Time well spent?

How do lainons measure if they've spent their time well on a day-to-day basis? Do you try and do X amount of tasks? Or maybe you set yourself X as a goal or try and do Y hours of Z? I've done quite a lot of things today. Picked up my dry cleaning, did more than my regular exercise, and read some manga. I'll probably lurk chans for now and do some programming later this evening. Would you say that's a good use of 24 hours? Was there more I could/should do? I want to read about your system if you have one like GTD and Pomodoro (which I've used since high school). Usually if I found myself with free time I'd use it to study my tough classes and work on assignments but lately life's been peaceful and I feel like my time might be going to waste. Don't get me wrong, I know that if I'm asking for more work there's an infinite amount I can pick up out there. I'm trying to find the right balance between work and rest since I'm deathly afraid of being labeled a lazy person.

These things can't be measured for everyone, Lain. It depends on your goals, necessities and observation of your own behavior. If you feel like you could do more and you need to do more, you probably should be doing more. >since I'm deathly afraid of being labeled a lazy person. That's not really measurable though. You can't know the parameters by which others will judge you. I imagine you live with your parents, or with someone who has the power to judge you in this way, and if that is the case, just fill your obligations (at home and school/college), if you do that they have no reason to criticize you.

My algorithm for calculating how useful my day was is as follows: return 0;

For myself, I feel listless and wasted of time if I do nothing. I have several projects going with end dates but no task due dates. As long as I keep making progress, I feel my time is well spent.

>>12398 What you did today sounds comfortable and relaxing which is what many strive for, including myself; i would say your time was well spent. One problem though is that in life some/many times there isn't the possibility for comfort and you'll need to prioritise or not be productive, so depending on the situation your day was not well spent and you should've done more. For me those days are not satisfying, therefore not well spent, though. What about you?

>>12401 My goal is to live a happy life like everyone else I assume. Sometimes this means I get to enjoy today as it is and sometimes it means I must put aside the pleasure and work for something that'll make me happy in the future. It's this balance that I want to get right. Judgement will come from wherever it does. Nobody except my professors, parents and myself have the right to judge my efforts. Still I feel like I need to prove myself to the rest if the world. That's a personal issue though, out of the scope of discussion. >>12421 Oh yeah, I wouldn't be satisfied knowing I procrastinated on something important. But like lain said (>>12420) most things in life don't have strict deadlines. You get comfortable doing little to no progress most days. I try and live by pic related in those cases.

This song describes my approach to a degree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeGsQOWFXO8. My goals are somewhat abstract (maybe that's a roundabout way of saying I don't have any real goals) and, importantly, not particularly career-oriented. I tend to think that those who would call me lazy just have different priorities; it doesn't feel like an absolute judgment of my value. I usually consider a day good if I've enjoyed it and feel that I've gotten something out of it that will be useful going forward, usually in the form of a lesson learned or a new entry in my mental catalog of "good art." If you're like you seem to be, though, this would be far too relaxed for you, both as a lifestyle and as a set of standards. Having strict self-imposed limits sounds interesting, though. What are you hoping to accomplish, OP, in a larger sense? Is there more to this than avoiding criticism?

Do I have something to show for the day? If not, did I relax myself and do myself a favor? If yes for either it was a good day.

I feel bad when I don't achieve anything (notable). I'm angry at myself if I spend too much time consuming media. It shouldn't be like that. Anyway, if I manage to cross a couple out of a daily to-do list, I feel a moderate accomplishment.

I just consider my time well spent if I did the stuff I wanted to do, doesn't really matter if it takes long or short. Too bad I have nobody to spend my time with though.

>>13624 Same My todolist is huge and i shuffle tasks around a lot. I usually make myself some small goals for the day and try to keep them, but theres usually trouble and/or distractions along the way.

Hard to say. If when I go to bed at night I feel relaxed and can sleep easy I often know I did enough that day. However sometimes I look back and notice that I have mostly fond memories and even the bad times taught me something, as if I was always doing enough. Its never the immediate past its always like the more distant past. The immediate past always feels like a hurdle im happy to be done with. I think its important when measuring what youve done and how good you feel about it not to compare to others. Ive made incredible leaps forward personally but I often forget them because I still see myself as so behind, its only when somebody else points it out to me I realize. Ive also found that feeling soykafty about what I didnt do doesnt help at all for me. Its good to imagine how soykafty I will feel if I dont do something, but if I already havent done it all it does is keep me in a cycle. Letting myself off actually makes me more likely to keep pushing the next day.