Autumn is here, which means schoolwork, yard work, normal work, and carrying around more insulation on a daily basis. Moreover, the dead and dying plants all are a constant reminder that my time in the universe is limited. Life goes on, but I won't. Procrastinating joy is not an option.
This has a few implications.
My primary problem, simply put, is that I waste too much time on trivial matters. Recreation is fine, so long as it doesn't get in the way of what you really want to do. Being honest with myself, it does.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be following my friend Amelia in a social media purge (though I don't expect mine to be nearly as drastic). A lot of Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and tumblr blogs are going to left by the wayside. It's really quite horrifying when I realize I've spent the last ten minutes scrolling past posts that don't interest me whatsoever.
Removing that distraction set can make way for more productive forms of entertainment. I'd gotten out of reading habit at college. My plan was to fix that this summer; the pile of books lies almost untouched. I'm finally starting to pick them up again, and we'll see how far I get before the end of the year. What I can say already: this is a much better use for mindspace.
Speaking of which, I also need to make academics--particularly my science, mathematics, and engineering coursework--a greater part of my everyday thought process. To put it differently: my career is a System 2 matter, when it should be System 1. (Thinking, Fast and Slow is near the top of the reading list.) Doing my homework is the simplest way to improve on this, but not the only one.
Khan Academy and Codecademy, among others, are wonderful resources that, despite great enthusiasm, I've largely neglected. I'll be making greater use of them in the future, partially as an alternative to social media, and partially for their own sake. Additionally, I'm going to start practicing engineering problems for their own sake. You'll be seeing that appear on this blog.
This space will also feature more insightful political and economic discussion. My friend Chas recently showed me CGP Grey's video Humans Need Not Apply. It has...had an effect on me. I'll be talking about the implications of large scale automation for the next several weeks, at least.
(More mundane changes to this blog: I'm looking for a new theme,
Last but not least, I'm devoting slightly more thought and action towards my own health. My diet is a bit subpar, which I've already done a bit to improve. My sleep schedule is a great deal worse, but will improve drastically if I cut out the social media (especially on the nights when I get home late from work or school).
Let's see how well this works out.
