Time Management: Efficiency vs Effectiveness

Posted on May 1, 2019 by admin

In a past post, I talked about the importance of time management. Something I’ve thought about since then is that efficient time management is sometimes less important than effective time management. I’ll explain what I mean in the remainder of this post.

When I think of efficient time management, I think of someone who works nonstop from dawn to dusk. I remember days I’ve had like this, days where I didn’t have a spare minute from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. My time management was as efficient as it’s ever been on those days because I had no time to waste. Those were also some of the most exhausting days of my life and I’m glad they’re behind me. In contrast, when I think of effective time management, I think of arranging my day such that I can keep my commitments and still have plenty of free time to spend as I like, which includes relaxing and enjoying the still moments. My down time isn’t efficient from the standpoint of getting as much done as possible, but it is effective in the sense that it refreshes me and I can enjoy it at my own pace. Essentially, I like to be efficient with my time in some areas so that I can be inefficient with it in other areas.

Here’s an example that nicely captures my thoughts on this. Someone once told me about a guy they knew (probably in college) who set up his classes in a very specific way: he spent all day in class for a few days and then had four straight days to surf. He found a way to free up a lot of time to do what he loved while still keeping up with his responsibilities. I don’t know what he was like as a person since I never met him, but I suspect that he spent his surfing days relaxing, living in the moment, and taking it easy. If so, then his story is a perfect example of maximizing time efficiency in one area and minimizing it in another area. I do things a bit differently since, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I prefer to not be busy working all day without much of a break. However, like the guy in that story, I try to get my tasks done quickly and properly whenever I have an obligation to fulfill (such as when I’m at work) so that I can soon be free to pursue my own interests. I also do this with the things I’ve committed myself to completing every day on my own time. Further, it’s important that I do things the right way rather than just focusing on working fast; if I have to do them again because I rushed through them the first time, that at the very least doubles my workload and gives me a lot less free time. So from an efficiency perspective, it’s actually better to take a little more time to do things right than to do them sloppily due to working too fast.

I’ve been familiar the distinction between efficient time management and effective time management, but it wasn’t until recently that I really thought it through and fleshed out my perspective. This is one of several areas in which I practiced something without consciously realizing exactly what I was doing. Whenever I have one of these realizations, I like to write it out and share it with others. That helps me remember it and use it regularly and makes it available for anyone who might also benefit from it. I hope you’ve found this interesting and helpful for managing your time, and I will see you next time.

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Creating the Life of My Dreams

Posted on April 30, 2019 by admin

This is an exciting time for me. I’ve been slowly building a better life for myself and I’m now seeing a lot of incredible things come to fruition. Here are some steps I’ve taken to get to this point.

Perhaps the most important thing I’ve done is to keep my sights set high. It’d be easy to settle for something ordinary and “safe”, especially with all the challenges and emotional issues I’ve had. However, I chose instead to dream big and then chase after those dreams with everything I’ve got. Knowing where I want to go has allowed me to work backwards and develop a plan to get there, and working on that plan a bit each day has both taken me closer to my goal and put me into a great present life situation. I’m sure that I wouldn’t be where I’m at now if I had opted for a more conventional path, so I’m glad that I dreamed bigger than that.

In the previous paragraph, I mentioned another critically important thing: working hard to get what I want. I’ll never get where I want to be if I don’t work for it. A lot of the work has been extremely hard for me; I lost track of the number of times I felt like I was stuck or regressing, and there were a few occasions in which I nearly completely abandoned my self-improvement journey. Somehow, though, I always stuck it out, and now I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. And as I continue moving up in life, I look forward to seeing the increasing benefits of my hard work and the application of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Of course, I’ve had a lot of help in getting to this position. I’ve gotten a lot of ideas and life hacks from reading as much as I can on a number of subjects. Since there are people who have already done some of the things I want to do, it helps to read their stories and see what worked for them. Everyone has their own way of doing things and some highly successful people have strategies that are completely different than those of other people in similar positions. By reading a lot of books and absorbing many different perspectives on the same subjects, I can get an idea of what’s out there and what might work well for me, my plans, and my situation. Plus reading a lot of ideas from a lot of different people gives me a much lower chance of becoming a blind follower of any one person or philosophy. I try to find some value in as many places as I can while also keeping in mind that nobody has all the answers, a practice that has served me well since I started it.

