Seneca said, “Life is long enough to do everything you want, just not all at once.”
I have kept this in mind over the last decade and aggressively eliminated demands on my time by:
- deferment i.e. children, much to the disappointment of friends and family
- outsourcing i.e. maids, personal assistant, and services.
That said, I must reach a new level of focus. My goals are ambitious. I must dedicate every scrap of energy towards them to maximize my odds of success.
The primary constraint is my body. It tends to break down if I combine 10-12 hours of work at a computer with sedentary leisure.
Overall, I will re-commit to maintaining a fixed window for leisure of 2.25 hours M-F, 6 hours Saturday, and 12 hours on Sunday.
Generally, my goal leisure is to accomplish the following:
- increase activity (standing, moving, speaking)
- decrease screen time/sitting
- double up with relationship building
- expand my social circle
So, here are my plans to modulate existing activities:
- Video Games
- Experiment for 2024: replace completely (after completing current Baldur’s Gate campaign with my wife and brother) with:
- Facetime/calls + walking
- Board games
- Thoughts: I love video games, I enjoy the novelty, and I’ve learned a great deal about investment, compounding, strategy, and uncertainty management from games like Age of Empires and Starcraft, especially when I was age 9-12. Today, its a nice way to connect with friends and family over long distance but the problem is screen time. I already sit enough as it is.
- Board Games
- Experiment for 2024: move all TTRPG to a third party GM, for no longer than 2 hours / week (one session). Starting with a social night out with friends at a pub like Vigilante. Trigger on completion of Frosthaven campaign with wife.
- Thoughts: I like to write fiction and make games. I had replaced video games with board games and TTRPGs as they were both social and physically involved i.e. role play. However, they require wasted time to setup and prepare.
- Consuming Fiction
- Continue to combine with walks or sauna time via audio book.
- Shows and television
- Experiment for 2024: All television will be bundled with pre-hab. I may walk or use the elliptical while watching. Or use trigger point therapy.
- Thoughts: watching good stories is enjoyable and mind expanding if the characters are powerful and active. But sitting is dieing. I may as well make my body supple while I do it or get steps in.
- Singing/Music
- Continue to defer singing practice and/or combine as a social outing i.e. Karaoke
- Thoughts: I like to sing, I have a talent for it despite never being trained or formalizing practice. I also enjoy writing the occasional song — I find it cathartic.
At the conclusion of these experiments I expect to begin building a social outreach campaign comprised of public meetups, or perhaps leisure activities where high performers tend to congregate such as golf — we shall see.