Stop managing your time #22
Hey everyone,
It’s been a while since I last wrote a newsletter, and since then there have been a whole bunch of new subscribers (20% increase!). So, if you’re new, welcome! The fact that you’re spending some of your free time to read something I wrote is a huge compliment!
Photography – It’s complicated
In 2005 I picked up a digital camera for the first time. My dad bought a cheap digital camera for family holidays. Very quickly, as was the case with most technologically related items, It become my responsibility. Back then, we didn’t have access to internet. I think we had a 1gb cap, and we weren’t allowed on Youtube because it’d use all the internet up. I’ve never thought that I’d want to become a photographer. It’s always just been a hobby to me. Something that I’ve done for fun. When people have offered me money to take pictures for them, I’ve done it reluctantly. I’ve been reluctant for two reasons:
- Impostor Syndrome: I’ve written about this before, but when you’re surrounded by so many great photographers on instagram and youtube – it’s very easy to feel like you’re very incompetent at what you do. Comparison is the thief of joy.
- It’s my Hobby: Photography has always been something that I have done for fun. I have had this fear that if I start charging for photography that I’d stop being fun.
Because my personality is incredibly obsessive, I tend to dedicate all my time and effort into one thing. Over the past few years, I have decided that my career is the most important thing that I can dedicate time to. But I want that
Time Management is over-rated
I used to be quite an avid runner. Unfortunately, due to an injury I am no longer able to run. It’s been almost 3 years since I last ran consistently and at this point, I am beginning to think that I’ll never run regularly again. But, you’re not here to hear me complain. Here’s what I want to say:
Stop managing your time.
You may be thinking this is weird coming from a guy that has a blog on Time Management skills – hear me out.
In running there are 2 ways you can run a race.
Negative Splits and Positive Splits.
Typically anything longer than a 800m race is run with what you’d call “Positive Splits”. This means that you run the first half of the race faster than the last half. In races longer than 800m, you start to get into the territory of Middle to Long distance running. In this territory you are better off running your race using “Negative Splits”. Simply, this means that the final length of the race is run faster than the first half. Again, there are many reasons for this but I am not going to bore you with the details.
I believe that your day is a lot like an 800m race. What does this mean? It means that you should be doing your “heavy lifts” first thing in the morning. For many of us, regardless of whether you’re a morning lark or night owl, our brains are most fresh in the morning.
Brian Tracy wrote a book called “Eat your frog”, which speaks into this idea. The basic idea is that you should be doing your most important or ugly task first thing in the morning. I don’t mean literally first thing in the morning when you wake up (unless that works for you).
Instead, plan your day like an 800m race. Do your heavy lifts in the morning. Don’t go on social media before you’ve done your MIT (Most important task). Reward yourself for getting work done.