Things that get in the way of efficient use of your time.

Photo © by Mark Cartwright, Text added by Patrick Clark.
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Before I moved in to my current supported living residence, which is actually great in terms of the physical and emotional supports, I took something for granted. When I was living on my own I didn't acknowledge or really appreciate what a grand gift large blocks of uninterrupted time were. Enough time and quiet environment to fully indulge in whatever activity the creative mind was drawn to.

Now my day is segmented into relatively short blocks, at the most three hours long. What a difference those divisions make especially when you're researching something or problem-solving. Which is in my book the number one thing that can get in the way of productive use of your time. So if you have such an asset, don't squander it. Rather appreciate just how powerful such a serene environment can be. Every once in a while, usually by accident I get a larger than normal block of time and it definitely brings back memories of sitting at my desk building a project at four in the morning. I may have started it in the early evening but I knew then that I could just go fulltilt at whatever my goal was. That knowledge was liberating.

The second thing that can get in your way is having too much on your mind. To be truly creative and "in the zone" one has to be able to let go of the other aspects of their life for a while. As much as I would love to be able to do 10 things at once, in order to be effective and produce quality results I must not try to do everything. So number three on the list is that you have to choose your goals and commitments carefully. If you try to do everything, nothing will get done, and most definitely not to a good standard even if you manage to succeed in all your undertakings. This is probably going to be a new lesson for the next generation as well. Nothing can replace the investment of time, mind and energy. So recognizing that fact, in itself, can free up more of your creative mind.

As one gets older, you realize that your time is not infinite so that anything you apply time and investment to needs to be of real value, either to you or the society at large. You must get something out of it. I watched a brief video in which Neil DeGrasse Tyson was being interviewed about his early educational experiences and although some might consider him a polymath it was very clear that he made choices and considered the weight of each with respect to his ultimate goals.

This does not mean you have to miss an opportunity. But what it does indicate is that you must have each opportunity in acceptable proportions in your life. You can't do it all, but you can definitely sample and decide how much of your finite energy and effort you want to apply to that particular aspect of experience.

Getting to know a little bit about your own personal psychology is also very useful. Many people never take the time to really look at their own personality and the way they actually deal with themselves. In North America, at least the society tends to be very reactive or very introspective. The extreme in either direction is not useful ultimately, you need both to anchor each other. One of the best things I ever did was take a year-long cognitive therapy course in which the group met once a week. Just learning to pay attention to oneself and what is going on within you and the external environment. Taking that perspective and bouncing it off others tends to give one a far greater understanding of society and humanity in general. This cannot be overstated and developing this awareness is one of the most powerful and rewarding tools you can ever undertake to learn.

I find it rather amazing that the educational system does not have this built into every child's curriculum at some point. If you take one thing away from this short article this last paragraph about cognitive therapy, outward and inward perspectives is the most important in making an efficient use of your time and life. Because it will allow you to identify ultimately the inefficiencies and things in your way which you might not have otherwise understood or seen.

Take care Patrick