No rest for the wicked?

It was Labor Day this past weekend, and after a hectic week at work, in which it was the first week of the Fall semester, the respite of a three-day weekend came at precisely the right time. I had plans to do my normal two-day weekend routine on Saturday and Sunday, and then come Monday, the goal was to do absolutely nothing, and just chill.

Well, Monday rolled around, and along with it the difficulty: I actually couldn’t make myself to not do anything! That morning, by the time the second consecutive Youtube video rolled around, I already had pangs of regret in wasting time and not being productive. On Labor Day, the day where I am suppose to relax and be lazy - and super fortunate to be in a position to do so, I have trouble in execution. What happened to the guy who could simply binge-watch a string of television seasons, like any other normal person?

He’s no longer here.

After watching the second video, I was too uncomfortable with the notion that I’m going to be doing that for the rest of the day. So, even though it’s technically a holiday, I returned to my daily routine, albeit in less of a time crunch since I didn’t have work: study Korean for an hour, read a book for an hour, and write a piece for this very website. It wasn’t until I’ve finished all three items that I felt at ease with watching car-related stuff on Youtube for the rest of the day.

The inability to just chill: is it a bad thing? Is there some latent anxiety or depression that I’m using constant productivity to avoid confronting? I really don’t know. The clock never stops on the action long enough for me to invade my own mind and find out the answer; I’d get antsy and pick up the book again, or write some more; or I still have many great podcasts to listen to, so let’s jump back to that queue.

These days I have a great desire for peace and quiet, but ironically, granting that silence for my own mind is a grace I can’t seem to give myself. I’m far too eager for what’s next, which is why even on Labor Day I’m unable to fully commit to a day of doing nothing.

I’m sure there’s some positives to that, too; hashtag hustle. That’s the ‘yin’ and the ‘yang’.

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This is exactly how I pictured Japan car culture looks like.

Going back to eight hours

Thus far this year I’ve been “only” getting roughly seven hours of consistent sleep each night, which is lower than my optimum of the standard eight hours. I fell into the trap of wanting more hours out of the day to do stuff, and figured that robbing an hour out of precious sleep time – as opposed to, you know, maybe not surf twitter so much – would be the thing to accomplish this. Idiotic, I know.

Armed with seven hours sleep, I was still decently productive and mentally sharp, but I’d be lying if I said it’s exactly the same as getting the proper eight hours. Is the productivity trade-off worth it? That’s a resounding no as well: the extra hour I gained ends up almost exclusively used towards frivolous activities, like the aforementioned twitter surfing, or watching car films on YouTube.

Reading more pages on a book or writing more words on the blog? That’s hilarious.

Starting this week, I decided to not be so wasteful and reverted back to sleeping the standard eight hours. Like meeting an old friend again or finding something long lost, the increased energy and focus I’m getting from my slumber is nearly revelatory. I feel great, and far less annoyed when the alarm clock wakes me in the morning. I’ve rediscovered why I started sleeping the proper amount of hours many years ago in the first place: for health and vitality.

All of this may sound trivial, but when you detach and see how important sleep is – a third of our entire lives, the move back to eight hours is quite significant in my opinion. As I creep further into my 30s, I need to be exceptionally guarded with the sleep schedule; at a decade removed from my college days, I simply can’t pull all-nighters with impunity and feel zero ill effects.

Sleep is nature way of healing our bodies and keeping us well, millennia before any forms of medicine. So please do get enough amounts of it, my friends.

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All that glitters is gold.

There's always more to do

A conundrum I’ve been grappling with lately: if I get done early with the day’s schedules, should I take a break until the next day, or attack what’s to come and keep piling it on?

On a theoretical level, I think it’s healthy to take a breather, especially after I’ve already executed everything on the day’s docket. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of the well-earned leisure time? Go on; open up Youtube and drown myself in automotive-related videos. Rinse and repeat when tomorrow arrives.

The problem is that often during those downtime, the utter lack of productivity leaves me with a sense of anxiety. Perhaps my daily checklist isn’t rigorous enough, and that’s the reason I even have time leftover to begin with. Or perhaps I should get a head start on the following day’s schedules: the faster I finish, the more I can do and learn.

I’ve become so preoccupied with maximizing learning that I can’t allow myself to have satisfactory moments of mindless activity. That’s now how it’s suppose to work! I set goals for what’s to be accomplished for the day, and when those are done, that should be it: no fretting, no anxiety of inadequacy.

Think back to school days: when I got done with the night’s homework, I didn’t yearn for more or agonize over whether or not it was enough; I was only ecstatic at being able to turn on the Playstation for some Grand Theft Auto action. As far as I was concerned, the goal of homework wasn’t to reinforce learning (even though it did), but rather it was to finish as quickly as possible so that I can have free time to play games.

Why can’t I replicate that now? When I get done with the day’s task I feel like I should be doing more instead. Already studied Korean for an hour? How about another more: I’m need to study again the next day anyways, so might as well get ahead on it.

