You Have the Time

Here’s a simple formula to figure out if you have time to do something important (learn a language, train for a race, even something as simple as clean your apartment):

Check your screen time on any non-essential apps (mainly social media, but I don’t need to define non-essential. You know it when you see it). Add that to the amount of time spent watching TV each day. If the sum of those things is more than one hour, you have time to do that thing.

I would venture to guess that everyone reading this (myself included) spend 1+ hours per day on social media + tv. And yet we constantly delude ourselves into thinking that we’re “too busy” to learn a language or take an art class or even exercise.

I don’t think I’ve done anything groundbreaking, but I can say this: I have finished a marathon, and I have also spent countless hours scrolling on social media. In fact, I’d venture to guess that I’ve spent considerably more time on social media than I ever have training for a race. Guess which one I remember more? Guess which one I’m prouder of? Which one leads to interesting and fulfilling conversations and relationships?

Again, I’m not saying that your “thing” needs to be running. I’m saying that it’s normal now for people in my generation to complain about how “busy” we are when, in fact, we’re just addicted to consuming mindless information.

Likewise, I’m writing this to myself. I’m disciplined in some areas, like running and magic. And in others, I’m just not. For years I’ve told myself that I’m going to learn to cook. For years, I’ve put Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken in the air fryer and called it a day.

But you can only change what you can measure, and sometimes it takes a kick in the balls to realize that we’re doing it wrong.

Seeing the actual numbers on your screen time should mobilize you. So should visualizing the result.

I want to emphasize that I’m writing this not to chastise the reader, but to kick myself into action and follow my own advice. For example:

I’m working on filling my backlog of magic knowledge. I didn’t grow up around many magicians—the New York magic scene was so far out of my mind as to be nonexistent—and while I certainly developed enough knowledge to make this my career, there are some gaping holes in what I know. My new project is to methodically read a few key books (about 10) over the next 6 months. It won’t solve all of my problems, but it will give me some fundamental knowledge I should’ve had a long time ago.

I’ve been procrastinating this for months for the same dumb reasons we all do—not enough time, not willing to go to the store and buy the books, convincing myself that they’re too expensive while spending the same amount of money on a meal that will last a fraction as long as what I learn from the books.

But I know that reading a few books very intentionally will be worth it.

It’s remarkable how much work we can get done in short amounts of time when we just concentrate. And how much “work” a small thing can do for your overall mood and outlook. A 30-minute run leaves me feeling accomplished for the rest of the day. Writing does the same thing. We don’t need to do a lot to feel accomplishment, we just need to do it thoughtfully and consistently.

Go chase something. I promise you won’t regret it.