Lastly, I’ve used my free time (and occasionally some time I’ve requested off from work) to explore my corner of the world, see what’s out there, and make myself into the person I’ve always wanted to be. Among other things, this includes trying a lot of different things, traveling to several places (some new to me and others I’ve visited before), and regularly doing fun things with cool people around me. Saving money, effectively managing my time, and getting my priorities straight has allowed me to do all of this. While I’m in the middle of something, I try my best to quiet my mind and be present in the moment. This includes avoiding thoughts such as “I have to go back to work in a few days” or “This will be over soon”. It’s easy to avoid those kinds of thoughts when I’m in the middle of an engaging activity but it’s much more difficult when I’m doing nothing. However, it’s in those moments of doing nothing that this exercise is most valuable. Enjoying the feeling of being free to relax without letting outside distractions creep in gives me a glimpse of how my life will be when I can do this all the time. And making good use of the time I have now has gotten me much closer to where I want to be in life.

I’ve slowly put all of this together over the past year and now I’ve developed a routine that has continually made my life better. It took a long time to get in the groove because I initially just stumbled into this stuff and had never done anything like this before, so I had to tread water for a while until I started to get the hang of it. I’m still amazed when I think of all the positive progress I’ve made in such a short time. Last year was much better for me than the previous year, and this year has been even better than last year. Now that I’ve learned a lot and know how to learn more useful self-improvement stuff, I think I’ll progress faster than I ever have before. I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life and what adventures it has in store for me. I’m ready for them.

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Treasures and Trials

Posted on April 29, 2019 by admin

I’ve heard that when you get close to something you’ve wanted and worked toward for a long time, you’re met with a series of challenges and obstacles. Sometimes these also come after you get what you wanted. You might start second guessing yourself, wondering if you made a mistake, and fearing that it won’t work out. I’ve experienced all of that lately, so I’d like to talk a bit about it.

The Alchemist talks a lot about running into obstacles as you approach your goals, which is probably why I’ve had this in the back of my head since I read the book earlier this year. However, I suppose I’ve known about this concept since I first listened to The Power of Now back in 2017. Eckhart Tolle mentioned that our minds would still look for problems even if we were in paradise. I’ve thought about this quite a bit when I catch myself reacting with concern to my changing life situation. When that happens, I remind myself that this is what I wanted, think about how much I’m enjoying the journey, and try to live more in the present moment instead of dreading the future or longing for the past.

A big part of my struggle has come from entering new territory and not knowing which way is up anymore. Some things that were familiar (and sometimes comfortable) are going away and a lot of new things are taking their place. I’m sure I’ll get used to these changes soon enough, but the transition has been difficult. For example, I used to have two days off a week, but since I’ve been working two jobs for a while now, I went a few weeks straight with no days off. I wouldn’t have had any days off for about a month if I hadn’t taken some time off for Floor Divided, and my next day off won’t occur until I leave my old job next week. All of this means that I’ve had to shift a lot of things around in my schedule, make sure I have plenty of time to recharge, and go easy on myself by saying no to some things I would have liked to do. Although it’s been difficult at times, it’s been well worth it.

As I’ve faced these challenges, I’ve tried to keep in mind that they’re temporary parts of my journey. The challenges often feel like tests designed to see if really want what I’ve been pursuing. I’m better able to handle them when I think about them this way, especially if I start as soon as I first notice the challenges appear. Remembering the treasures to be found on the other side of the trials keeps me motivated to continue until I’ve made it to my destination. If what I’ve found so far is any indication of what’s to come, then I’m so glad I started down this path and I’m excited to continue sharing what I find along the way.

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Working Through Tough Times

Posted on April 28, 2019 by admin

Whenever I go through a rough time, I try to observe my reaction to it and adjust my actions accordingly. If I start getting bogged down in misery and negativity, then I’ll make extra efforts to do things that I find enjoyable and healing. For example, I usually bring food from home to eat on my lunch break at work. This helps me save money, gives me more time to enjoy my break, and is probably healthier than eating out. On difficult days, however, I’ll go out to a restaurant and order some food I love. That allows me to have something that makes sense on a day where nothing else does and gives me some distance from the madness. Looking forward to that small change and enjoying it when it arrives can turn my day around and make it easier for me to get through the rest of it.

I’m most vulnerable to getting lost in negativity when I’m at home. Since I’m on my own time there and can withdraw from other people and events, it’s harder to distract myself from my thoughts. If I catch myself in time, I can focus on getting myself back on track before it’s too late; if I’m already in a bad mood, that becomes much more difficult and makes me more likely to lose my way for a while. This is where continuing with my normal routines helps me. Taking care of myself makes it much easier to get through the difficult times than giving into the negativity and shutting down. Sometimes a simple shower is enough to get me out of my head for a while and make me feel better. As long as I have something familiar around me and can work on my regular routines, I never stay down for long.

