One of the essays, "Scheduling in Time for Creative Thinking," by Cal Newport, discusses how much of our day is wasted on pointless e-mails and other social media interactions. I enjoyed the piece and headed over to his website, CalNewport.com where I came across another great article that really made me think.
"Woody Allen and the Art of Value Productivity" (linked) argues it's not how much time we put into a project; it's how much value we produce from the time we put in. This is true for me.
When I'm mindful about using my block schedule, I produce more value content, whether it's plotting, writing a first draft, revising, or planning my future.
My natural impulse is to check e-mails, pop in on Facebook, send a quick text, and any other "quick and harmless" activity throughout the day. But when I resist, when I focus on my project, I double, even triple my output.
I can interact on Facebook in less than ten minutes. But I often find myself scrolling through for an hour. Does more than ten minutes on Facebook help me reach my current goals? No!
My reality? It's much easier to fritter away my day on "busy" work that produces nothing than to sit down and create something of value.
What is something of value?
For me, it's writing novels.Last year I used a block schedule to organize my day. Not surprisingly, I accomplished more--much more--than I did when I wasn't being mindful of my time. Summer throws new challenges my way, but now that school is back in, I'm reverting to my block schedule.
My dreams are important. I don't want to fritter this moment away.
Are your dreams worth it to you?
Have a wonderful day!
