96 - Reclaiming your time with the things
Bringing consciousness to how you spend your time
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how time seems to be passing quicker as I get older. January doesn’t feel that long ago but somehow we are already in August and the most important day of the year (my birthday of course) is almost upon us.
I did a bit of googling research and found a few theories as to why this happens.
One theory is that the human brain is designed to process time using memorable events and as we get older, we have fewer first-time experiences and therefore fewer memorable events. Our brains also have the ability to process similar days and weeks together and as we fall into routines, time starts to feel sped up.
Personally, my own theory is that the responsibilities that come with getting older get in the way of the things that typically make life more enjoyable. Of course, these are all theories and the fact remains that we still have the same finite number of hours in a day now as we had when we were younger.
My psychologist recently asked me to track my daily activities and it was quite revealing. As a productive babe who also prioritises enjoyment, I started thinking about some of the ways by which I reclaim my time.
Take breaks. As the theory above suggests, doing the same things day in and day out starts to make you feel like you’re speeding through life, so take breaks. Annual leave, study leave, sick leave, take all the leaves. I genuinely worry when I see people brag about never missing a day of work/school because 1) how boring and 2) can’t be healthy. I can personally attest to how much longer my days feel when I’m on holiday. However, given the current state of my bank account, holidays are not currently on the agenda but that doesn’t mean I can’t call in sick on a random Tuesday and spend the day doing something enjoyable.
Hobbies, hobbies, hobbies. As a serial hobbyist, I can not extol the benefits of having hobbies enough. One benefit for me is that some of my current hobbies help me keep track of the weeks as they go by. Take my sewing class for example. The classes run weekly in 6 week blocks, so everytime I show up for a class, I’m reminded that another week has passed. It might sound a little silly but it is such a great reminder for me that time is going and going.
Practice mindfulness. No, not tiktok mindful. Mindfulness is about living more in the present moment, appreciating the here and now, and not dwelling too much on the past or future. In simpler terms, mindfulness for me is slowing down and taking my time to do one thing at a time, while trying to stay fully present. It can be as simple as having a meal with zero distractions, no watching TV, no scrolling through Instagram, no phone calls, just paying attention to what is on my plate and how it feels to be eating the particular food I am eating at that moment. It is such a simple way to elevate almost every experience and make your time feel well spent.
Optimise sleep. I’m a self-proclaimed not-a-morning person, but I recently had a day where I went to bed around 10 am and my level of productivity the following day reminded me that good sleep is an important tool in making the most of your day. I am currently writing at 1 am though so I’m clearly not winning on this one.
Track the days. I have a few daily habits that remind me exactly where I am in the month/year. One of them is journaling. I journal every day and each turn of the page, is an acknowledgement that another day has passed. I also have a little desk calendar with mindfulness quotes (corny, I know) and every time I flip the page I’m reminded again that another day is gone and there’s only so many more left in the week/month/year.
When I think about time, I do not think about how I can start a side hustle in my spare minutes or any other productive pursuits for that matter. I think about it mostly in terms of how limited it is and how much of it I can maximize before my time runs out.
9 years ago today, my friend Peter died. He was 26. He had gone to work that day like many other days before, his time ran out while he was doing something he loved. He was my most personal reminder that tomorrow is not promised. I thought I’d remind you as well.
Recently I read
Tremor by Teju Cole. I remember enjoying his first book - Everyday is for the Thief, but I didn’t know he had a new book out until I came across this very wordy New Yorker review. I found the book a bit meh, to be honest. The writing was great, what was not great to me was the format the book was written in. It quickly became confusing because it wasn’t clear if it was a collection of short stories with different narrators or one narrator sharing different stories. Some of the stories were entertaining. Some of them made me nostalgic for the Lagos I grew up in. I preferred the stories that were set in Lagos, the ones set abroad had too much of that melancholy that seems to cloak those in voluntary exile from their homelands. Great writing, which is to be expected from somebody who teaches creative writing at Harvard, but didn’t spark any particularly strong feelings.
Recently I listened to
Episode 195 of The Knowledge Project. Shane and Morgan Housel talk about getting rich and staying rich. Morgan Housel is the author of The Psychology of Money which is one of the books that changed my relationship with money. Highly recommend.
On this episode, Morgan spoke about how personal money is and because it is so personal, it is important to be mindful of whose advice you take or who you try to model your financial life after. He also talked about how the absence of FOMO is key to staying rich and I thought this was profound because so much of our spending is directly influenced by the need to feel among. He also gave some very wise writing advice that I might need to print and tape to my computer -
“Write for an audience of one which is yourself, don’t think about who is going to read this. Write a sentence that moves you.”
I always feel triumphant when I manage to finish a newsletter. I’ve always considered writing as something that comes easy but this venture is showing me how much work it is. Still, I’m here, for now at least. I briefly considered a hiatus but I don’t think I’m there yet.
We’ve had fantastic weather and I am not complaining at all, instead, I am enjoying all my summer outfits. I have not made any concrete birthday plans but I am hoping something materializes in the coming weeks. As usual, I have kindly created a wishlist for my birthday so please feel free to pick up an item. Or two.
Here’s wishing you a lifetime of counting your days and making them count.
Chioma.