Date: 15.11.2023

You need to do one thing right to keep your edge in the ever-evolving world.

Yes, just one thing.

It's this: efficiently managing your time.

Basically, we have three essential choices for deploying our time:

1. Invest time in existing operations/projects/interests.
2. Invest time in pursuing new operations/projects/interests.
3. Never sit down to determine how we are currently allocating our time and what (potentially) needs to change.

Choices one and two are equally important.

For instance, you want - and need - to allocate time to do what you currently do to the best of your abilities. After all, you don't want to lose your current work because you are unfocused and/or lazy.

At the same time, you also need to allocate time for learning new things - whether this will be to expand what you currently know about a known field or immerse yourself in a totally new area.

Over the long term, however, I found that the third option is the most critical one.

From the outset, it seems that "not thinking about how you use your time" doesn't deserve a spot amongst the other two. However, by not choosing to think about how you currently manage your time you are also making a choice - a pretty grim choice, for that matter.

Ignorance in terms of time allocation leads to neither improving what you currently do nor learning something new. Most commonly, it leads to time wasted - you know, the classic case of social media doomscrolling.

Most people are just too busy trying to be happy right now - pursuing fleeting temptations. They follow the mantra: "Do what you love!"

The others, are aware of how they use their time and obey the following: "Love what you do!"

Negativity bias

Negativity bias is our brain's tendency to give more importance to negative experiences or information than positive ones. In simpler terms, we're wired to notice and remember bad stuff more than good stuff.

Here are two examples:

• News coverage: Media often focuses on negative events because they grab attention. Positive news are typically overshadowed by sensational or distressing stories.
• Feedback: People tend to remember criticism more than praise. If you receive ten compliments and one criticism, the criticism is likely to stick in your mind for longer.

An obvious question here is: Why? Why this relentless hunger for negativity?

From an evolutionary perspective, it makes a lot of sense. Paying attention to negative cues is crucial for our survival. When you focus more on negative stimuli, such as potential threats or hazards, you respond rapidly and effectively to protect yourself.

Furthermore, when you are more attuned to negative cues, you are more likely to successfully assess the risk of a situation and avoid danger or financial losses.

Remembering negative experiences is vital for our overall success. After all, you don't want to repeat the same mistakes.

And while these advantages are obvious for our well-being. In today's world, where survival threats are less immediate, this bias might contribute to heightened stress, anxiety, and an overall skewed perception of reality.

From my desk:

• Personal Discipline: What Is It and How To Create One: "The quest of putting order in your unordered life is treacherous. A lot of things get in the way of attaining a level of personal discipline. One obvious challenge is the unpopularity of the self-discipline topic. However, there’s another, not that common, obstacle that gets in the way: Trying to instill personal self-discipline in an unhealthy way."

From around the web:

• What Do You Want to Want?: "If we don’t pause and ask ourselves what we want to want, we will spend our lives focused on unhealthy aims defined for us by others and the worst parts of ourselves. We will pass these bad assumptions about life onto our children and loved ones. We will reinforce these boring, desperate defaults in everyone we encounter."

In the next issue, we'll talk about why are you not improving.

Talk soon,

Ivaylo Durmonski