Heyaa,
Have I talked about Four Thousand Weeks enough already? It was a spine-tingling read after a long time. Its premise is that you have around four thousand weeks of life, and you can never get everything done. The current perspective on time management is flawed.
I guess I have. So, if you want a glimpse into the book, hereās my review and a few lessons from Four Thousand Weeks book.
Now, today I want to share something I read by its author, Oliver Burkeman, in his newsletter:
A notion I keep encountering is how easy it is for habits that help you function well [...] to turn into things you tell yourself you need in order to function well.
Confused?
Hereā¦ an example Iām rephrasing from the newsletter:
You believe (or know) you do your best work early in the morning. But there is a problem with that ābelief.ā
If, just in case, someday, it happens to be 1.30 PM before you really have a chance to focus, youāre less likely to take advantage of that time. Why? Well, itās not the early morning anymore. And you feel you canāt do your best work now.
Sounds familiar?
Well, for me, it is. I have been in such situations sooooooooo many times. Not the exact one but a variation of it.
You may have been too.
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OK, back to my storyā¦
One such situation is that āI am a morning person. My most productive hours are early in the morning.ā
Anotherā¦ āI need to sit at my desk to give my best performance.ā
And one more: āI am a tea/coffee person. Without my morning routine, I canāt work properly.ā
Familiar?
Now, if those ābeliefsā serve you wellā¦ thatās great! But if theyāre restricting you in your work, you need to rethink.
Not overthink. Re-think. Think what you believe about yourselves is actually you, or you picked that belief over time because of some routine.
Routines can be dangerous; they make you fragile. This YouTube video explains why.
Until 2020, I believed I was a morning person. If I woke up at 4-5 AM and did my work, greatā¦ else, I was grumpy the whole day.
Now? Iām no longer that (early) morning person. Although I still canāt work properly during the day, some of my most productive hours are from 6 to 10 PM.
What changed?
Two incidents. They made me change my habit.
Firstā¦ After dislocating my knee in 2020, I needed help with my daily chores. I still do. And it didn't make sense to wake up at 5 if no one was awake by then. So, I stopped waking up that early.
Another is a problem with my facial nerves. Iāve been taking medications for the last 10-12 years. But for the last 2 years, Iāve been on 4x the earlier dose. And it has affected my routine.
The meds keep me sedated, and I usually spend 10-12 hours of my 24 hoursā¦ sleeping. If not sleepingā¦ sleepy, the entire day.
What to do then?
You stay awake until late to play catch up with deadlines. I did the same. Earlier, I used to sleep by 10 PM. Now, the counter moved up to 12.
Things started changing. The morning rooster became a night owl. Just like that.
So, think about what you say āI am.ā Maybe you not are that. Itās just the situation that made you so.
Once you get above these self-inflicted āidentities,ā you can do a lot more than what you think you can (or cannot) do.
I have gradually optimized my schedule to get the most done during my limited hours of attention during the day.
Now, I sleep around 10-11 PMā¦ and wake up around 6-7 AM. Get some work done before the mid-day drowsiness takes over, and leave the rest for the evening.
And you know, things are working fine even if I am no longer a āmorning person.ā
Also, now Iām working comfortably from bed. All the things I need are by my hand. Earlier, I āhad toā work from my desk to be at my best. When working from bed, I felt like sleeping.
OK, thatās all my jibber jabber.
There were so many ābeliefs,ā I thought were an identity of mine. It feels like your thoughts matterā¦ a lot more than you think of.
PSā¦ Hereās the newsletter I mentioned earlier above.Ā
And that was all for today.
Bidding adieu.
Live long and prosper.
See you next week, with another story.