Here are 10 Small Things I Wish I Did More:
1. Going to bed early
2. Seeing the sun rise
3. Press ups
4. Pull ups
5. Reading books
6. Wild swimming
7. Going to talks, lectures, events
8. Riding my bike
9. Growing my own vegetables
10. Stretching
Here are 10 Things I Waste Time On:
1. Meetings that could be replaced by a 20 minute phone call
2. 20 minute phone calls that could be replaced by an email
3. Email
4. Twitter and Flickr
5. Reading unimportant parts of newspapers
6. Travelling a long way to low-paid talks
7. Averagely acceptable TV programmes
8. Admin, paperwork
9. Trying to think of things to make this list up to 10. (I suppose it is good that I’mve run out of ideas…)
The glaring question here is “why don’t I fix this?”
When I write stuff down like this, I realise how stupid I am to be frittering away my life at the same time as wishing I had more time.
UPDATE – in response to a comment posted below (thanks Jim Hardy), I’mve decided to add a more positive slant to this post by adding Ten Things I am Content with, as it is only too easy to focus on the negatives in our lives and overlook all that is fantastic.
- Friends and family
- My health
- My fitness
- Earning sufficient money
- Loving my “job” (to the point where I feel the need to write “job” rather than just job)
- The expeditions I have done this year
- Living in the UK (A few years ago I felt my time here was limited)
- Writing blogs and books
- Not having a clue what I will be working on three months from now
- That I am heading off on an exciting expedition next week
Seeing the sun rise should be a little easier for the next few months.
Yes- that is something I love about being on expedition.
I think I will see every single sunrise. And I’ll also go to sleep early too. Might not have the energy for press ups though..
10 things you are content with?
just realised I sounded like an ass when I asked this rhetorical question… apologies! :-)
No – I think it was a good point! (I’ve amended the original post now)
Good point, as ever!
The top list is on the money – I know exactly where you’re coming from. I often find the top one about going to bed early facilitates the others below but simply doesn’t happen often enough.
I see the sun rise most morning on my ride to work; it can make stopping at the office that much less appealing.
Hi Al, I actually credit twitter with changing my life, because of how the connections with authors (like yourself) have impacted my confidence, my writing, my opportunities and in the last year, my income and my career. Sure, social networking can be a “waste” of time, but connecting with people is not. So Twitter is on my list of things I am very happy with, not that I will do more of, but I certainly wouldn’t want to eliminate it.
Unlike the rest of your list :)