Topic: Time Management

For a long time, I felt like a slave. I’ve enslaved myself with my own startup. I’ve enslaved myself by being funded by outside investors, not customers.

I’ve enslaved myself by saying yes to things I should have said no to. I’ve enslaved myself by not valuing my time.

I don’t want to feel enslaved. I want freedom. That’s why I chose to be my own boss. And that’s why I’m a value investor and blogger today.

We protect our possessions with doors and locks, yet hand out chunks of our time left and right.

Would we do the same with our cash? Hell no.

So why do we do it with the most valuable thing in the world?

Being in charge of my own time is the greatest luxury I can think of:

I have no employees.

I have no meetings.

I can do whatever the hell I want.

Our default mode is “being busy”. We run around like chicken with our heads cut off. But we never ask why. What’s the point?

Busy is not good. Busy is the opposite of good. Busy is being a slave.

What happened to taking an afternoon off, without anyone noticing?

What happened to taking a week off, just like that?

What happened to taking a three-month trip, without things falling apart?

Recently, I took two weeks off, and nobody noticed. I just played video games and did nothing. What a luxury.

It’s time to refocus on what is truly important.

Having a full calendar is not something to be proud of. Having an empty one is.

Being the single person performing a critical task is not bravery. Automating the task with software is.

To consume is not the highest virtue. To invest is.

Let nature be our role model:

Be the cat that is relaxing all day.

Be the tree that doesn’t produce any fruit in the winter.

Stop being a slave, and start living.

In a few days, a new decade will start. Take charge, and make the most of it.

Maybe, just maybe, it might be your last one.

Ever since reading The 4-Hour Workweek a decade ago I started applying the Low-Information Diet and stopped following the news: no newspapers, no news websites, no news on TV.

The principle is simple:

Quit the news. If it’s important enough you will hear about it from the people around you. In most cases, you won’t hear and miss anything.

This sometimes leads to awkward social situations: Have you heard of the recent oil spill? Nope. The recent terrorist attack? Nope. Did you see what Trump did yesterday? Nope. Did you know that there is a new hot-dog eating champion? Nope.

My attention is the most important resource I have. I’m not going to waste it. For many years, I have done just that. I have read the local newspaper – of the free and low-quality kind – every day. I was a subscriber of periodicals and had stacks of them. I couldn’t keep up. It was a total waste.

Then one day, I quit. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

Today, I’m still far away from a true low-information diet. I’m consuming huge amounts of information. The challenge is to invest my attention as well as possible. I’m approaching it as an investor and capital allocator. Where are great investment opportunities? What is the return on investment?

That’s why I love books and podcast. They offer a great return for me. I also love writing. It improves my thinking.

Occasionally, I have a weak moment and click on a link that leads to a news site. These days, most of them have paywalls, which makes my life easier. Whenever I hit the wall, I close the tab. Done. Thank you dear news site, you have just saved me from another temptation.

To summarize:

Your attention is the most important resource you have.It’s more important than wealth and fame. It’s even more important than time, because it’s depleted faster than the number of hours in a day. You may only have 3 or 4 hours of high-quality attention per day. Invest it wisely!

Tag: Time Management

If you're not in charge of your own time, you are a slave

Stop wasting your attention