Managing Your Time with Stoicism
Lately, I've been reading Seneca as part of my exploration of Stoicism. There's a lot of great things here and I recommend you check out the video and notes below.
Lately, I've been reading Seneca as part of my exploration of Stoicism. There are a lot of great things here and I recommend you check out the video and my notes below:
To live well we must be constant students of life
Seneca's essay "On the shortness of life" reminds us that time is a non-renewable resource
Treat time as a commodity, people guard their property but squander time
The amount of time we get is uncertain, you could die at 20 or 100
Death creeps up on time wasters
Make the most of time, it is an amplifier when used properly
Don't invest your time preparing for life
Seneca pushes us to live right now and not to delay happiness
Your typical life is to work till 60 and then wait to be happy
What usually happens is you're too old to enjoy life then and regret not making the most of life
Planning the big things in life but don't delay living it
Live life for your own self
Being busy with things we don't like is the greatest distraction of your life
We waste time at jobs we don't like, relationships we're not happy in, etc
Invest your time into making a life worth living
Practice Premeditatio Malorum
While you waste your time by procrastinating, life goes on
Researchers call the dissonance of "short-term gratification vs. long-term commitments" time inconsistency
To fight this, use Premeditatio Malorum which is a form of negative visualization
Think of what could go wrong with your long-term task and then make plans to achieve it. This will offset the distractions
Make long term rewards immediate
The need to procrastinate is the most powerful RIGHT at the start of work
When rewards are years away (i.e. diploma, career, etc.), you tend to procrastinate
To overcome, you must bundle a reward at the start of the task
You can eat a piece of cheesecake when you lose 10lbs or give yourself time to browse the web once you finished that pesky spreadsheet task
Make the most of your free time
Too often we waste our free time with stupid stuff. Gossiping, drinking at the bar, etc
There's plenty of time to do everything we want if we just stop wasting our free time
We work hard to earn money and free time, so why waste that precious free time
Use your lunch hour to explore the city, write in a journal, play an instrument, reading, etc.
To beat mediocrity and start living your life, make the most of your free time
Spend time reflecting on your past
Present time is transitory (it's moving), the Future is uncertain, and the past is unalterable
Seneca says to pay attention to the past, so you can be effective today
Personal note: Journaling is a wonderful way of capturing the past
Stop wasting time in life's trivialities
We are all guilty of wasting our time on trivialities (Social Media)
Social Media sucks your time away
When you're happy you fill your time with activities that are valuable and meaningful to the vision you want of your life
Invest your time in creating new memories
While you preoccupy your time with trivialities, death approaches that you can't escape
Invest your time into creating new memories and philosophies
Memory is more enduring than grief (Ed. Very true. I call it Adventuring)
Memories may be fleeting but they deliver more happiness than anything else
Do yourself a favor and take on challenges and adventures, learn to play music, travel, etc
Invest your time in philosophies
The Study of Philosophy is the most invaluable teacher
Study as much of philosophy (current, past, etc.) as you can because it will help you in your life
Your life will expand and your wisdom will grow
A Philosopher is a lover of wisdom: truth, virtue, life, and death