What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)(njbrown.com)
njbrown.com
What would you do with 52 hours a week of discretionary time? (2023)
https://www.njbrown.com/blog/25/
56 comments
I concluded years ago that I'm not time-constrained, I'm energy-constrained. I couldn't explain it in terms of neurochemistry, but it's clear empirically that for me at least, willpower or mental focus is a resource which can be depleted, and work takes most of it. To me, the best way to use those 52 hours is not achieving things but caring for myself/restoring willpower, which means some blend of socialization, exercise, and relaxation.
This is in part why I have a job I'm overqualified for at a slow-ish moving corporate. To be fair, I fell into it and the job suits me better than being a software engineer. Being a software engineer isn't bad. But being a data analyst while having the same pay at a marketing department is infinitely easier. I'm the only technical person, so anything I make has more impact, despite the fact that it's easier. Also, one knows how long it takes so I can set my own schedule. Finally, because of this I'm hard to replace. It helps that the IT department is barely functioning, which is why I'm able to fill this gap anyway. It also helps that being multidisciplinary is my biggest source of strength. I'm an okay programmer, I'm an okay psychologist (academically speaking - I've neve worked in the field but published a paper and finished a bachelor in it), and a few other disciplines like that. Here most of that comes together.
I don't work the amount of hours I should, but no one bats too much of an eye since I have already saved them +250K within the first 3 months of working there (not due to my talent, the IT department really isn't functioning there). It was a bit of a lucky homerun to be fair, but I make enough impact for a normal Dutch salary.
So while I am overqualified, it's in part because there are some natural advantages I have in the role of a data analyst as it is a really generalist role. And in the Netherlands, it pays about as well as a many SWE salaries (unless you work for Databricks or Optiver - to name 2 very different but both high paying companies).
I don't work the amount of hours I should, but no one bats too much of an eye since I have already saved them +250K within the first 3 months of working there (not due to my talent, the IT department really isn't functioning there). It was a bit of a lucky homerun to be fair, but I make enough impact for a normal Dutch salary.
So while I am overqualified, it's in part because there are some natural advantages I have in the role of a data analyst as it is a really generalist role. And in the Netherlands, it pays about as well as a many SWE salaries (unless you work for Databricks or Optiver - to name 2 very different but both high paying companies).
What would really make an impact would be to work towards making that IT dept. functional, efficient even. That's what a true leader would do, but you are clearly disincentivised from doing it since it would upend your cushy sitiation.
That’s a political job. I would need buy-in from many stakeholders and go against the company strategy of centralizing all business units to the global organization. I would effectively be fighting against the C-suite and the global organization.
You do it, if you want to make an impact. You’re only 9 months behind me and they are multinational.
I would also be up for doing it together. You would probably take a pay cut though since this organization doesn’t pay much. But hey, at least you will make an impact.
My email is in my profile.
You do it, if you want to make an impact. You’re only 9 months behind me and they are multinational.
I would also be up for doing it together. You would probably take a pay cut though since this organization doesn’t pay much. But hey, at least you will make an impact.
My email is in my profile.
This is the worst of my linked in feeds.
"If there were only more hours in the day we could work."
The problem really is:
"If there were only more hours in the day we could work."
The problem really is:
* Human malware.
* Managers introducing complexity where it shouldn't be.
* People wasting your time on issues that could really have been emails.
"Work expands to fill the available time"
This includes other people's time.
This includes other people's time.
> * Human malware
That's a funny / interesting concept to think about. I'm sure I could think of plenty of corporate examples.
Though it reminds of of Kurt Vonnegut's story about the car aliens, bringing the combustion engine to earth, not realising how dangerous ideas could be to humans. I think it may have been part of Slaughter House 5, but I can't remember now.
Or a bit more sci-fi / far fetched, the virus from Snow Crash.
That's a funny / interesting concept to think about. I'm sure I could think of plenty of corporate examples.
Though it reminds of of Kurt Vonnegut's story about the car aliens, bringing the combustion engine to earth, not realising how dangerous ideas could be to humans. I think it may have been part of Slaughter House 5, but I can't remember now.
Or a bit more sci-fi / far fetched, the virus from Snow Crash.
That's it, I have at least 4 hours / day free time but I don't feel any compulsion to fill it with anything important. This stress some people feel when they have downtime and aren't filling it with Something Productive is a fast track to burnout.
Have you stumbled on The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr[1][2]? It crystallises this idea well, divides energy into several different dimensions and tries to give you a framework to figure out which dimension is constraining you and how to expand your reservoir. Some of the practical advice is silly but I still find it very helpful. I go back to it often.
[1] https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68985.The_Power_of_Full_...
[1] https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68985.The_Power_of_Full_...
I often hear "The first hour is the rudder of the day."
In my case, it's "The first hour is the time during which my neurotransmitters are still mostly present."
I'd also expand energy to attention, or maybe even "mental space".
I notice that I'm able to think much more clearly when I don't fill my mind with random clutter. (i.e. when I make an effort to stay away from my phone for at least an hour.)
In my case, it's "The first hour is the time during which my neurotransmitters are still mostly present."
I'd also expand energy to attention, or maybe even "mental space".
I notice that I'm able to think much more clearly when I don't fill my mind with random clutter. (i.e. when I make an effort to stay away from my phone for at least an hour.)
Biologically, my typical morning is like waking the laptop to find it's at 1% battery and plugging it in to try and recharge, while a bunch of deferred windows updates come in.
By evening, everything has finally stabilised.
By evening, everything has finally stabilised.
Yeah I'm the same, I find I start being really productive in the afternoon / evening.
Unfortunately having kids is incompatible with this, so it's been flipped and I just struggle through the morning.
Unfortunately having kids is incompatible with this, so it's been flipped and I just struggle through the morning.
I have to be careful for the first hour or so of work - I get up at 6am and walk my dog for an hour and start work about 8:30 - by that point I am fairly heavily caffeinated (I am not a natural morning person) and I can be inclined to rant at people ;-)
For me, it's just the other way around. First hours are a time where I'm barely a functional human being. Working against one's chronotype is horrible, but good luck trying to explain to capitalism you're the nocturnal type.
I feel this a lot with music. I technically have a lot of time to do it, but usually I’m pretty mentally wiped out from work and it uses a lot of the same mental muscles as software engineering and managing other software engineers
This is why I’ve got albums worth of songs written and not recorded. Meanwhile AI prompters are pumping out full albums of music every few days and the general public thinks it is real. It’s a little depressing.
Another way to look at it is that we are attention constrained.
And there are a lot of systems out there that are designed specifically to steal that away from you.
And there are a lot of systems out there that are designed specifically to steal that away from you.
That is a good way to see it.
There is also the effect of "activation energy", we should decrease the effort it takes to start doing an activity we ought to be doing by manipulating our environment in its favor.
The opposite is also true, we can get rid of the activities by increasing the effort it takes to start doing it.
There is also the effect of "activation energy", we should decrease the effort it takes to start doing an activity we ought to be doing by manipulating our environment in its favor.
The opposite is also true, we can get rid of the activities by increasing the effort it takes to start doing it.
That’s how I’ve come to feel about video games. I don’t have a word for it other than to say it feels like video games are life-taking while creative work or manual labor are life-giving but still tiring.
Thank you for this comment. For my job, I am driving in my car anywhere from 4-6 hours a day. You could say I am just sitting there, why don’t I have energy to do anything else with my free time? I’ve recently begun to realize that while driving all that time, my brain is making thousands of subconscious decisions. I don’t have any study to back this up, but I think the brain only has so much capacity for decision making each day.
Many days, I end up zonking out for a 20-30 minute nap in the afternoon. It’s a visceral need to sleep right then. And then I can function at a better capacity for most of the rest of the day.
Many days, I end up zonking out for a 20-30 minute nap in the afternoon. It’s a visceral need to sleep right then. And then I can function at a better capacity for most of the rest of the day.
When I stopped working it took me around one year to stop self-sabotage and overcomplicating things. After then I finally started resolving technical and software problems the simplest way, straight to the point, consulting technical literature. It's impossible to achieve this among people motivated mostly by money and hierarchy.
try waking up 3-4 hours before work and do something else you want to do but requires more energy. It's hard to keep the habit in today society, but it can be done.
Typically you can do your work good enough with less energy, if you've worked in the same place long enough.
Typically you can do your work good enough with less energy, if you've worked in the same place long enough.
Wasting time is absolutely glorious. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't or shouldn't.
Or as Kurt Vonnegut put it "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different"
(That being said if Tik Tok is making you sad delete that shit right away. Wasting time is glorious but feeling depressed sucks.)
Or as Kurt Vonnegut put it "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different"
(That being said if Tik Tok is making you sad delete that shit right away. Wasting time is glorious but feeling depressed sucks.)
Time wasted with enjoyment is not time wasted.
Enjoyment is not a binary thing. Some "enjoyment" is very low-level, and instantly forgettable. But it's easy and frequently we're lazy. Getting up and doing something else frequently ends up be more enjoyable.
I suppose that article is written by someone who doesn't have:
- young kids
- chores to do
- a house/yard to maintain
- hackernews to read
?
- young kids
- chores to do
- a house/yard to maintain
- hackernews to read
?
It's theoretical Productivity Porn written by a student (check the about me page) who Wants To Be Remembered For Something.
> It's theoretical Productivity Porn written by a student (check the about me page) who Wants To Be Remembered For Something.
I wish I'd known that before I read tfa, and then the two-part essay on How to Choose a Life Partner. This guy writes well and all, and I'm sure he means well, but he's about 20 years old. I don't need life advice from someone so inevitably inexperienced.
I wish I'd known that before I read tfa, and then the two-part essay on How to Choose a Life Partner. This guy writes well and all, and I'm sure he means well, but he's about 20 years old. I don't need life advice from someone so inevitably inexperienced.
1. Does she have really cool hair?
2. Is she a fan of Sabrina Carpenter?
3. Does she go all the way by the second date?
2. Is she a fan of Sabrina Carpenter?
3. Does she go all the way by the second date?
Admittedly no. This was written back when I was a young teenager innocent to the complexities of the world :)
This should be the top comment :D
I'm not convinced I have enough energy to do 16 hours a day of stuff that I am proud of.
Recently I have been doing several projects with my car in the shop.
I wouldn't say I was proud of the many many hours spent sitting in the shop and by any metric or observer, doing exactly nothing. On the other hand these hours were essential to success and the work would have gone better and been done quicker if I had spent more hours sitting doing nothing in close proximity to the work. (some time was spent very low productivity cleaning or arranging project related things, most time was spent quite literally sitting and apprantly doing nothing)
I wouldn't say I was proud of the many many hours spent sitting in the shop and by any metric or observer, doing exactly nothing. On the other hand these hours were essential to success and the work would have gone better and been done quicker if I had spent more hours sitting doing nothing in close proximity to the work. (some time was spent very low productivity cleaning or arranging project related things, most time was spent quite literally sitting and apprantly doing nothing)
About 26 hours with my family, 6 hours of exercise, 10 hours cooking and house chores, and 10 hours playing games or something else relaxing.
It's not that hard to think about the things you want to prioritize and roughly schedule them, or to pick from that list of priorities depending on your energy/motivation levels at any given time.
It's not that hard to think about the things you want to prioritize and roughly schedule them, or to pick from that list of priorities depending on your energy/motivation levels at any given time.
The Factory must grow.
Sort of not getting the point of this? We have free time, we can split it into 10 minutes blocks, and I guess make good use of it?
So Arnold Schwarzenegger's book Be Useful (pretty fun to listen to the audiobook, of course 1/2 of the appeal is just the accent) also has this sort approach to time management. This seems like a potentially useful lens to see time cycles with, but it really seems to have value if you are fairly brutal with the application. After all, 10-minute blocks leave no time for screwing around! 20 minutes for boiled chicken! 30 minutes for a new language! 10 minutes responding to real estate investment offers!
Not how I choose to live my life, to be frank... And I def don't need hyper-optimization to avoid TikTok or Reels (Just never installed them and deleted accounts on some vampire platforms... That's all it took).
So Arnold Schwarzenegger's book Be Useful (pretty fun to listen to the audiobook, of course 1/2 of the appeal is just the accent) also has this sort approach to time management. This seems like a potentially useful lens to see time cycles with, but it really seems to have value if you are fairly brutal with the application. After all, 10-minute blocks leave no time for screwing around! 20 minutes for boiled chicken! 30 minutes for a new language! 10 minutes responding to real estate investment offers!
Not how I choose to live my life, to be frank... And I def don't need hyper-optimization to avoid TikTok or Reels (Just never installed them and deleted accounts on some vampire platforms... That's all it took).
> of course 1/2 of the appeal is just the accent
Deflating is the moment when Arnie's autobiography audio switches from his own voice to a random American-accent narrator. (After chapter 1 or so?)
I guess time-constrained celebrities are, or soon will be, using AI to read their books in full.
Deflating is the moment when Arnie's autobiography audio switches from his own voice to a random American-accent narrator. (After chapter 1 or so?)
I guess time-constrained celebrities are, or soon will be, using AI to read their books in full.
That's fair. It's helpful for me to break time into discrete 'blocks' because in my mind, it sets off more alarm bells to say "I wasted 4 blocks" rather than "I wasted 40 minutes". But otherwise, yeah. It's pretty standard "don't waste your time" advice when it comes down to it.
I have that almost, my schedule is mostly 10 AM to 3 PM, three days a week. It's worked well but sometimes I have trouble filling the time.
Feels written by someone youthfull and single.
Very, very true. I'm now in college and am trying my best to savor the days when I have such little responsibility.
For an article that claims to advocate making good use of your time… this feels like a waste of my time. It’s a lot of words to just end up at “carpe diem” and has big “thanks I’m cured” energy to boot.
Consider spending those 52(38) hours not worrying about scolding people about how they spend their own discretionary time.
Consider spending those 52(38) hours not worrying about scolding people about how they spend their own discretionary time.
That's a good point. When I wrote the article, I was thinking of the younger phone-addicted generation as my 'audience' and trying to convince them to spend time on doing meaningful things instead of just doom-scrolling on their phone. That's who I was writing for. My apologies if it came across as cliche.
>His greatest achievement was watching 7,000,000 Instagram Reels.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong about this.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong about this.
7000000 reels ÷ 50 years ÷ 365.25 (days/year) = ~383.3 reels / day
Each reel being a minute long would equal to 6 hours & 24 minutes of scrolling a day.
It would be close to the most depressing world record to ever exist.
Each reel being a minute long would equal to 6 hours & 24 minutes of scrolling a day.
It would be close to the most depressing world record to ever exist.
sometimes I have a month of free time and I just end up working anyway because I get bored.
Nothing planned. That's the point.
Am I the only one thinking this urge to optimize our time is just anxiety? I'd argue not spending time worried about time usage would make one use better its time.
I'm not referring to the article per se, but to this kind of articles in general.
On this article: why school is considered not discretionary time? Also commute and meals are somewhat discarded. While cooking, or helping, read a poem or a short story; while commuting, read a book, listed to some good music. This way, discretionary time becomes 100%.
I'm not referring to the article per se, but to this kind of articles in general.
On this article: why school is considered not discretionary time? Also commute and meals are somewhat discarded. While cooking, or helping, read a poem or a short story; while commuting, read a book, listed to some good music. This way, discretionary time becomes 100%.
We're raised to be productive little machines. There comes a point in most people's careers where they ask themselves "is this it?" We're in a crowd of relatively wealthy people who actually gets to act on those questions.
It's also hard to live in the moment and enjoy those times if you're always working towards something else. Recently I have taken to visiting random neighbourhoods with no plans and nothing on my schedule. I was ashamed to discover places I'd passed a hundred times, beautiful streets just one block away from the main arteries.
It's also hard to live in the moment and enjoy those times if you're always working towards something else. Recently I have taken to visiting random neighbourhoods with no plans and nothing on my schedule. I was ashamed to discover places I'd passed a hundred times, beautiful streets just one block away from the main arteries.
> why school is considered not discretionary time?
Because most schools are so underfunded that, in practice, they are prisons with a food quality to match instead of providers of an environment conductive to good learning outcomes. State obviously varies by country a bit, but it's painfully obvious that schools (and their precursors daycare and kindergarten) primarily serve to enable women to join the workforce.
Because most schools are so underfunded that, in practice, they are prisons with a food quality to match instead of providers of an environment conductive to good learning outcomes. State obviously varies by country a bit, but it's painfully obvious that schools (and their precursors daycare and kindergarten) primarily serve to enable women to join the workforce.
“I am single and don’t have kids”