Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Lack of time

I just figured out that I need about 3 or 4 copies of myself (or the equivalent of 3 or 4 times the duration of a week) to be able to do all the things I'm interested and occupied in, in a sufficient way.
For instance: I'm a student and I would like to spend all my time on attending courses, making exercices, studying and preparing for the next class, writing papers, doing exams and reading articles and books related to my field of study, which is physics and astronomy, by the way.
But to pay for my living, I'm working part-time as a sysadmin and programmer. This consumes some of my precious time during the week, and all the time I spend working, isn't spend on studying. To combine both and be able to spend all the time I like on my studies, I would need 1,5 times the equivalent of a week.
But I like programming and I program some more in my spare time, as a hobby, so to do everything I would like to do, I would need another week. Which means I would need 2 times the equivalent of a week, to do all I would like relating my study, my work and programming.
And it doesn't end here. I'm a social person and like to hang out with my friends, play games, eat together or go to parties, visit family, ... This would add another half time the equivalent of a week, to do everything right and proper.
And to top it all off, I like to stay current with what's happening in the world: politics, economics, science, culture, ... And I like to read books and going to the theater or musical concerts. This equals another equivalent of a week.
Add to it that I need some sleep and need to wash, cook, eat, clean my appartement and go buy some food and supplies and it sums up to 4 times the equivalent of a week, to get everything done I would like to get it done.

Unfortunatly, it isn't possible to get 4 times the equivalent of a week fit into the period of one week. If you do know how to do it however, please let me know. ;-)
So there are several options to get things done:

  • copy myself 3 times, in such a way that I have a mutual brain of some sort, so that I 'know' what the four of me are doing/have done.
As cloning human beings isn't possible at the moment, this isn't really an option.
  • choose one of the things I would like to do best, and spend all my time on that one, neglecting all the rest for the time being, until I reach a point I get the feeling I have done enough and then start spending all my time on one of the other things.
This isn't a very practical solution, as I need to work in order to pay for my living while I'm studying. And I would stop to be a social being if I spend all my time programming, not to mention what a mess my apartment would become after a while.
So this leads to the more practical solutions:
  • plan the week so that everything gets enough but not all time, knowing that it will take longer (About 4 times longer ;-) ) to reach the same level of completion, compared to when every part gets full attention.
This means making choices and sacrifices, which is what most people have to do, and the way I'm doing it too.

But If I could find a way to do some things more efficient like programming for example, so that it's less timeconsuming, I would be able to spend more time on my other occupations and hobbies.
I'm going to reflect on this last thought and I will write some more about it when I come to another insight.

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