===== too many projects too little time =====

There's so many projects, interests and activities I want to pursue, but their number and individual complexity has reached the point where I can't pursue all of them simply because I don't have enough time in each day to do so. Prioritizing is difficult because I am interested in all of them.

Lately this has lead to each day consisting of rapid switches between various things I want to pursue, making little progress on any of them. Work taking up the bulk of my time pushes project pursuits into the gutter of the day, where they then compete for my time with errands, finance management, interpersonal relationships, and personal hygiene. A younger me prioritized projects over all those things. This is evident in my Github history since most of my projects from that time were software projects. I remember that period as one of the most productive times of my life.

Additionally I have been traveling extensively over the past year, and sinking time into projects requires staying in one place. For me anyway. I need a stable environment to create the right conditions for doing deep work. Occasionally I can find a few hours to sink into flow while away, but that is limited to computerized pursuits, such opportunities are rare, and actually leveraging them into a flow state is even rarer. The upside to traveling is that because I know I can't do anything creative, that creates the perfect conditions to do reading. Normally I prioritize creating over consuming, and so I end up never reading books since my limited free time is spent on creative pursuits.

Now I am a much more balanced and well rounded person than I was when I spent the majority of my time on computer based projects, but my creative pursuits have suffered. You can't read a book and write one at the same time. Going to the gym regularly cuts out time for projects. Relationships cut out time for projects. Traveling cuts out time for projects. I love recreating but it doesn't produce anything, and as a person I derive a lot of my self worth from producing things, especially things other people use.

The obvious solution is to get so rich I don't have to work anymore, and then I can spend the bulk of each day working on things I want to pursue. But this is easier said than done.

I considered listing out the projects here in some kind of perverse flex, but that is best reserved for my personal notes.

{{tag>complaining flexing humanity}}