Ultimately, I try to focus on what I can do instead of what I can’t do. Looking for solutions keeps my sights set on something positive and prevents me from getting lost in my problems. I can remember several occasions in which I thought there was no hope of improvement only to find one or more ways to improve my situation, often within the same day. It still sometimes takes a while for my emotions to settle, but I think getting involved in something beneficial and productive helps me feel better faster. Plus keeping some positive momentum going keeps me on track; if I sink into negativity for a long time, it’s much harder to get started again. That’s what I’ve found helpful for working through tough times and I hope you find some of this useful as well.

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Regression to the Mean

Posted on April 27, 2019 by admin

This is an excerpt from Thinking, Fast and Slow about Daniel Kahneman’s time spent working with flight instructors in the Israeli Air Force. Kahneman starts off with one of the instructor’s responses to his point that rewarding good behavior is more effective than punishing bad behavior; Kahneman then refutes that response with a simple explanation and exercise. I like how he clearly explains the tendency to see one thing as causing another even when that’s not the case. Without further ado, here’s the story.

He began by conceding that rewarding improved performance might be good for the birds, but he denied that it was optimal for flight cadets. This is what he said: “On many occasions I have praised flight cadets for clean execution of some aerobatic maneuver. The next time they try the same maneuver they usually do worse. On the other hand, I have often screamed into a cadet’s earphone for bad execution, and in general he does better on his next try. So please don’t tell us that reward works and punishment does not, because the opposite is the case.”

This was a joyous moment of insight, when I saw in a new light a principle of statistics that I had been teaching for years. The instructor was right – but he was also completely wrong! His observation was astute and correct: occasions on which he praised a performance were likely to be followed by a disappointing performance, and punishments were typically followed by an improvement. But the inference he had drawn about the efficacy of reward and punishment was completely off the mark. What he had observed is known as regression to the mean, which in that case was due to random fluctuations in the quality of performance. Naturally, he praised only a cadet whose performance was far better than average. But the cadet was probably just lucky on that particular attempt and therefore likely to deteriorate regardless of whether or not he was praised. Similarly, the instructor would shot into a cadet’s earphones only when the cadet’s performance was unusually bad and therefore likely to improve regardless of what the instructor did. The instructor had attached a causal interpretation to the inevitable fluctuations of a random process.

The challenge called for a response, but a lesson in the algebra of prediction would not be enthusiastically received. Instead, I used chalk to mark a target on the floor. I asked every officer in the room to turn his back to the target and throw two coins at it in immediate succession, without looking. We measured the distances from the target and wrote the two results of each contestant on the blackboard. Then we rewrote the results in order, from the best to the worst performance on the first try. It was apparent that most (but not all) of those who had done best the first time deteriorated on their second try, and those who had done poorly on the first attempt generally improved. I pointed out to the instructors that what they saw on the board coincided with what we had heard about the performance of aerobatic maneuvers on successive attempts: poor performance as typically followed by improvement and good performance by deterioration, without any help from either praise or punishment.

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The Domino Effect

Posted on April 26, 2019 by admin

I’ve previously written about how small victories can add up over time to major wins. I recently started thinking about this again, and that reminded me of this video involving small dominoes knocking down increasingly larger ones. Even though each domino is noticeably larger and heavier than the one before it, they all come down without any difficulty. The first one took almost no effort to topple, yet, according to the guy in the video, it started a chain reaction that would have eventually brought down a domino the size of the Empire State Building. It certainly works with much larger dominoes, as we can see in this video.

Likewise, if you’re not already at the place you want to be in life, you can start moving in that direction by making one small change for the better. That change may not seem like much at first, but it’ll start a chain reaction that will clear obstacles and open doors along your path. And it’ll do so at a pace that lets you adjust to your changing situations so that you’ll be prepared for each level as you approach it. This is much easier than trying to topple the biggest domino first; that’s still possible, but it requires a lot more energy at the outset and results in a much faster chain reaction, which gives you almost no time to adjust. Sometimes major changes in a short span of time are the best way to go, but I prefer to keep it simple and manageable.

This also applies to the world around you. You never know how a seemingly small gesture toward another person can affect their life, and the lives of the people they know, etc. Even something as simple as a genuine smile can be enough to turn someone’s mood around and positively impact all of their experiences for the rest of their day. Even if you can’t see the fruit of your actions, it’s still good to pay it forward when you can.

I’m going to keep this in mind for when I’m feeling frustrated or wary about the future. It helps that I’ve seen how well this has worked in my own life since I started doing it, but I still need an occasional reminder. There’s always some small thing I can do to make my situation better and help me get through a trying time. I’ve made extensive use of this so far and I plan to continue using it as I keep moving forward in life.

