There are some things you hear so often that you get mad at the people who keep saying them to you. Everyone knows these things, and if it were that easy, you’d be doing them already. My theory is that the problem is that you aren’t old enough to apply the advice yet. Nevertheless, I want to bring up some common life advice that I — despite being well into adulthood —only recently began to take to heart.
Doing just about any small thing every day adds up over time. If you put in 6 minutes of effort a day for an entire year — which frankly isn’t all that much time — it adds up to a man-week of effort per year. If you put in 30 minutes per day, that’s 180 hours per year — an entire man-month. You can accomplish a great deal in a man-month if you never slack off. A little bit of work — performed at regular intervals — will carry you much further than a brief heroic effort.
Making a small amount of effort per day doesn’t require much motivation — just commitment. While it’s good to be open-minded when you’re having ideas, you must be narrow-minded about your commitments.
My cat’s fur is very thick and has been getting matted lately. The last time it happened, I felt overwhelmed, so I brought him to the vet, who used a clipper to remove the lumps. This time, I took a long-term approach and decided that I’d just groom him a whenever he begged me for attention — meaning very frequently. Little by little, I’ve been untangling his fur. He enjoys it because he’s getting attention. A problem that gradually developed is being resolved gradually.
People lose themselves in their digital worlds, but interacting with another living being is important. That — and putting a bit of effort into something every day — is what life is really about. You spend time with others and you do good work. The key is to do so in a way that feels meaningful to you.
My cat is meaningful to me because he calms me down when I feel anxious. If I’m stressed, petting him for a few seconds offers the same benefits as relaxing for several minutes. One might say that relaxation is the life hack, while affection is the real thing. Doing relaxing things is a way of taking care of yourself. Making an effort to relax helps you be more patient — with yourself as well as others — and when you’re more patient, you can give things more time and space to be completed in.
Once you know that something needs doing, figure out when it needs to be done by, and spread the work out accordingly. The quality of your work will improve if you do this because it gives you more time to think. Giving yourself time to think is one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Finishing things as quickly as possible is not a good way of working — finishing them in time is.