Category Archives: Life

Automate the Mundane

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Life’s too short to waste on boring tasks. In your own daily life, what mindless activities can you automate or delegate? Folding laundry, filing taxes, commuting? How can you optimize your routine to compress time and energy invested in these things? Is it worth money to have someone else do these things for you?

The first step to living a better life is to question the aspects you do not like. Spend time thinking about how your life could be without them. And then strategize. In an effort to live a rich life, we all should work together to waive the mundane.

Go to Bed

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I know you have a lot to do. And I know you think there’s plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead. But there’s really not. You can try to milk your waking hours dry while trying to top the world. Or you can be a human being and get some sleep. I spent my teenage years ignoring everyone’s advice. And now I’m paying for it with slight memory retention loss, heart strain, and then some. But now, I’m looking the other way. I’m face down in a pillow eight hours every night I can get away with it. I’m in business to bank some Z’s. You know what? I feel better for it. Don’t take sleep for granted.

Meaningful Work

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A quarter of the average American’s week is spent on the clock and a third is spent asleep at night. Many work even longer hours than that. With so much time and energy devoted to one thing, it’s worth it for our health and sanity to make sure our jobs are fulfilling.

Everyone wants a job he or she can be excited to wake up for in the morning. For me, I need a job that I can believe in. A company building things I believe in. Leadership with strategy I believe in. But that’s just me. Most people can find joy in their work without being tied to the higher context of their employment.

So what constitutes “meaningful work?” I think it’s simple. A job where you’d rather do nothing else with that valuable time. Perhaps a job that satisfies your need to create or relate with the world. Perhaps a job working to solve an important problem. Or perhaps a job that’s plain and simple fun.

In any case, you choose to do the work over anything else. Do what you want to do for a living. Find a job like that, and life will be good.

Quitting Is Not Always Quitting

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Do not be afraid to opt out of something if you’ve done everything you can to improve the situation. Marriages, jobs, partnerships, friends with bad habits, group projects, hobbies, gatherings, etc. If it’s not working out for you and you’ve taken reasonable measures to fix things, there’s no point in suffocating yourself anymore. It’s not cowardice; it’s logic. Sometimes quitting is the best way to improve your life, the lives of your partners, and the lives of others who care about you. Imagine all the possibilities of what you can do without that burden, time drain, and commitment. Do not be afraid to quit and go do those things.

Calibrating Your Core

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We get buried by our own lives. We’re far too close to our routine to see the flaws, see the compromises, understand the sacrifices we make in conflict deep down. We’re too busy moving forward and surviving to remember who we really are. We forget who we wanted to be in the first place. We misunderstand our goals. And we lose sight of our virtues.

It’s very important to stay in touch with old friends. Old mentors. Family. The people who remember what you said you wanted to be when you grew up. The people who saw you change. The people who can point out what never changed. Members of your past can remind you who you were. Knowing who you are now, you can sift out the continuity. You can identify your core again. You can re-group, re-center, re-align your sights. Remember what’s most important in life. With a little effort, you can find yourself again.

Stay in touch. If you do not, you will lose track of yourself. You will forget who you really are. Life will fall out of balance and your soul will be scrambled. Stay in touch. All it takes is a phone call, a conversation, a visit home.

Do not ignore your past. It holds the key to great strength.

The Insolent Stress Multiplier

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Stress is exacerbated by meaningless shit. Forgive my French. But really, we annoy ourselves further when we realize our stress is unfounded in petty problems. Day to day, we face insignificant issues that rile us: spilt milk, car horns, typos, dropped calls, loose change, disorderly management, broken fax machines, failed communication, and missed deadlines.

Few things are life or death; none of these problems are mortal. So why do they matter? Why do we strain our bodies with these issues and preoccupy our minds? Will it really matter in five years?

Learn to laugh at meaningless shit. Turn stress around as soon as you realize it won’t matter long term.

Turn Off Your Cell Phone

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It’s the only way to take a thorough break.

Vacations. Movies. Sleep. Turn it off. Trust me. You’ll feel better.

I need to take my advice more often. You should too.

Persistence

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Persistence does not take a break, does not take a nap, does not quit until the job is done.

Persistence is blogging every day for 150 days straight without a day off, even if you’re a little intoxicated and lack insightful wisdom once in a while. Sober or not, I am running 34,000 words strong with 11,481 unique visitors to date. And I am damn proud of it.

Persistence. Give it a shot. It’ll be good for you, I promise.

Give It Your All?

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I respect people who devote themselves completely to a project or job. Without question, giving it your all usually awards you a competitive edge. But I worry about the limited investment driven people are able to make in other parts of their lives. If you invest 100% of your energy (and time) into a project, what is left for family, friends, or your own health? What about your personal life goals?

On this planet, we only have 23 hours, 57 minutes, and 4.1 seconds in a day. If you spend 18 hours working on your project, when will you see your children? When will you sleep or exercise? And when will you have time to chisel away at your hobby? For those of you who are working for the money, do you have time to spend or even manage the money you do make? If not, what’s the point? What’s the point of working that hard anyway? To do better? If your job is the most important thing in your life, then why let family or anyone else distract you? What’s the point?

I am all for investing yourself in your work. I work very hard myself. But I draw lines and live by rules. I will not let my job, or any project for that matter, take time away from my dreams. And I am actively optimizing my life to make more time with friends, family, travel, and personal projects.

Inventory your “all” and decide where best to map your energy and time.

Daily Dose of Peace

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Dr. Craig Ormiston recommends one dose of peace everyday. Ten minutes where you can sit back and breathe. Lay down. Close your eyes. Silence your phone. Clear your mind. Remember that you are alive. I suggest resting in the grass, staring into the sky. Take a break when you’re overwhelmed, when you need it the most. Work can wait. Chores can wait. People can wait.

Re-center your energy. It’s important.