Doing more with less – Day 4
30-Day Writing Challenge
To be “productive” and to be “busy” are two very different things.
I’ve spent my entire corporate career fighting off busyness to actually get anything done. Sadly, there seems to be a psychological virus spreading where people pride themselves on having a filled calendar always feeling the need to comment on their “busyness”.
This mindset isn’t something that sits within a single company or industry but has spread throughout our collective consciousness. The busier you are directly correlated to how valuable and important you’ve become… Supposedly.
Now, this is nothing new, most people in this system intellectually understand what I’m saying, but when it comes to taking action we default to busyness.
Even though I prided myself on declining meetings, blocking off my calendar, and sometimes staying home to get more done, I’ve realized I still was falling into this trap… I still associated importance with busyness.
After leaving my corporate career and embarking on this “knowledge retreat”, I’ve discovered a whole new level of focus and “effectiveness”.
Over the past four months, I’ve spent my time doing a few things, but that maniacal focus has exposed me to a different mental state – a calming and focused state.
My day consists of…
- Reading – Books 3 – 4 hours in the morning
- Researching – Industries, companies, and technologies for 3 – 4 hours in the afternoon
- Writing – unstructured journaling or structured blog posts 1.5 – 2 hours
That’s the three things I do each day, nothing more, nothing less.
By focusing on a few things, I’ve been able to actually retain a lot of what I’m learning, make mental connections I’ve not been able to before and live my daily life in a much calmer state.
I know most of you are still working in the “busy” world, but if you’re able to carve out some focused time on what matters most to you, you’ll feel much better!