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Learning New Things

Posted on April 25, 2019 by admin

I’ve been thinking lately about practice, especially after reading Outliers. It’s easy to forget how much time and effort it can take to become proficient in something, especially when watching someone who does it exceptionally well. I often overlook the countless hours of practice that are behind an astounding gymnastics routine, incredible speech, beautiful painting, or other work of art. If I take a moment to think about how an expert got so good at their chosen skill or if I try it for myself, I’m reminded of how much work it takes to master something. I don’t know if I’ve mastered anything, but I’ve certainly gotten good at several things I used to think I’d never even learn, such as swing dancing, juggling, solving Rubik’s Cubes, bicycling, and typing. For the remainder of this post, I’ll focus on the first two skills on that list.

When I talk about juggling or swing dancing with someone who doesn’t know how to do either, they often say “I could never do that” or “I don’t have the coordination for that”. Well, contrary to what several people I know have said about my abilities, I didn’t have the coordination for those things when I started them. I certainly had the ability to learn how to do them (and I think almost everyone else does as well), but I don’t think I have much natural talent for either of those skills. The reason I learned them and got good at them is because I wanted to learn how to do them, so I kept practicing until I got the hang of them. That persistence paid off, as did the continued practice that has made each of those skills fairly easy for me at this point.

But someone who sees me do something difficult and make it look easy isn’t seeing the years I spent struggling to get where I am today. If they could see footage of all the drops, missteps, timing issues, and other mistakes I’ve made along the way, they’d know that it took a lot of practice for me to get good at these things; they’d probably then be more motivated to give them a try, knowing that they’ll also get there with enough time and proper practice. I’ve seen this happen a lot, particularly when someone has a good teacher to show them the ropes and guide them through the initial learning curve.

I’ve gotten so much joy out of practicing my hobbies and sharing them with other people, and I love seeing their faces light up when they do something they never thought possible. That’s why it breaks my heart when someone says they can’t do something and doesn’t even give it a try. If they try it, get a feel for it, and decide it’s not for them, fair enough. But by not trying it because they think they can’t do it, they could be missing out on an incredibly fun, rewarding activity that’ll last a lifetime. I had no idea how much I’d enjoy juggling and swing dancing when I started them, or how much they would add to my life. If someone else can experience even a fraction of what those things have done for me, it’s well worth the effort on my part to introduce them to these skills and help them get started. I always love being part of that and I hope it continues and catches on with more people in more places.

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Seeing More of the Bigger Picture

Posted on April 24, 2019 by admin

The past few years of my life have been unlike any others. Without even meaning to do so, I started on a path of radical self-improvement and experienced some major changes in several of my views. I still don’t know exactly how this journey began, but I’ve made more progress toward where I want to be in life in a couple of years now than I did in the past decade, and my progress appears to be accelerating all the time now.

I’ve always been quick to observe (and often point out) what I considered to be errors in the thought process of other people. Since last year, with the help of books like The Righteous Mind and Thinking, Fast and Slow, it’s become easier to see more of the errors in my own thinking, which has also made me slower to criticize the way others think. Sometimes I catch my errors as they’re happening, but I usually only recognize them well after the fact. Still, being more aware of them has saved me a lot of trouble and motivated me to be sure I’m on the right track with my views (which I’ve done primarily through reading a lot of books that offer explanations for a variety of phenomena in life, with most of my focus being on the stuff in our heads).

It’s become harder for me to be dogmatic or ideological since I started paying more attention to my thought processes, ceasing to identify with my views, finding out more about how my brain works, and learning more of the variables that affect everything in existence. This has made it easier to understand other perspectives, though I still often end up disagreeing with someone after hearing them out and absorbing their take. Seeing more of the bigger picture has shown me where lots of things fit together and complement each other, even things that seem incompatible or contradictory at first glance. As a result, my views have become more nuanced and, I hope, more accurate over time.

I’ve also thought of a ton of ideas for potential solutions to problems, both in my own life and elsewhere in the world. Several of these ideas seemed to come to me fully formed, as if someone else had written them and placed them in my head. My blog has been a way for me to get these ideas out there and organize my thinking so that new ideas come to me more easily. It’s also helped me make regular progress on the book I’m writing about my experiences and realizations, which I hope to have published sometime in the next decade. There’s a lot of writing, editing, and living I have to do before it’s ready, but I always get excited thinking about the impact it’ll have when it’s ready for publishing. I just stumbled onto this path and, with the way everything’s fallen into place since then, I’m sure that this was all meant to be. Thank you for sharing this amazing journey with me. It’s been a great ride and it’ll only get better from here.

