TGIF :: 1,000 Hours of "Found Time"
Weekly drop #31 || How a habit shift can open up a universe of possibility and a recent awareness around scarcity
Welcome new subscribers! This the third week I am re-publishing re-worked foundational ClearLife pieces as I use discretionary writing time on a related project I expect to complete within a week.
This one on “found time” invites awareness around the scarcity and opportunities inherent in our “spend” of time, also covered in depth in the Seventh Awareness and ends on a very personal note. My hope is that this (faster) read leaves us all a bit more attuned to how we spend the most precious thing we have.
Miscellaneous at the end if fresh, as always. ❤️
“Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” - Chinese Proverb
First, please watch this <3 minute video.
We all know our time here is limited, but every once in a while we are reminded of just how scarce our time is. It could be a health scare, the loss of someone we love, or even a bit of media that brings this awareness home. A YouTube video, “The Time You Have (in Jelly Beans)” (a mere 2:44, and worth each second), shifted my perspective almost a decade ago. I guess seeing how short our life is changed a lot for me.
Slowing Down Time
“Mom, I can’t believe sixth grade is almost over,” my twelve year old son exclaimed more than once last spring. “Time feels like its moving faster and faster!”
Science confirms he’s right. It can feel like time goes by faster and faster as we age, a result of our lessening diversity of daily stimulation, learning, and activities. For some, this is just fine. For others, we may want to attempt to slow things down a bit, or at least our perception of the passage of time. Or, we may simply want to feel more present.
There are things that we can do to feel as if time isn’t passing to quickly: Add new experiences to our weeks, disrupt routines—including walking or driving different routes (this alters the way our brains process these experiences), and incorporate new sensory experiences to our days, simply by trying new things. We can also incorporate mindfulness practices to our routines to help us feel more present overall.
Found Time in ClearLife
“Found time” ended up being an unexpected upside of ClearLife for me. When I put my favorite dimmer (evening drinks) down in 2017, it wasn’t long before I realized my relationships were evolving, my health was improving, and I was saving money. Almost a year had passed before I realized how much more life I felt like I was living. It felt like I had more hours in the day. I see now I did.
When we pause a habit that is taking us away from presence, we free up a lot of time, especially when the habit is a daily (or close to daily) one. It’s not just the time spent doing the thing, it’s the preparation time, the time we spent dimmed or tuned out, the recovery time, the fixing-things-we-may-have-done-while-not-fully present time, and the thinking-about-whether-we-should-do-the-thing time.
In my case, regular “social” drinking was pretty time consuming. The preparation time (making plans to meet out or host boozy events), the actual drinking time (not all wasted, as there were some great times drinking), the being just-buzzed-enough-to-not-do-anything-else-well time (reading, writing, or something creative), and then of course, the recovery time (sleeping in on weekends, skipping exercise, unhealthy breakfasts, the lost hours while shaking off the booze in my system from the night before)—it added up!
This does not include the time wasted thinking about drinking, that little conversation we are having inside of ourselves, distracting us from the present moment: Should I drink tonight? I guess, so, everyone else will be. If I do, I’ll just have one… or a glass of water for each drink. Maybe I’ll wait to start until a bit later, so it is less drinks over less hours. It’s a weeknight, I guess I can wait until the weekend? Who cares, I’ll just have one. One more won’t hurt. And so on and on and on.
1,000 Hours
I was approaching the end of my first year alcohol-free when I noticed how much more time I felt like I had. I was taking morning walks, going to farmers markets, writing almost daily (5-7am being my sweet spot), exploring nearby towns, experimenting with new hobbies, attending fun community events, and most importantly, spending deep, quality time with loved ones, especially my kids. All of this while still working full-time, exercising more, and getting eight hours of sleep a night. The spaciousness itself made me feel like a different person living an entirely different life than just one year prior. It was perplexing until I figured out what was going on.
I did some basic math and realized that up until I paused my daily habit, I was spending approximately three hours a day on various activities related to drinking, roughly 1,000 hours a year.
1,000 Hours of “Found Time”
“Discovering” additional discretionary time, especially at this scale, is life changing.
To put this all into context, 1,000 hours in “around the clock” time is 41 days and 16 hours. This works out to about six weeks or just under three hours per day spread out over an entire year, effectively doubling our average annual discretionary time.
What can we do with 1,000 extra hours?
A lot!
According to the State Department’s foreign service language training program, English speakers can reach general professional fluency in related languages such as French, Italian, or Swedish in 600 to 750 hours and slightly more difficult ones, German, Swahili, or Indonesian, in 900 hours.
Other things we could do with 1,000 hours include write a novel, learn a coding language, train for a marathon, launch a community nonprofit, become a certified yoga teacher, learn how to play an instrument, and read at least 400 books.
It’s Not Just Booze or Drugs
There are many things that we can limit or stop that can “give us” a lot of time back. Social media is a big one. The average American spends 2 hours and 31 minutes a day on social media and this leaps to at least 7 hours per day for teenagers. Other “time expensive” habits include scrolling news, surfing the Internet, getting stoned, watching TV, online shopping, and gambling. Remember, it’s not just the thing, is the time around the thing too.
Who Cares?
Not everyone. When I was in my twenties I certainly didn’t. I was modeling and/or in law school for most of that decade. I loved my late nights, long weekend mornings sleeping in, and slow greasy breakfasts with friends—at least on the days I wasn’t studying or working. In my thirties my life felt more like survival as I was ramping a career and starting a family. I wasn’t really thinking about purposefulness or the scarcity of discretionary time (I wish I was).
It seems though, as we get older, not only does it feel like the months and years go faster, there is more we want to experience and do, and do well. Or if we are doing less as we age, we at least want our time to be well spent… more quality time with loved ones, or time in nature, or writing, or building something with heart, or simply learning to do less and be more :)
Inquiries to Explore
Awareness. Review how discretionary time is spent over a week with particular attention to things that you wish you did less. Include watching TV, scrolling media, shopping, drinking, time online, being stoned, and other activities. Choose an activity or habit you wish you did less and estimate how many hours you spend, on average, on that activity weekly, then multiply it by 52 (for weeks/year). Just being aware of this “spend” can help shift a habit.
Aspirational Exploration. Make a list of things you would do if you had more time. This can be anything, but make sure they are things that speak to you—hobbies, travel, fitness, creative pursuits, time with loved ones, adventure. Consider the possibility of having more time for these things as other activities fade in priority. Again, the awareness might shift habits and direction.
Pillow talk: Treasuring what we do have.
Lying in bed this November morning, my beloved asked me how I rationalize spending money (and time) on self care when I’m earning less than I have in recent years. “I don’t talk about it much, but my cancer experience changed me,” I replied.
Further, I am one degree away from numerous beautiful humans enduring terminal cancer experiences—right now. Coupled with my own cancer chapter earlier this year, I guess I am living with a certain boldness I didn’t possess previously. Found time plus a newfound sense of scarcity, urgency—and courage—means life looks and feels different. I don’t carry regrets for not recognizing this sooner, but hope that in sharing my experience I can “sprinkle” a bit of this awareness on others. May we all “spend” what we do have in a way that supports what is most important, every single day.
Be well.
And, love. ❤️
Miscellaneous….
Bloomy City Guides… Always on a quest to discover and share cool events that don’t revolve around drinking, I was happy to learn of Bloomy’s City Guides with cool “wellbeing” things to do in LA, SF, NY, San Diego, and Phoenix. Their curated list of everything from sound baths to cacao ceremonies is niche, but fun.
Interested in “Mindful Drinking?” …There’s an app for that! Check out Sunnyside. They offer a “simple but structured approach to help you drink more mindfully.” I love these guys and what they’re building (a SF-based start-up).
Sangha Saturdays…. Wow. I am moved by what is happening in these spaces. If you’d like to join us via zoom or in person, please indicate your interest here. Our next Zoom session is next Saturday, November 11th at 9a PT. 🙏🏼