take back control of my time

06/29/2017

I am bad at self-discipline when I am home. My productivity is pretty low the last two days when I was home. I have hardly read any books. The only thing I did was writing and practicing my speaking. I almost lost control of my self.

For example, I decided to get out of bed at 5:00 am. I woke up at 4:30 am. But I got up at 6:00 am this morning. Getting up was pretty easy when I was at school. I procrastinate a lot when I am home. So many distractions around me, such as my laptop, mobile phone, TV, easily accessed food, etc.

Something has to change. I read an article by Steve Pavlina. It's title is: The NF30 challenge: go notification free for 30 days. According his opinions, in late 20th century, he didn't feel compelled to check on his electric devices at other times. Because majority of software didn't involve communication or notification. But now things changed, it feels like software runs on us. That because a lot of modern software has been designed to addict. Everyone competes for our scarce attention. A trivial message from a friend can yield an instant notification to come through.

The cost of this low-quality addiction is that we can't concentrate effectively and do our deep work on just one thing for hours at a time. We spin our wheels and destroy our ability to create serious results. So I join his NF30 challenge. I turned off all my automatic notification, alert, badge, and other digital interruption just now.

2. Three moments of joy

19/30

Moment 1: I can surf the Internet at home.

Moment 2: I did some cooking yesterday.

Moment 3: I was still worried about my job. But I am optimistic about my future.

a picture a word: preach