"If you genuinely want something, don't wait for it--teach yourself to be impatient."
--Gurbaksh Chahal
I took a break...a rather long break from writing this blog, because it seemed like there wasn't anything else to post on, and I was seeing all my students regularly enough that I didn't need to blog anymore.
Fast forward 2 years.
Suddenly, the world is different with COVID-19. I'm not seeing students in person, so the need is here to get this going again. I'm also quickly learning how to do presentations on video and zoom conferences with students--because that's what is needed. And that brings me to this:
Maybe this is an odd time to post this, but I think it's very easy to let this "stay at home" time become "sit on the couch and binge watch" time. We're now in our third week of staying home, and I'm just wondering...what are our days looking like? Am I getting through a season of my new favorite show each day, or am I taking the time to pursue something that's always been there, but I never had time for? Now--before I say anything else--I need to add that this may not be everyone reality. Many people are working harder during this time than ever before. Many people are sacrificing to keep us healthy and safe. I am so grateful for them! And our part in this is staying at home to help slow down the pace--and I'm guessing many of you are too, which brings me to this: I have MORE TIME NOW than I have ever had before or ever will have again. And I'm guessing if it's true for me, it's true for others.
Yes, I still have to work.
Yes, I still have three kiddos that I need to take care of, and love, and teach (teaching way more than I ever though I'd be doing!!)
Yes, I still have laundry and dishes and cooking and cleaning
Yes, I still have all of that...
BUT...
compared to "normal" life, I still have more "free" time than ever before!
And so yes--I might binge-watch for a few hours--but I listened to a podcast that has drastically changed my approach from week one to week week three of this stay-at-home phase (and I hope it keeps changing). It's this Rich Roll + Cal Newport podcast with counter-culture, thought-provoking questions about how we spend our time. Especially when I'm home and the urge to check "coronavirus updates" every hour can be overwhelming, this has really caused me to re-think my habits. I've put the tablets that have netflix on a bookshelf that can only be "checked out" for an hour each day (that check out limit is more for me than anyone else!!) I've actually started to turn off my phone for most of the day, because I'm realizing it's sucking time and energy from me. I simply don't need to check it all the time. What starts as a "1 minute check" inevitably turned into 20 minutes of scrolling through all the websites. Repeat this every hour for the 14 hours I'm awake, and that is about 4 and 1/2 hours. That's a lot of time! And if that happens everyday, that's 32 hours in one week...more than 1 whole day per week, completely lost!!! Over the long-term, that's a HUGE chunk of time lost. OR, if used correctly, that's a HUGE chunk of time to be gained. Hence, my new attempts to just keep the phone off for part of each day. So, I'm thinking that because I love this new way of thinking, I'd be remiss to not share it with others. If you are already somewhat of a dilital minimilist...props to you. For the rest of you, I'm in the trenches with you!
So, here it is--a paradigm shift of a podcast--and I hope you are able to listen to it and start asking these awesome questions of, "How am I using time? How am I using my phone? Am I being intentional about my choices?", and so many other questions that are worth asking during this time, and every other time!
