, our time is limited. There's only so much we can do in a day before our energy runs out and we become tired.

Of course, we can optimize for tiredness, such as working out to build and retain more energy. And also finding all sorts of way to not lose much of it during the day.

But it nevertheless comes to the conclusion that the limitation impose on our system can't be stretched beyond its average capacity.

Now, in the modern age, we seemingly have a lot of things to do because we've a lot of options on what we can do and the greediness in us will tell us we can attempt to do many of the lot.

But even without the greediness, I think it's inherent in human nature to gravitate towards the best or perfect one amongst the lot of available options.

Image Source

Time And Priorities

A noticeable characteristic of the modern era is that time itself has been stretched, in terms of what we can do with it. For example, previously, communication or even travelling took much longer compared to today. Now, communication can be instant and the amount of time needed to travel has generally been reduced tremendously.

An effect of this characteristic is we have more time on our hands. However, another characteristic of this same era is the overstimulation of our minds and emotions. This primarily happens through social media platforms, with easy creation and access of content.

Despite all the good that can come from it in terms of individual development or empowerment, our mental state isn't built for this kind of overstimulation(yet).

Both characteristics and the effects of them create this sort of paradoxical perception of having a lot of time yet doing so little with it. I mean, sometimes a full day can pass and we feel we didn't do anything productive yet we did do a lot during the day.

Essentially, I came to the realization that we don't have a time problem but a priority problem. And the main culprit of this problem is the overstimulation of our minds. Amidst all this noise, what do we really want or desire?

Image Source

Answering this question may not overtly tell us what our priorities are, but it can lead us closer to them. There are two approaches we can take on solving the overstimulation problem.

The first is to block it from the source, which means to stop using social media platforms. This can work well, especially in the short term. But I think it's kind of impractical and seems restrictive. Because it goes against the tide of the modern era, which is more or less unavoidable. Besides, if the goal is to be a player in the game of life, you have to get in the field and not sit on the sideline.

The second approach is to rise above it and take a different point of view. Unfortunately, the practicalities of it don't seem very clear to me yet but in theory, it seems feasible. Because it's nothing more than developing mental structures different from the default structures we normally operate from.


Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha