This change took root last year. For the first half of the year, I spent my time on Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader. Around October, however, I was swamped crazy with work and had absolutely no time for any of these activities. It felt like my days were leaking ‘time’ and there was always something to do. I was posting less updates daily. Despite this – strangely – all was just fine. During this time, I started reading up on how to manage my time effectively during the day. I also took a step back to evaluate my time online.
I realised something startling – I spent countless hours reading pointless articles like these and these. What good are articles that talk of predictions, reviews, news and product update information? Companies will continue to make products whether we like them or not. I remember a meeting with AMD back in 2005. They were showing us their road-map for releasing micro-processors over the next five years – starting from dual core, stretching up to penta-core processors. I was a first-hand witness to the hoopla in the blogosphere, every time AMD and Intel increased a core in their processors…. and yet, I read every word of it. Am sure they made that presentation to everyone who mattered in the publishing space and yet everyone predicted so many different theories for what the two companies would do next, inspite of knowing exactly what will come. From October till December in 2010, I pruned all my technology-related RSS feeds – most of them said the same things anyway.
Since Time Management was my interest at the time, I read everything even remotely related. I also subscribed to the RSS feeds of some amazing websites. These talked of new ways to think in a situation, and how to manage your health. I also started reading books like Who Moved My Cheese, the 4 Hour Work Life, and the 4 Hour Body, among others.
I have devoured all this health/lifestyle-related information and I cannot believe how unhealthy my lifestyle had become prior to understanding food sources and lifestyle factors. I am slowly starting to eat healthy and feel better about this too. I am also reading a lot of How To articles for various situations in daily life and finding value in them.
With a lot of hope and optimism, I look forward to 2011, where I hope to remain the wide-eyed idiot. Some of the blogs/ websites I am reading are Timothy Ferriss, Mark’s Daily Apple, Fabulously Broke, Lean Grains, and The Great Fitness Experiment.
What’s up with you guys? How are you making 2011 better?
Hakuna mataata! 😀
Good going Asfaq. I stopped reading newspapers 8 years back now. Stopped reading RSS feeds and frivolous news a couple of years back too. But do rely on an aggregator (news.ycombinator) to be up-to-date with important things.
The biggest thing to learn is the difference between important and urgent. And how if you pay attention to the important stuff, the urgent stuff will take care of its own.
its always great to begin all over again. Nice read 🙂
Ankesh: I have stopped watching TV programs. The only TV I get these days is when am walking on the treadmill in the gym at 6am. I don’t read the newspapers either. My to-do list is divided into 2 parts – Urgent / Can Wait – don’t need any sort of colour coding or anything else. Works like a charm 🙂
Everyone: Thank you for the kind words! Truly.
Good Read and an important one. I’ve been reading 4 Hour Workweek from 2 years but never gathered the guts to implement it but this year I’m determined.
Would love to talk to you or meet you to understand how you managed to work on the suggestions of Timoth Ferris 🙂
Have a good year!
Awesome Post …. I’ve stopped watching TV and reading newspapers.
Reading newspaper used to take almost couple of hours every day ….
That time is utilised for cycling in the morning … also started sleeping on time now .. Food intake is something to be worked on …
Aah wait, does that mean you’ll not have lunch meet with me? Or you’ll only eat healthy food?
Ranjeet – I have been walking from Khar station till Rajesh Khanna Gardens in Santacruz everyday too. Apart from the fitness angle, I ind that those 15 mins are the most productive when I am thinking of a campaign strategy 🙂
Also, will surely have lunch with you! Tell me.. whenever!
Insightful!
Thats the only thing that comes to mind…
I still manage to get distracted – My 2011 will be infinitely better if I am able to re-channel my focus from inconsequential un-productive tasks to work. Even I am able to channel half of that focus on work, then my productivity will double!!
Imagine 😉
PS – i just took about half an hour to come up with this comment – but I felt it was needed.
PPS – that half hour could well have been used to complete the task at hand 😉 (talk about oxy morons 😉
PPS – June I am in Dubai – we should meet 🙂
and I meant Mumbai in that PPS 😛
After I read your post, I was embarrassed.
Yes. My Goals are also health related but i’m procrastinating. Your post kind of pinched me coz, even though you have hectic schedule you are determined to get in shape and be healthy.
Wishing you all the best to conquer and achieve what you have planned.
Cheers !
2010 marked about 8 months of not opening my rss reader at all. i was just depending on twitter and the people around me for my fix of news. i’ve started reading again, but i still don’t subscribe to anything tech. i just rad stuff other people share, and hit “mark all as rad” when i think it’s been enough for the day.
i have stopped reading all time management and health and all sorts of self-improvement, unless someone shares it and it grips me in the first few sentences. i feel i’ve already read enough 😀