The Reality of the Unrealistic

The Productive Free Time

Today I took the time to reevaluate how I'm spending my free time. I was so set on getting as much done in a day as I could that i very quickly ran out of fuel to continue the rest of the day like that. In order to get things done i did my research and found this method which a lot of people use. You spend 25 minutes doing something you need to and then take a 5 minute break. This process did not work for me. I found the 25 minutes was just not a lot of time and by the time the minutes were up i had just gotten into the groove of things. So i tried 45 minutes of work and the 15 minutes off. This worked a lot better as it gave me enough time to get into a groove and the 15 minute break gave my brain enough time to relax and be ready to go again.

Now, don't do what i did with that information. I spent every day with every second planned out. I would study for 4 hours with this method and then continue it with chores until I had to go to bed. This slowly made the method harder every day. This is when i came up with a new idea.

I took one day out of my week as my do nothing day. That meant i had no obligations to complete anything, i didnt need to be anywhere, and i didnt set any expectations of myself. This helped a lot. Mostly with my mental health as a day to recharge after doing so much all week. This worked for a month and then i started to crash.

It all seemed like a great way to do things. Don't get me wrong, i did accomplish a lot of things that i didnt think i even had time for but i forgot something very important. You cant go 6 days out of the week completing tasks left and right nonstop and not expect to crash. This is when i learnt the value of taking time for yourself every day.

As i started reworking how i would get things done I realized i had to work in at least one hour a day as time to myself. I could put it in between completely different tasks or i could save it for the end of my day when my motivation was at its lowest, which i found ideal.

It's important to remember the importance of self care. As much as we would all love to do everything we need to in a day, its not good long term. I understand if you think you don't have time for it. I am a full time university student who works 2 jobs and still tries to have a social life and time to myself. I understand how unrealistic all these typical day to day things that people say they do can be. Those people with morning routines, who workout every day, who have their ideal healthy life figured out and you cant seem to figure out how they do it.

I'm creating this book as a way for me to share all the research i have done on as many life topics as possible. I will share what does and doesn't work for someone who doesn't have time for crazy unrealistic things. Though these topics may not apply to everyone and some of these may not work for everyone, i hope it can give you a different perspective.

This is the reality of the unrealistic.