Perhaps that’s the price to pay for progression; I understand taking breaks are important, but these days I absolutely detest idle time. It’ll be a rough road, but I think I need to gradually reacclimate myself with the notion of being perfectly fine with not doing anything productive.

Shudders.

The many faces of San Francisco Chinatown.

A productive weekend

I'm proud to say this past weekend was much more productive than the one before. I somewhat successfully avoided the Youtube blackhole and got some proper work done. There were two specific moments where I was at the crossroad of action or inaction and happily I chose the former. 

First of those tasks was putting together a new photowalk article on the Presidio Main Parade Grounds. I'd already edit the photographs a few weeks back but have been procrastinating on posting up the content. Saturday afternoon rolled around and I was desperately close to forsaking it to yet another week. Just as I was ready to watch more Youtube video, I opened the folder containing the pictures for a bit slight peek and then momentum surprisingly took over. Next thing I knew I was hours deep into composition and editing the article.  

The forward progress and dopamine hit of accomplishment must have spilled over to the next day because on the agenda was changing the oil on my father's car. Once again I was dangerously close to letting it slide to the following week until I thought about how awesome it felt to finish the photowalk post on Saturday and it'd be lovely to experience it again when I'm done with the oil service. The sun was beating down (one of the rare sunny Summer days in San Francisco) but out came the tools and half an hour later dad's Toyota Corolla is filled with fresh golden-colored motor oil. 

It's interesting indeed how completing a task begets positive momentum for the next. Just as laziness tends to breed further lethargy, I want to constantly feel good and productive so I keep on executing tasks one after the other. It's a continuous game of "what's next?" One thing I'm super proud of this summer is the consistency in writing my daily blog posts Monday through Friday every week. 

I've had a incredibly busy day at work today yet here I am at home spending the half hour or so typing out these words. I could easily not do that and watch videos on Youtube, but I mustn't break the streak; because I'm done writing this post now and it feels wonderful. 

Freshly buffed and squeeky clean. 

The Youtube blackhole

This past weekend was one of those where attempts at productivity was futile. I succumbed and collapsed into the Youtube blackhole and spent much of the days watching car videos. The doldrums of mid-summer and the laziness it breeds is strange and potent indeed.

This was the second consecutive weekend where I sat on my ass in front of the iMac for much of it, though it wasn’t a complete failure: through the haze of idleness I still managed to get in a workout, finished reading a book (Ray Dalio’s Principles), and edited photographs from a shoot a few weeks earlier. 

That’s right, even on weekends where I take a vacation from my responsibilities I am unable to commit fully. My conscience wouldn’t allow such blasphemy like it did back in college. Even for super productive people (as I like to think of myself), a proper weekend off is a net positive: it clears the mind and put things into perspective.

What's important when we run into these fits of laziness is not to reprimand ourselves for the supposed fault and instead be ready to get back after it in short time. That’s what Mondays are for.

Monday is attack mode. I love Mondays.

Amongst the unproductiveness I managed to squeeze in a movie as well, and it’s one I haven’t watched in a very long time: Titanic. It used to be my favorite film back when it first released in 1997 and I was but a kid not yet in teenage. I remember fondly the multitude of hours spent at the local library (Internet access wasn't a thing for most people back then, kids) soaking up any and all information I can find about the famous ship. 

Strange then with my fascination with ships that twenty years later I still haven’t yet gone on a cruise, or even visited the Queen Mary that’s berthed in Long Beach. Time to remedy both situation rather soon, I reckon.

Titanic (the movie) may be two decades old but the computer graphics in the film still holds up. It’s a testament to James Cameron’s singular vision and perfectionist artistry, and a sad commentary on the state of CG in today's cinema in which they can’t even convincingly remove a mustache off Henry Cavill’s face. 

What are the chances I conk out for a third weekend in a row? I guess I'll find out. 

Surprised to find artificial turf used on the campus recreation fields. I guess they couldn't be bothered with maintained real grass. 

Productivity hack: daily checklist

Keeping a daily checklist of enriching must-do items is a good tactic to keep motivated and not waste time. Especially if you posit the list as I do: something to complete before the fun and mindless things like watching Youtube shows. Like doing homework before play or eating broccoli before dessert, putting the hard stuff first and have something sweet at the end is highly conducive to good productivity. 

For example my daily checklist consists of the following: 

• Read whatever book I'm currently on for one hour.
• Study Korean for at least two hours.
• Practice driving in Gran Turismo Sport for half an hour.
• Write something on the blog. 

As you can see the tasks all revolve around learning and self-improvement. I believe it's crucial to do such activities so to avoid regression as a person. I do them everyday (and on the seventh day I rest). 

Indeed it's simple and short but checking things off on a list is a great mental framework to keep me focused and not stray to frivolous time-sucks like social media. I can do leisure stuff only after I've finished the tasks for today, so I'd better get moving quickly on the work if I want to spend a decent amount of time enjoying the latest Star Wars fandom wars on twitter.

The San Francisco outsiders imagine it to be.