Achieving Simplicity

Photo by Trinity.

Today I removed the StumbleUpon toolbar from my computer. I shouldn’t even say that I removed it – I simply disabled it. Not that removal of a free firefox add-on is any more permanent than simply disabling it – but still I couldn’t bring myself to uninstall.

It’s the first step in an effort to remove time drains from my life.

I know, it seems like it’s not much of a step, but being that I was probably spending an hour (or more) a day clicking through random sites, it should actually free up quite a bit of time for better pursuits.

I’ve been frightened by the amount of times over the past two hours that I’ve found myself trying to click the stumble button that is no longer there.

Of course, there were some benefits to having the toolbar installed. I found some interesting sites that I might otherwise never have come across. Okay, that’s really the only benefit that comes to mind at the moment. I found that it fed my short attention span. Find something interesting? Bookmark it and come back later, then press the button and move on to something else.

I’m sure that it can be a powerful tool when used correctly or, at least, in moderation. It’s probably a great way to drive traffic to your site if enough of your readers use it and recommend you.

I, however, will be testing my willpower and seeing if I can leave it disabled and not look for a replacement way to mindless surf the web.

This whole thing has me thinking about how much time I could free up if I removed other sources of distraction from my life.

TV

I probably spend three hour a day watching tv. Granted, this is usually background noise to some other pursuit, but I’m sure most of these other pursuits could be finished more efficiently if tv was not involved. I do not need to be watching Simpsons reruns while playing with my son, writing emails or working.

I do think that background noise is justified for some pursuits – mainly when working on craft projects. Of course, once again, I could think of better background noise such as music or perhaps even conversations with friends.

Video Games

Are usually used as a treat after a long week at work, but sometimes (lately) they’ve been getting too much attention. I always think I’ll sit down to play for just a few minutes, but then I find that the hours have gone by and I have nothing to show for it. I can’t really justify this at all, except that everyone needs some down time, but there are many better ways to relax.

Online Poker

Perhaps this is just an extension of video games, being that it’s merely a recreational pursuit for me. But at some point I need to come to terms with the fact that I’m not very good. I doubt that I’d ever feel comfortable wagering large sums of money on this, thus would never really be able to make large profits.

Flickr

It’s so easy to get caught up looking through other people’s photos. Especially when you look at the most interesting photos… but it’s not productive in any manner. I used to be able to justify this when I was a wedding photographer, but now that I’m no longer actively pursuing that, Flickr has become one more drain on my time.

Those are the biggest drains on my time at the moment. I think I’ll whittle away at them one at a time.

Photo by michaelnewport

I think that my husband and I have a pretty clear idea of what we want out of life. We both would like to end up on the West Coast (when California house prices are in our price range). He wants to run his own business, which I think will end up being rather time intensive, and I would like to… and this is where I get lost.

Four years out of college, I’ve started a job that’s a career, though I’m not always sure that it’s a perfect fit. Our relationship is good, but we don’t have much time for each other, which sometimes is a point of contention. Our son, while seemingly a happy and well-adjusted kid, could use more attention and less tv.

In other words, there’s room for improvement. So here is the list of questions I try to answer whenever I’m trying to take stock of where I’m at compared to where I’d like to be.

Career

This is often the first thing that comes to mind when trying to assess my current life status. I’m not saying that this is the most important thing, but it is often the easiest to assess.

Am I happy with my job?
Is it a job or is it a career?
Where do I want this to go – where’s the room for advancement?
Do I want to advance?
Am I happy with the time vs the compensation?
Am I making too many sacrifices in other areas of my life to maintain this career?
If this is the right fit, what else would I rather be doing?

Relationships

Am I spending enough time with the people that I care about?
Am I giving my spouse and children the attention that they need and deserve?
Are there any issues that need to be discussed that may have been being avoided?
Do I have enough time for socializing with friends?
Am I remembering to be grateful for the people in my life?

Goals

Are my goals still relevant to me?
Have I made any progress lately on my list of goals?
If I want to make changes to the list, do I have a good reason?
Am I trying to complete too many things at one time – should my progress be more focused?

Like I said, these are just questions that I go through when trying to take stock of where I am at. This is no way a comprehensive list.

Photo by S.F. Boegeman

Why 1000? It’s a nice round number and it runs in my mind that in high school every paper that we had to write had a 1000 word minimum. But you could really pick any number that you wanted.

1. Set a side time to write.

Maybe it’s in the morning before the kids are up or your first class in the morning. But set aside a half hour for yourself to put your ideas on paper (or the internet, as the case may be). Make the time a priority. Of course, there are always things that can come up that interrupt your time, so be prepared to be flexible. This is easier to do if your time is scheduled for the beginning of the day, but don’t use procrastination as a crutch. Sit down, write, and then move on with your day. Don’t wait until it’s so late in the evening that you’re trying and you start saying “I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

2. Remove distractions.

It’s always nice to have other sources of media to help inspire topics, but once you sit down to write, find some place quiet. Turn off the tv. I even turn off my wireless internet connection to remove the temptation of websurfing while I’m trying to get an article done. If it’s too hard to work at home, head to the library or a coffee shop (although this is not an easy solution for every day if you have kids).

3. Have your ideas ready.

If you’re trying to write a daily article, have your topic prepared in advance. A lot of time can be wasted trying to come up with an idea. Have a notebook at hand at all times during the day so you can come up with topics whenever inspiration strikes you. Try to have several future topics prepared. This will give you the opportunity to pick a topic that strikes you as particularly interesting for the day.

4. Be excited about your topic.

If you’re trying to write for a blog, then try to determine your motivation for blogging. Are you trying to add value to your audience’s life? Are you trying to make money? Are you trying to preserve every moment of your life for some future audience who will find your life experiences worth reading about? If you can’t answer the question of why you’re doing this, then you might want to take a step back and determine your motivation.

5. Write about topics you understand.

If you have a topic that you are determined to write about, make sure you know enough about the topic. If you don’t know enough about the topic but have decided that you’re going to write an article about it anyways, do some research. Nothing is more upsetting than an article with very little substance or incorrect information. Spending a little time prepping by doing the research prior to starting can save you a lot of time later when it comes time to sit down and write.

Trying to do the research and the writing has two major problems. 1. Articles tend to be poorly organized. Information is added as it is discovered and this tends to lead to piecemeal writing. 2. Once you’ve opened your web browser to find information, it’s incredibly easy to get sucked in to something else. It’s easy to click on the stumble button or check your email one more time or check on the latest market movements. Avoid this temptation by being done with the research beforehand.

6. Have a goal.

Whether you have a daily word goal or a weekly/monthly article goal, accept that it might not always happen. If your goal is for X number of words, realize that not every topic needs that many words. Rambling to add content will not get you anyway. Stop when you’ve run out of well thought out things to say.

7. Avoid burnout.

Do you have some extra time on the weekend where you can get ahead for the week? Then use it! Get ahead on articles for the week. Plan out topics, make an outline if that’s all your want to do. Working ahead of schedule can bring on a great sense of satisfaction that can continue to motivate you. And if staying on top of your blog doesn’t help then…

8. Take breaks.

Find people that can guest post for your blog. This can be useful for networking if you’re an established blogger. Or it may be a chance for you to help launch a blog for an eager new blogger. Either way, finding a guest poster or two can give you a much needed break while keeping your blog current.

Photo by Joan Puigcerver

Negative habits tend to be easy to pick up. It’s easy to be a little too lazy… it’s easy to eat one extra piece of candy… it’s easy to become addicted to caffeine. So I’ve put together the following list of useful habits that I’d like to work on. In and of themselves, none of these are extremely difficult, but all together I think that they will put me on the path to where I want to be.

Morning Habits
1. Get up when the alarm goes off
2. To start setting the alarm at 5am
3. Eat a healthy breakfast
4. Pack a healthy lunch
5. Take more of an interest in my appearance
6. Allow some time so that my son is not rushed getting ready in the morning
7. Exercise
8. Getting blogging done for the day

Work Habits
9. Don’t waste time on the internet (note to self: you don’t get enough email to justify getting every hour and you don’t manage the investments so checking yahoo finance is not a good use of time)
10. Stop calculating the hours until I can go home for the day. This is counterproductive
11. Get projects done
12. Learn to accept constructive criticism and ignore the rest
13. Really think about the task at hand and whether or not there is room for improvement either long term or short term
14. Keep better track of my time so that at the end of the month when billable hours are due it doesn’t take me an hour to calculate the totals
15. Answer emails promptly
16. If a task is given without a deadline, find out what the deadline is

Healthy Habits
17. Exercise 5 days a week
18. Take the kids for a walk when the weather is nice
19. Remember to take vitamin daily
20. Stop eating takeout for dinner
21. Meditate daily
22. Take up the practice of yoga
23. Set clear fitness goals in order to keep focused
24. Floss teeth daily

Parenting Habits
25. Listen better
26. Stop saying “I don’t know” when I really mean “I don’t understand what you’re saying”
27. Achieve some reasonable level of patience
28. Stop yelling
29. Take more time to find activities that we can do together
30. Stop using tv as a babysitter

Productivity Habits
31. Put pocket calendar to better use
32. Stop wasting time on the internet (even if it means uninstalling the stumble toolbar)
33. Be more selective about blogs to read
34. Schedule worktime better
35. Learn to set reasonable timetables
36. Use the laptop less. Pretend that it’s a desktop (for the most part).
37. Stop multitasking.