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Things I Do When I’m Stressed

Posted on April 23, 2019 by admin

I’ve noticed some things I tend to do whenever I’m stressed, especially for extended periods of time. When I start doing these things, I try to figure out what’s causing the stress and work on taking care of that. Otherwise I would feel as if I’m merely treating the symptoms of a disease without doing anything to the disease itself, a course of action that may provide temporary relief but would ultimately do more harm than good in the long run. With that in mind, these are some of the things I do when I’m stressed.

  1. Bite my lips. I’ve done this for years and I don’t know why. Using lip balm regularly has helped me nearly eliminate this bad habit, but I still find myself doing it when I’m particularly stressed. This is one of the first things I notice and it lets me know right away that something is wrong.
  2. Eat out a lot, especially at fast food restaurants. Eating out is easier than preparing food at home, so if I don’t have much energy or I’m feeling upset, I tend to go to one of several restaurants that I enjoy. My love of fried food and sweet treats makes me even more likely to indulge during the rough times.
  3. Stay up late. I may be hoping to avoid dreaming about what’s on my mind, trying to stretch out the day so I don’t have to face tomorrow’s responsibilities, or lacking the will to get ready for bed. Either way, I tend to get way less sleep than I need when I’m stressed, which makes me more stressed and causes me to miss more sleep, and so on. Fortunately, this one eventually sorts itself out; once I’m tired enough, I’ll turn in earlier and get plenty of sleep. I wish everything else on this list fixed itself.
  4. Get less done. Being stressed makes it harder for me to think clearly and focus while also draining me of energy, so I’m less productive during times of stress. When I do engage in my regular activities, I typically do so with less enthusiasm and vigor than usual. Sometimes sticking to my routine helps lift my spirits, but other times it takes me a good while to feel like myself again.
  5. Lash out more easily. I’m more likely to make assumptions and take things personally when I’m stressed, which increases my chances of lashing out at those around me. I’ve gotten better at controlling myself over time, though, so I don’t do this as much as I used to.
  6. Spend more time away from people. I get drained by extensive interaction with other people even when I’m in a great mood, and being stressed makes me get worn out faster. If I do go out, I may be more closed off than usual, such as not saying much or sitting toward the end of a group. Once I’ve spent enough time by myself and I’m in a better mood, I become more social and begin to seek out enjoyable interactions once again.
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Managing Your Time

Posted on April 22, 2019 by admin

When I was a little kid, other people set up my schedule and determined how I spent most of my time. I found it easy to handle a lot of things during this period in my life: playing in the school band, playing soccer, singing in an ensemble, and, on top of all of that, keeping up with my schoolwork and a few other things I did every week. However, as I steadily acquired more control over my schedule, I gradually lost a lot of motivation and had few (if any) regular hobbies or interests. Even when I did find things I enjoyed, I couldn’t manage my time nearly as effectively as those who once did it for me, so I didn’t make time for the things I loved doing. It wasn’t until I started learning about effective time management that I was able to do more of what I love and have less filler in my days.

I suppose I got my first glimpse into the world of time management when I stopped watching TV back in 2012 during a fast at my church. When the fast ended, I continued avoiding TV because I had lost interest in it by then. Since I watched a lot of TV, ceasing to watch it freed up a great deal of time that I could spend on other activities, although I think I mostly just switched to other ways to kill time. Still, it showed me that I can reduce filler in order to make time for more meaningful things. It also probably helped me move toward being aware of how much time I spend on different activities and seeing where to make changes to free up more time for my passions.

Time is your most precious resource since you can’t get more of it. You can always find ways to make more money, get more stuff, or consume more content; you can’t recover lost time, and you’re losing time every moment that you’re alive. Additionally, if you don’t manage your time and decide how it’ll be spent, someone else will, and you probably won’t like the decisions they make for you. So if you want to have enough time to pursue your passions and interests, the best thing you can do is learn about effective time management. For that, I highly recommend The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this book, Stephen Covey shows the different ways that we can spend our time (some are beneficial and others are wasteful) and gives a lot of advice for managing it such that we can remain productive while still having plenty of opportunities to enjoy ourselves, including addressing important matters early on so they don’t become big problems that take up a ton of time. I think this is what really helped me refocus a lot of my priorities and plan out my days so that I can pursue my interests and my self-improvement work and still (usually) get enough sleep. The Art of Manliness also has a few good articles on time management and getting more out of each day. I hope this post has inspired you to put more focus in managing your time so that you can move a bit closer to living your best life. Believe me, it’s worth the effort.

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