Taking time to enjoy the now
Posted on June 24, 2011 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Life Design
Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog.
Life can turn into a flurry of scheduled events and task lists. It is easy to slip into a cycle of do-do-do and go-go-go.
But no one dies with an empty inbox.
One of the things about my personal philosophy about being productive is that I want to have time to be a human being, and not a human doing.
I recently had the opportunity to have a technology-free weekend. We were going camping, and normally that means I pack the netbook so that I can get some writing done. But after a hellish week of early morning and late nights working, I decided to leave the computer at home. Instead, I packed a notebook that I could write in.
I didn’t use it.
I spent the weekend talking to people. I sat and listened to the birds. I read a book that presented no challenge to my brain at all, but was immensely entertaining.
By backing away from my normal activities, I was able to fully appreciate where I was, and what I was doing.
There’s a lesson there for my life. I need to have daily times when I am not doing, but just being.
Photo by rambla
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Comments (2)
Did you have a hard time settling in to a technologically disconnected mindset? I’m so used to being constantly plugged in that I feel lonely and non-productive when I’m not. It’s very difficult for me to just relax. It seems lazy and generally makes me want to sleep. Did you experience this?
I didn’t experience it this time — mainly because I was fried from technology (several 14 hour days programming in a row). That being said, though, YES! I do feel this way when I do a technology free day!
There was an official tech-free day a few years ago, and I challenged my co-workers to do it. Most said no, but one said there was no way he could go 24 hours without something techy. It pointed me to look at the problem in my life.
I have a hard time not doing something “productive”. What I am trying to learn is that those down times are essential to my creativity and happiness, and going without them comes with a price.
If I work-work-work and then burn out so that I can’t write for three months, what is the cost to me? So I have to keep a balance so that I can keep being productive without being crisped.
About wanting to sleep…when I read that the first thing I thought is “Maybe she needs to sleep more?” If I get sleepy on a non-tech time, I will nap, as I did during the camping weekend. I spent the better part of one afternoon dozing in the camper with the dog and cat snuggled up to me. It was heaven!