Heyaa
Did you know we have only about four thousand weeks of life? I didnāt. I didn't realise that until it was pointed out in the book Four Thousand Weeks.
Four Thousand Weeks is a book on time management by Oliver Burkeman. Itās only on time management; and not on productivity or getting things done. In fact, it preaches getting fewer things done. Not literally, but Iāll say so.
It doesn't give you any hope. Instead, it calls out your indisciplined lifestyle, your flaws and your limits. Something that you probably already know but havenāt realised.
And the book inspired me to drop my side projects.
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OK, back to my storyā¦
You know, I dabble in multiple projects just to keep myself fresh.
I lose my focus every 10-15 minutes. And itās not even the random pings and trings. Iāve turned off all the notifications.
Itās not that I check social media every time my focus is knocked off. I would pick a different project in process and work on that. So, I have a whole lot of āhobbiesā going on. Only a few minutes ago, I wanted to buy an acrylic paint set. Resisted the urge.
Itās possible that Iām, as the book points out, seeking comfort from confronting the discomfort.
True in my case, I guess.
So, itās time to upgrade life. Upgrade me. And focus on only the important things.
Donāt worry. Not stopping this newsletter or my book blog for now.
Amidst the slow and rather routine client work, these two keep me alive. But everything else has to go.Ā
The blog has been the only personal project in the last 5-6 years that has managed to keep me interested for monthsā¦ 10 long months. And this newsletter has been regular for 5 months.
I started the blog in July of last year. And you know how many articles I have published so far? Over 180; mostly around 500-700 words. Except for a few, I cut most long articles into multiple short pieces.
Now that Iāve published a good number of pieces, itās time to pause, inspect and update.
Will focus on it. Will avoid āseeking reliefā in twenty different things. Will drop my bouquet of side projects and work only on the newsletter and blog, apart from client projects (of course).
Will try to live (not leave) the discomfort of routine.
As Oliver mentioned in Four Thousand Weeks:
āThe way to find peaceful absorption in a difficult project [...] isn't to chase feelings of peace or absorption, but to acknowledge the inevitability of discomfort.ā
It might be boring to focus on one thing. Itās quite straining even thinking about it.
But Iāll give it a try. Maybe Iāll have some visible progress earlier than usual.
After all, you only have about four thousand weeks to live. And you canāt do all that you want.
Thatās all for today.
Bidding adieu.
Live long and prosper.
See you next week, with another story.